Be a better detective. Get a better job.

Be a better detective. Get a better job.

As is often the case, I’m helping someone near and dear to me find a new job.  We’ve put together a solid resume and are now at the stage where the marketing can really begin.   And then he asks me… “Why wouldn’t I just apply online or send my resume to the recruiter?  Why would I send to the hiring manager?”  I thought to myself… “HOW LONG HAVE YOU KNOWN ME?” But instead I decided to use this moment as an opportunity to train my buddy.

I’m a Recruiting professional but my educational background is in marketing, so perhaps it’s my marketing background that makes networking seem, to me, like the natural way to find a new job.  Or, perhaps it’s because I’m also a good detective. 

When I was about 12 years old (and a huge fan of crime tv shows, Magnum PI in particular), I read a news article about a woman who had gone missing in my hometown.  I got up the nerve to call the local police station, put on my deepest “grown up” voice and I offered my private investigation services to help them find her.  They naturally turned me down, when my parents found out they were mortified, but I really wanted to be a PI!  And now I kind of am one.

My current and previous two jobs are jobs I found (and they have all been wonderful!) on LinkedIn and on Facebook.  I NEVER APPLY TO POSITIONS ONLINE (until I have already spoken with someone at the company). 

TIP #1 Everyone always asks “How?”.  The biggest challenge people have is not knowing where to find the hiring managers’ names and contact info.  Here’s what you do.  First of all, LinkedIn is a great place to see who works at your company.   You can search an employee’s (or hiring manager’s) employment status on LI by “current and past”, “current” or “past”.  I recommend using “current and past” to get more results.

TIP #2 You can also find names of people at companies using other sites such as www.zoominfo.com and www.prnewswire.com.  ZoomInfo is not a social networking site, so you can often find info there you won’t see on twitter, LI or FB.  PRNewsWire is a great site for press releases which can give you current, updated news about companies you are interested in.

TIP #3 Also check out sites such as GlassDoor.com and Facebook.  Or (and here’s a tip I usually reserve for my best clients), find out the email domain of the company that you are looking at and do a Google search with the string.  Meaning if the company domain is @abc.com, go to your favorite search engine and type in “@abc.com” using the quotation marks as I have here.  This will often give you additional names and contacts that aren’t listed anywhere else.  Why?  When executives and hiring managers go to conferences or events, they often register using their email addresses.  The people who put on the conferences usually keep a list of attendees and for some reason, they usually publish this on their websites.

Once you find the names:

·         Craft a personal email

·         Write down and prepare a dynamic voicemail message

·         Have a talk track ready (in case they actually answer the phone when you call)

·         …and START NETWORKING YOUR TAIL OFF!

Let me know how well these tips work for you, and as always.. much continued career success to you all!