STOP applying for jobs online! Don’t be a stranger!

STOP applying for jobs online!  Don’t be a stranger!

Ok, you don’t have to stop completely, but make applying online a LAST RESORT!  There are much better (effective) ways of getting an interview at your target company:

1.       Get recruited:  Do outstanding work. Promote yourself and your work. Be visible. Have an amazing online presence, especially LinkedIn. 

2.       Contact the hiring manger, who you’ve built a relationship with over the last few months or years.  This is where your networking begins to pay off.  You have a direct line to the hiring manager.  Use it.

3.       Get referred in by your internal contact: Your goal is to have your contact – who works at your target company – hand deliver your resume to the hiring manager and advocate for you.

4.       Get referred in by your external contact: Your goal is to have your contact – who doesn’t work at the company but who knows the hiring manager – contact the hiring manager, deliver your resume, and advocate for you.

People who apply online are generally strangers to the hiring manager, otherwise they would have networked their way in.  Hiring managers want to reduce their risk when hiring.  Remember – familiarity (with a candidate) reduces uncertainty (about a candidate). 

Having seen your work/you in action, knowing you personally, or getting a referral from a trusted colleague or connection, instills a greater level of certainty and confidence in you than does receiving a resume online from a stranger. 

Statistics indicate that approximately 75% of jobs are secured through networking/referrals. Relationships and connections matter.

Don’t go the stranger route when applying for jobs. 

Be recruited in – be referred in – network your way in.