Hey.
It’s a tough job climate out there. Unprecedented would be an understatement. Although many companies have frozen hiring, many still are! Seriously! If you want to know which industries are hiring, read my previous blog post.
But! Hiring budgets are far more restricted, meaning that recruitment plans are subject to exponentially more scrutiny. At this point, forget the ATS. You’re not getting in. The game is now *entirely* about networking.
And you can network right from your computer, on LinkedIn.
From now on, this is your new strategy:
Find the hiring manager (or, less effective, the recruiter / HR / people ops lead, but try to figure out the line manager of the role you are looking at), and
Write this person a *concise*, thoughtful, and personal note introducing yourself and your interest in the organization.
I provide a template below that you can use by adjusting to your specific circumstances and interests.
Always make it personal. Always adapt. Always be like water.
Rules of the game:
1. Always find the line manager on LinkedIn.
2. Send an invitation to connect along with a short note saying you’ll follow up.
3. Write an InMail and attach a polished resume and portfolio of work.
4. Understand the company’s or hiring manager’s biggest business PAIN POINT and position yourself as the medicine for their pain. Hiring is about selling. Penicillin sells itself.
5. 80/20 use of nouns and verbs to adjectives and adverbs. If your note is more than 20% adjectives and adverbs, REVISE. Words that end in -ly are not your friend.
6. Start with telling the company/line manager why you love them first. If you start talking about yourself first, you’ve established zero credibility, did not prove you know anything about them, and only care about yourself. It unintentionally communicates to the reader that you’re just in it for you, are not strategic, and don’t understand their PAIN POINT or what problems they’re trying to solve in the world. Talk about the company/role/industry first. Do your research. Read their website, read the news, read Twitter. Establish your credibility first. Remember that it’s a person on the receiving end of your note, and people want to hear about themselves first. It’s human psychology. Just like dating.
7. I can’t reiterate the above strongly enough, so I'm going to say it twice. Literally everybody is sending the same form cover letter copied and pasted 100 times. This bores the humans reading them to tears. People can tell when you’re taking shortcuts and sending the same stuff to everyone else. It's a hiring manager's market now. Demand for jobs has surged so companies can pick and choose, and don't have to settle for minimal effort just on the strength of your resume. You must differentiate yourself. If you want to stand out, write a thoughtful note that talks about THEM, not you, first. Since everyone else is making the same mistake, you’ll stand out by being the lone wolf who actually knows how to do research, identify the company’s pain points, strategically position your selling points, and talk to people like they are human beings. WIN.
8. Say a couple of things about the extraordinary work you have delivered, always with an impactful So What? statement. You’ve got to prove why the work mattered to the company.
9. Always proofread. Shouldn’t even need to be stated.
You do NOT have to apply only to advertised roles. You do NOT have to give up on your dreams. If the role you want is not advertised, ask for an informational interview. This is a zero-risk, low-effort way to get your foot in the door or at least learn about what might be coming down the pipe a few months from now. So be ready for the “we’re not hiring now” objection with a “can we consider an informational interview? I’m just eager to learn about the industry now that the job market is so tight”. (Sales 101: always anticipate the objection and have a ready, low-risk, high ROI answer. In sales, this is called "objection handling".)
Good luck!
- Anastasia
Hi ______ –
I am following up on my invitation to connect.
I was most recently ____[job title]____ at ____[company name]____, an ____[what the company does] _________. I have followed your company for some time because I share your passion for _____ [the company’s mission, something in the news about the company, a Tweet by the company, an email from a friend who knows or works for the company, literally anything that establishes that you’ve done your research and are not spamming hiring managers with copy and pasted form letters!!!_____].
In my time at ____[company name]_____, I ____[verbs and nouns about stuff you did – AVOID adverbs and adjectives] ____ which enabled ____[why it mattered / what impact it had / the So What? statement – again use verbs and nouns and avoid adverbs and adjectives]_____. For example, I:
Bullet point of an important thing you did and the impact it had on a business problem, your department, or the company. Try to quantify if you can.
Bullet point of an important thing you did and the impact it had on a business problem, your department, or the company. Try to quantify if you can.
I have an interest in _____[something relevant to the company] ____, _____[something relevant to the company] ____, and _____[something relevant to the company] ____. I want to be part of a ____[characteristics of the kind of team you want to join, which happens to describe the company you are applying to]____ in a ____[startup / corporate / government / cross-functional / consultative / international, something relevant]______ setting.
I love ______[pull something from the summary statement of your resume that speaks specifically to what makes you a unique, one-of-a-kind ninja]_____. Along with my resume, you will find a portfolio of work as well as large-scale projects and initiatives I led.
I understand you may not be hiring in the current climate. Would it be possible to schedule an informational interview to understand if there is any alignment with my skillset in the future?
Thank you!
Warmly,
Your name and phone #