Tired of hitting walls when applying for jobs? Can’t seem to land the interviews you want? Unfortunately, you are in good company. Applying for positions through traditional job boards is fine, but sometimes, it isn’t enough to get the results you are looking for. Taking additional steps to be noticed can improve the likelihood of you landing an interview. One of the easiest things you can do is advocate for…
yourself, and one of the easiest places to do so is on LinkedIn.
3 “job seeker” Secrets HR doesn’t want you to know
First, locate positions of interest. Once you have found jobs that you wish to apply for go to LinkedIn and send a connection request to the Senior VP of Recruiting, Director of Recruiting, or any senior-level employee for that company. Do not worry about whether you actually know them or not; still, send them a connection request. If they are a third level connection, meaning you have no other connections in common, connect with a regular employee at the company first since those employees are most likely going to also be connected to the higher positions in the company. This will take your third level connection to a second-level connection, thus making the whole process easier. Once you make your desired connection, get their email address from their profile and send them a message from your email, not through LinkedIn. I suggest first thanking them for the LinkedIn connection, then inquiring if they would be willing to assist you in having someone at the company look at your Resume for (insert the link for desired position here). It is acceptable to mention that you have faced some difficulty in landing an interview with the company, but be sure to also sell yourself to them with a small statement about what you can bring to the company. DO NOT send your Resume with this. Wait for them to respond and tell you that they are willing to have you send it to them.
“Get around Gatekeepers Guaranteed”
If you do not receive a response after two or three days, write to them again. Sometimes the emails do not get through the corporate firewalls; therefore, your message may not have been seen. Plus they may have looked at it and gotten busy at the time and put it off or decided they didn’t want to respond now. By rewriting them, you are showing persistence and this is what will make you stand out in the job search when it comes to getting interviews. I understand that it can be uncomfortable getting rejected or ignored, but the same thing will happen time and time again when applying through job boards, and in many cases you won’t hear anything. You are more likely to get interviews using this method than just applying to job boards. You must differentiate yourself from the other job seekers out there by being driven and motivated, having thick skin, and not caring if someone rejects you or does not respond to your messages. You can apply for a hundred jobs on a job board and hope you get one interview, or you can use LinkedIn heavily and go after those connections yourself. Be persistent, go above and beyond the next person, and build your network on LinkedIn. The response rate you will get with landing interviews by using LinkedIn will be above 50%; therefore, if you reach out to 10 connections through LinkedIn, you are just about guaranteed to land 5 interviews. As a professional Resume Writer, I utilize the above methods and work with all sorts of professionals. As a free added service, I like to facilitate interviews and land many of my clients’ interviews or point them in the right direction to landing interviews by using these same methods. If you want a new job and soon, then you have to differentiate yourself from the other “Joe Bob’s” out there with experience similar to yours. What you do to research, connect with the right people, and show your passion and persistence will ultimately land you more interviews, and more chances to land a new job. These tips and tactics provided here would cost you hundreds of dollars for someone like me to teach you, but I am giving them away to you for free. Of course, you still need a strong Resume, which is why I am here.- Send a connection request
- Differentiate yourself from the other “Joe Bob’s” out there
- Sell yourself to them with a small statement
- Send them a message from your email not through LinkedIn
