Approximately 80% of job seekers are landing their next opportunity via Networking. The challenge becomes how do you connect with someone when you are not sure who the right contact is. Here are some approaches to try:
Step 1 - Narrow down your ideal job description. Try using a variety of key words to pull back positions that match what you are looking for. Then try searching for those titles within your locale or nationwide if relocation isn't an issue, or perhaps try searching using "Remote" as one of the key terms.
Step 2 - Once you pull back the right role in the right location, it's time to find the right connections. Starting with LinkedIn. In the search bar type or copy and paste the company and your preferred location, the trick here is to add tour search terms the likely title of the role one up from whatever your ideal role is. For example if your going for an "Operations Manager" role, try using "Director of Operations", or "VP Operations". Your goal here is to pull back contact info for the next level up.
Step 3 - Contact them using InMail via LinkedIn or their corporate email address. If you can't find their email address, go to their website and look at the News and Media section. Typically at the bottom you will see the email address for the person in Marketing or Public Relations. Nine out of ten times the @company email will be the same convention. Now that you have the address, reach out and ask for five minutes of their time. The goal here is to be in information gathering mode. Don't ask outright for the job, rather use the conversation as an opportunity to learn more about the company and gain insight. From here you can ask the question "What is the biggest obstacle or challenge your organization/team is dealing with right now?" The response to that question will be your opening. If it is something you are familiar with or have encountered a solved in the past, share your story. Even better would be to offer to send the contact some information that you believe would be helpful to them in solving whatever the issue is. Pull together a proposal, send it, and ask for some additional time to review. More than likely by this time, the contact will bring up the opening and you will be well on your way to scheduling a formal interview.
For suggested verbiage when reaching out and assistance with interview strategies, please consider one of our career coaching pkgs. Email info@jlmcareers.com for more information.
Happy Job Hunting!