Let’s face it – we’ve all been through it. You see a great job posting online so you begin preparing your cover letter and tweaking your resume to suit the job description. However, you soon realize that your job application may be one of many received. The hiring manager and/or recruiter may only spend a minute or two glancing over each application. You then feel that the combination of all of these factors significantly reduces your odds of getting that call for an interview. However, this could all change if you took a different approach for getting hired.
In today’s job market, your network is critical. Getting a referral for a job significantly increases your chances of getting noticed. In fact, referred candidates are the number one source of external hires. Furthermore, according to the New York Times, referred candidates are twice as likely to get interviewed and have a 40% chance of getting hired over other candidates.
If you are someone who continues to send your resume for job postings without finding someone inside the organization who can refer you, it is time to take a different approach. This post will share some ways to find “inside connections” in order to land that next job faster. The key is to set yourself apart as a referred candidate.
The days when it used to be a daunting task to find someone to refer you, are long gone with the advent of LinkedIn. Start your search by selecting the “company” search option from the search bar and type the name of one company you are interested in. View the company page and look at all the results in the “How You’re Connected” box. The key here is to look for first or even second degree connections who work in the company and a profile you can connect with. Connect with them and let them know you are interested in applying for a position in his/her company. If you aren’t closely connected, reach out the person you know best and ask for an introduction. However, to be able to use this approach optimally, you should work to expand your LinkedIn network on a regular basis.
If you don’t have any LinkedIn connections and you want to search public LinkedIn profiles outside of your network, there is a neat site called Recruit’em (http://recruitin.net/) which will help you search public LinkedIn profiles simply by entering the company name in the keyword box and country.
Instead of mindlessly applying to hundreds of job postings online and hoping to get a response, take a step back and determine a strategy. Your goal is to build those crucial “inside connections” before a job gets posted. Get ahead of the game by consistently building connections.
Be sure to check out our Events page for upcoming networking events where you could potentially meet your next inside connection and expand your network!