How to use LinkedIn for your Job Search
Do you think LinkedIn is only for your profile? Or only for networking? Well it’s both and more. See the five ways you can make the most of LinkedIn. 1) Use your profile to highlight your skills and accomplishments. Key words will get you noticed. All search firms, recruiters and HR managers are using LinkedIn to search on key words. 2) Expand your network – Just don’t find people and ask to connect to them. Start with your first level connections and ask them to introduce you to their first level connections. 3) Find jobs – Yes jobs are listed on LinkedIn. But don’t depend on answering them only online. Research the company and find out the person most likely to hire for that position and write directly to that person. 4) Research your interviewers – Find out about the people who will interview you. Where have they worked? What schools did they attend? What are they passionate about? See if you have anything in common with them. 5) Research the companies where you would like to work. Learn about their values and mission. And then search on the company to find out people who work in the company. Make your LInkedIn profile work for you by using key words in the to 140 characters and by highlighting your accomplishments in your summary. — GEFFEN C A R E E R S www.geffencareers.com
One-Touch Networking (and the worst networking notes ever)
I’ve been the recipient of some great and many terrible networking notes. The ones that I usually ignore involve asking me for… A job outright. (I’m not hiring right now.) A physical meeting. (I struggle with making time for my own lunch most days.) Twenty minutes of my time. (Whenever I am asked for twenty minutes, I seem to end up being the subject of a very pushy sales pitch.) A referral to a person who can help them. (I’m always reluctant to subject my contacts to complete strangers.) A referral to anyone! (These notes require too much work – “Out of my thousands of connections, who should I send you to?” Also, see point above.) Bonus: I also receive notes calling me “Dear Sir.” Once in a while, I’ll receive a very beautifully written, well-researched, well-meaning note with one of these “asks.” I always respond to those because I understand how much work went into writing them, but I do not respond positively. I politely reject the sender and let them know why I can’t help them. I always feel very bad for doing this, especially when I get detailed “cover emails” and copies of resumes. I know hardworking job seekers spend a lot of time studying their contacts’ LinkedIn profiles and tailoring their notes. Even when I feel like I’m being mass-messaged, I have a lot of respect for people trying to network. They are usually smart, sophisticated professionals that happen to be the victims of the resume “black hole” – online application systems – and want to supplement their application activities by networking. These professionals are miles ahead of other candidates in that they’re at least trying to tap into their network and the hidden job market. And while the approach of reaching out to folks on LinkedIn is far better than just applying online, often, the only response job seekers will get to their outreach is something like, “Thanks for your note. Please apply for this job online.” And the reason this happens is that recipients of these notes are busier, smarter, and warier of connecting with strangers than ever before simply due to the sheer number of bots and scammy people out there. According to a survey by Radicati Group, in 2017, the average professional was getting 121 emails a day – and opening only a third of them. So, in order to stand out, not only must our emails be heard above all that noise, we also must delight our contacts and make them fall so hard in love with us that they have to refer us to the jobs we want. But this is impossible to do with just a single email, or what I like to call One-Touch Networking. As a result, the notes that people send out often do not get responses because they overwhelm the recipient (“this is too much work for me to deal with right now”) and make it difficult for them to respond immediately and positively. I’m sure most people wish they had the luxury of answering each and every note they receive thoughtfully. If like me, you’ve ever been on the receiving end of a note like the ones above, most likely, you’ve done what I have been guilty of doing – move on to the next pressing email in my inbox. The Restless Job Seeker Sending follow up after follow up to recruiters, applying to countless jobs online, and looking at profile after profile for networking research are not bad things to do, but they’re certainly very time-consuming. Even though 40% of all hires are referrals, only 7% of applications come in through referrals. When only a third of all sent emails get opened, it becomes very easy to become discouraged by the crickets your networking may be getting. There are a lot of external factors at play preventing passionate, driven job seekers from efficiently and systematically getting interviews, like… Recruiters have evolving priorities. The people you reach out to can’t always refer you. Because the job market is so saturated with candidates, even the best-on-paper candidates get responses to only about 10% of the jobs they apply to online. As a rule, the job seekers I work with are willing to do whatever it takes to get to their goals because they are doers. And they’re brave for always putting themselves out there, gritting their teeth, and sending out their resumes consistently, night after night, to company after company. Yet I think that’s one of the reasons the hiring world is so broken right now. We’ve become addicted to acting. We’ve become addicted to instant gratification. And when we don’t get that gratification, we don’t stop and question what we’re doing. We keep acting. When you’ve become sick of your toxic workplace culture or when your bills are piling up, it’s impossible to sit on your hands and not act. But let’s take a quick break from acting and think outside the box. We know referrals work. Referred applicants are three times more likely to get hired. How can we systematically and easily get referred for jobs we’re actually excited about? Here’s my solution – take the pressure to mindlessly act OFF, not just from ourselves, but from the people we’re networking with. Taking a step back and looking at the bigger picture can help identify patterns and better ways to network. Furthermore, giving people room to breathe actually encourages them to be helpful. The reason for that is we make it easier for them to say “yes” when the requests we send don’t make our contacts feel pressured. This sounds counterintuitive, but it really works. To demonstrate, here’s an example of one of the best networking notes I have ever received: Here’s why I like this note: It’s very easy for me to act on it. All I have to do is copy and paste. I’m not asked to get on the phone or meet anyone face-to-face. It isn’t vague. It doesn’t
5 Tips to Stay Motivated in Your Job Search
Getting stuck? Depressed? At a loss? Here are some ways to keep yourself on track and focused throughout your job search. 1. Make a plan. Stick to a schedule. Every day make sure you eat right, get a good night’s sleep and get some exercise. Don’t sit at your computer all day without a break. For example. Monday do research on companies, salaries and job descriptions. Tuesday send emails directly to companies and hiring managers; Wednesday make calls to get meeting Thursday and Friday go to networking events, informational meetings, and interviews. 2. Find a buddy – someone you can check in with once a week to remain accountable. Discuss what did you do last week? What will you do this week? How many hiring managers did you email? How many companies did you call? How many networking events did you attend? How many meetings did you have? Who did you follow up with an email or phone call? Your buddy might be a friend, relative, or a career coach. 3. Do at least one thing each day. to move your job search forward. No matter how lousy or unhappy you feel, make sure you do at least one thing each day. 4. Make a poster or chart with 99 “no’s” and one “yes.” Hang it on your wall near your desk or computer. Each time you get a no, a turn-down, or no answer from a letter or resume, cross off another “no.” Expect to get a lot of “nos” in your search. Each “no” gets you closer to “yes.” 5. Make time to have fun. Each week make sure you do something for yourself whether it’s meeting a friend for lunch, going to the movies, or a hike, or swimming. But don’t spend day after day avoiding the real work it takes to get your next job! Remember a job search is a marathon, not a sprint. If you are not working you should spend 30-35 hours a week on your job search. Your job search IS your job. GEFFEN C A R E E R S www.geffencareers.com