One of the greatest mistakes job seekers make is to send their resume to individuals or companies who receive hundreds of resumes every week. These methods put you against the largest numbers of competitors wanting the same job. And often you will not even hear back from these companies because, quite frankly, they don’t have time. You can’t take rejection personal when you are conducting your job search. Half of the time your credentials were not reviewed due to the sheer numbers of individuals who applied for the same position.
You need to get your resume in the hands of the right person who could possibly be an executive, manager or a department head. Often this person has someone on their team they would like to replace, but don’t want to go through the hassle of interviewing. If your resume landed on the desk of one of these decision makers, there may be real opportunity.
Here are a few tips to help get you in front of the right person in your job search.
- LinkedIn: According to a recent study that surveyed over 1400 recruiters, the vast majority of them (approximately 92%) use social media to widen their recruiting net. What’s not surprising is 87% of those surveyed indicated LinkedIn was where they spent most of their time. LinkedIn is the mecca when it comes to searching for job opportunities and digging into the detail to find the person responsible for hiring and the person for who that position would be reporting to. After you clean your profile, start with a basic search for the company you’re interested in. From there, your search can lead to other opportunities and or groups that could provide more intel. Zapier wrote an article on “How to Find Any Person, Job or Opportunity with LinkedIn Search,” which goes into exceptional detail on how to conduct a deep search via LinkedIn.
- Direct Contact: The way to identify the “Right Person” is to find the person within one of your targeted companies who would be either your boss or your bosses boss. If you can’t find contact names on LinkedIn or even on the company’s website, try the direct contact method. If you don’t have the name, call into the targeted company and ask for the correct spelling of their department head and or manager’s name. When you ask for the correct spelling, the receptionist already assumes you have the name, and you’re just clarifying the spelling. In return, the will spell the contact’s name and may even confirm their exact title. If this gatekeeper is being cooperative you might also ask their direct line, so that you have that information for the follow up call. If you find an uncooperative gate keeper, try calling between lunch hours (between 1-2 pm.) During this time, you usually find any other administrative person filling in for that person and in those cases, they may be more helpful in providing you with the appropriate contact name, title and contact information.
- Industry Associations: Another avenue when searching for the right person within your target company is to belong to an industry association. Usually, these associations can provide great access into their members, including contact information and also networking events where you can attend a meet an entire group of like-minded individuals and even more opportunities. Over the years I’ve witnessed a great amount of networking at these events that’s led to excellent job opportunities for some professionals I know. Staying connected with the right association can really help you leap ahead of any competition.
There are several ways to make a connection with the right person in your job search. The key is to be tenacious yet professional in your quest. Keeping your networking consistent after you’ve made an invaluable connection is also a way stay informed of any future opportunities.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR, Ingrid Moore
Ingrid Moore is the Founder and CEO of Corporate Resources of Illinois, an employment & staffing agency withover 20+years’ experience located in Schaumburg, IL. Ingrid and her team assist employers with finding the right hire for their business. For more info, follow us on our LinkedIn Company Page, or follow us Corporate Resources of Illinois‘s Google+ page.
