#035 - Ask Your Way To A New Job: The Ultimate Guide To Networking & LinkedIn

Unless you’re a total dick - which I’m almost positive you’re not - your biggest ‘networking ROI’ is going to come from people you already know.

After all, are you more likely to help a friend or a stranger? Yeah. It's really that simple.

I see a lot of networking advice that’s like “connect with 10 people on LinkedIn a day and then message them” or “go to events and meet like-minded people.” I’m not saying there’s no place for them but the ROI is going to be about as low as it is at the World Limbo Championships.

(Is that a thing? Grammarly suggested I capitalise the letters so I’m thinking yes.)

Why so low?

Because networking isn’t fast food. You don’t just go to the drive-thru and order up a new ‘contact’ or a referral. And definitely not a friend.

It’s a long game. One of the longest games there is. Far longer even than the Isner-Mahut Wimbledon match in 2010.

Also, when you’re networking - even with people you know really well - there’s no guarantee they can help you get a job. There’s no guarantee they can help you with anything. Maybe they can, maybe they can’t. And maybe they can’t help you right now but maybe you can help them.

One more thing.

You can be strategic with whom you network and still be genuine with the actual networking. Food for thought.

So.

With that said, here’s who you should network with when you’re job searching (and how you can do it):

1) People you know.

Friends & loved ones.

Start with these lovely people. One, they’ll want to help you, and probably be flattered you asked. And if they have a role at their company you want to apply for, ask them to refer you. They might get a nice bonus and might get a great job. Win win.

(And they can use that bonus to take you for dinner to celebrate you getting your new job. Win win win.)

Two, you never know who your friends and loved ones might know. It’s amazing how many times someone has told me “oh yeah I asked my friend if they knew anyone in [industry] and it turns out they do.”

If they do know someone - or know someone who knows someone - or know someone who knows someone who knows someone - but that’s probably as convoluted as you should get - then ask for an intro.

They love you so they can’t refuse.

(They can. Don’t want a lawsuit on my hands.)

If they introduce you and you have a good chat with this person, one, make sure you stay in touch. And two, ask them if they know of anyone else you should speak to and who they could make an intro to.

Keep the referral train going.

People you know but haven’t spoken to in a while.

Former colleagues, people you went to university with, people you were on the same sports team with, people you’ve only met a few times but just get on really well with. (No, not your exes.)

Maybe you have them on LinkedIn (feel free to trawl through your connections). Maybe you have their email. Maybe you have them on social media. Whatever the case, get in touch. Feel free to use something like the below:

“Hey [name]. Been a while! I see you’re working at [x] now - how’s that going? Would love to hear from you.”

(If you’re ever stuck with what to write, remember this quote: “Be interested, not interesting.” In other words, don’t talk about yourself and what you want - at least not right away. Ask them about them.)

If they reply, ask for a quick call.

“That’s great to hear! I’m actually on the job hunt at the moment and trying to get into [desired industry] and I’m just reconnecting with a few chosen people. Are you up for a quick coffee catch up? If so, let me know when works for you or just send me your booking link.”

And then, at the end of the call:

“Thank you for this. It was incredibly useful. I’m going to start implementing that stuff right away. Is there anyone else you think I should speak to?”

Once again, keep the referral train going.

(Important note: not everyone will reply. But it’s not personal - maybe they’re too busy right now, maybe they read it and forgot, maybe they’re just at a different stage of their life and their priorities have changed. In other words, if they don’t reply, it’s not about you; it’s about them (and not necessarily in a bad way.))

(So many brackets.)

People you know but only a little bit.

Maybe you met them at an event, a conference, or you worked with them briefly. Whatever the case, you don’t know them that well. You could try sending something like this:

“Hey [name]. Been a while! Do you remember me from [company/event/etc]? I can see you work at [company] as a [role] now - that’s awesome. How’s that going? Would love to hear from you but no rush.”

Then do the same as above. With a positive reply, get on a call. After a positive call, ask them to intro you to someone else. Like the NFL when it came to showing Taylor Swift at Chiefs games, keep that thing going.

Recruiters, hiring managers, & interviewers you’ve interviewed with before.

Myself and other recruiters I know hire a few people every year who do this.

Most candidates don’t do it. But all you have to do is set a reminder in your phone for 3 or 6 months after you’ve interviewed or spoken with these people and send them a quick message. I’d consider it like when you come across an abnormally small apple tree: very low-hanging fruit.

You could say something like this:

“Hi [name]. Been a while! Did you ever fill that role? I checked the careers website and there’s nothing that would be a fit right now but I wanted to just check in. Would love to hear from you but no rush!”

Ask for a referral.

If you’re about to apply for a role, check your LinkedIn connections. See if anyone works at the company you’re applying to. If you know them - even a little bit - ask if they can refer you.

“Hi [name]! Been a while! I didn’t realise you worked at [company] - that’s awesome. I’m actually about to apply for the [role] there - would you be up for referring me? I know a lot of companies give referral bonuses so let me know. If not, totally get it. Thanks!”

(Definitely mention the referral bonus. It might seem obvious but people forget. Trust me. And, in case you didn’t know, people like money - especially when all they have to do is send you a link to apply through.)

2) People you don’t know.

Recruiters & hiring managers when you've applied for a role at their company.

If the recruiter or hiring manager is listed on the job posting, great. DM them something like this:

“Hi [name]. I’ve just applied to your [x] role. My CV/resume and LinkedIn should give you everything you need but please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

If they’re not listed on the job posting, use Google or Bing or DuckDuckGo (not sponsored by a search engine yet) to find the relevant people. If it were me and I was applying to a Lead Recruiter role at Nike, for example, I might search for something like this: “talent acquisition director Nike London LinkedIn.”

Whoever you’re searching for, use the above formula:” [job title] [company] [location] LinkedIn.”

People who are doing your dream job (or your ‘next’ job).

As Robert Greene has written, a lot of us are dying to impart our wisdom and knowledge - so much so that we often just burst into giving advice when nobody has even come close to asking us.

So.

Let’s tap into that. Search for people who are doing your dream job - or at least the job you want next - and play into the mentor/mentee dynamic. You could try saying something like this:

“Hi [name]. Appreciate this message is totally out of the blue. I’m DMing you because you’re a [role] in [company/industry] and that’s a career path I’d like to get on. Do you have any words of wisdom for me around what worked and what didn’t? Maybe even just one small piece of advice? Even if I don’t hear from you, thanks for reading and have a great day.”

If this person posts a lot of content, you might want to engage with their content for a while before DMing them. Why? They probably get a lot of DMs and are probably more likely to reply to someone who has engaged with their content and sent a relatively short message asking for very little.

(Not that I’m speaking from experience, of course.)

Recruiters & hiring managers when there are no suitable jobs.

If, when it comes to the company, you’re like my puppy with literally every leaf when it’s particularly windy outside - very, very interested - then this could be a wise thing to do.

Why? You’re signalling interest in a short, polite, personal, not-asking-for-anything-from-you way. That rarely happens, believe me.

You could say something like this:

“Hi [name]. Appreciate this message is out of the blue but I’m just getting in touch because I love what [company] is doing and I wanted to make a quick intro for when any [x] roles come up. (I checked your careers website and there aren’t any, sadly.) Thanks for reading and have a great day!

PS I saw recently that [company] did [x]. What were your thoughts on that?”

3) Use LinkedIn.

Write a relevant headline.

Just write your current or desired job title. Don’t overcomplicate it. But it must be relevant because your headline might be the first thing people see. If you have something ‘results-driven superstar’ or ‘perspective ninja’ then it’s going to be about as impactful as 2019 OK*.

(*An asteroid that flew a mere 45,000 miles away from Earth a few years ago. So, in other words, not very.)

Fill out your experience.

You’d think this was obvious, wouldn’t you? And yet, so many people don’t do it. (Kind of like not believing everything you see on social media.)

Once you’ve written your CV/resume, just copy and paste it onto LinkedIn. That’s literally it. If you don’t do this and a recruiter comes across your profile in a search, they’re going to skip over you and move on to the next.

You do not want this.

Fill out your experience.

Please!

Turn ‘Open to Work’ on.

You want recruiters to be able to see you’re open to work. Why? They’ll probably be more likely to message you.

I know! Crazy!

How do you do this? Here’s how:

• Go to your LinkedIn profile

• Find the ‘Open To’ button (it’s below your profile picture)

• Click it

• Fill out the necessary details

Voilà.

(If you don’t have a fully filled-out profile, doing this might not make any difference. So, you know, fill out your profile. Fully. Please!)

Search for “starting a new position” & ask the former jobseekers how they did it.

How? Here’s how:

• Go to the LinkedIn search bar and type in ‘Starting a new position’

• Click on ‘Posts’

Hey presto.

You can filter by 1st/2nd/3rd level connections, you can filter by date posted, you can filter by industry, you can filter by title.

If you don’t know what to write, try something like this:

“Hi [name]. Congrats on the new [x] role! That’s amazing. I’m on the job hunt myself. Do you have a few words of wisdom for me on how you got your new role? No rush to reply, would love to hear from you.”

I imagine a good amount of these people would be happy to hear from you. After all, when you get your new job you’ll be happy to share your hard-earned wisdom with others, right?

And hey, maybe these people did something you haven’t thought of. Maybe they did something you’ve resisted doing but you know deep down might work. And maybe they did everything you’re doing and you can feel confident that for you, it’s like my puppy finally being able to jump up onto the sofa: simply a matter of time.

Search for jobs (but not through the ‘Jobs’ tab)

Go to the LinkedIn search bar and use the following template: “[role] hiring [city]”

You can also swap out your city for the word ‘remote’ if you truly need a remote role. (I say ‘truly need’ because they’re becoming less and less frequent. Hybrid appears to be the way forward.)

You can then filter by date posted (past 24 hours, past week, past month), by ‘top match’, or ‘latest.’

You’ll still have to do some digging through the posts but you’ll find plenty of roles this way. And not only can you apply for the role, but you can also connect with and message the person who posted about the role. Win win.

Join LinkedIn groups.

Why? You can connect with and message anyone you're in the same group with - even if you’ve reached your monthly connection limit.

You also know you have at least 3 things in common: the topic of the group, you’re both on LinkedIn, and you’re both alive. (I’m assuming you’re not an AI bot.)

4) Do cool & useful stuff.

Something else that will make networking easier (and more fun) is doing stuff that will bring people to you.

You don’t have to become a cult leader - although the similarities are a tad disturbing - but if you become someone who does cool or useful stuff (or at least curates cool and useful stuff) people will follow you, join your community, subscribe to your newsletter, and yes, reach out to you about jobs.

If you don’t want to post your own content, curate other people’s content. There’s a ton of value in that. (Art galleries, anyone?).

What kind of content should you create or curate?

(Bit of a tongue-twister, sorry.)

Two things to consider:

1. What kind of content do you want to create or curate?

2. What kind of content would be valuable to your ideal audience?

If you’re looking to break into the gaming industry, for example, maybe you want to do a weekly round-up post of all the gaming news. If you love the gaming industry, this will probably be fun for you. And would it potentially be really valuable - or at least interesting - to hiring managers in the gaming industry?

Yes.

You don’t even need a great amount of skill to do that. Or time. Or energy. Just set up a Google alert for gaming industry news and it’ll come right into your inbox.

This isn’t a requirement for your job search, by the way. Just a nice-to-have. But when we’re in a market where there are way more candidates than jobs and the competition is higher than Snoop Dogg, that ‘nice-to-have’ might make all the difference.