Time to Apply: LinkedIn Connections, References & Job lists
Before you start putting ideas on this post in practice, you must have a convincing resume, a catchy cover letter and a truly professional LinkedIn profile. At this point, the first thing you need to do is create an excel sheet with columns – Company Name, Username, Password, Job Title, Date of Application, City/State, Name of Reference(s) if any, and anything else you would like to record. If the bell is not ringing yet, this is a list that would contain all the jobs that you apply for and you would need to maintain this list properly. This is going to help you immensely as many of you, unfortunately, would be looking at this list grow to roughly ummm…let’s just say more than a few entries!
Once you decide on getting a LinkedIn premium account (usually 1st month is free), start searching for the jobs, companies etc. on LinkedIn that you are targeting. Once you select few jobs that you are interested in, search for people related to those jobs and connect (LinkedIn connect) with them. If people are connected to you, you would be able to send them messages directly over LinkedIn. Connect with as many relevant people as you can, but remember if the person you are connecting with declines your request, LinkedIn counts those, and if you get more than certain number of declines, LinkedIn would restrict your account and would start asking you their email id before you could connect with anyone. Use it wisely. With a premium account you would have some inmail messages per month that you can send to anyone. Utilize those really frugally as well, and only send to people you are most sure of getting a reply back.
The messages you send need to be nice and professional. At a high level the messages should contain – Who you are, Why you are messaging, What is your background, What help do you need etc. You would basically connect with two categories of people – Recruiters and Managers. Your message to recruiters should end with you requesting them for some time to discuss a specific position(s), request if you could send them your resume. For managers, you would want to end by asking if they could refer you internally or help connect you with the right hiring managers for specific position(s). Some people have their email ids visible on their profiles. Email them instead of using up your limited inmail messages. It’s actually better as you can send your resume as well through email.
The goal of doing all of that is to get them to respond to you positively. Use your written communication skills, google how to do all of that if need be. It may depend on many factors, but sending messages to hiring managers has a better chance of you getting a response, simply because recruiters have to deal with such things 24/7. Furthermore, getting managers to respond would mean an even better chance of you getting a call, with the main reason being – referral bonus. Remember, they would want to refer people who they think are impressive and stand a chance; hence your communication with them is even more important. I should remind you here the importance of a professional LinkedIn profile with a professional photo, full suit-boot types.
You would be able to successfully do all of the above if you learn how to use LinkedIn effectively. Searching for specific jobs by using keywords, to following companies you are interested in; you must learn all of that. Again, google can help you a lot there. You should ideally wait for at least 3-4 days for responses. If you do not get one, you can go ahead and apply online directly without references, and move on. Once you get a response for any position, take your time in responding back. Think hard before replying, remember you would not want to ruin all the effort you have put in up until this point. Proceed with your application according to what the managers/recruiters want you to do. Some may connect you with other relevant mangers/recruiters, some may ask more about you, some may send their email id to you and ask you to send your resume.
This activity on LinkedIn of searching relevant companies, relevant jobs, connecting with relevant people, sending emails and messages, waiting, applying and waiting, and more waiting, is a continuous process. Sometimes a response would bring excitement, positivity and lot of motivation, and sometimes the automated rejection emails would cause frustration, beer-full nights and nasty hangovers. All of that is fun, and if you don’t go through that, you won’t have much to look back on later. The trick is not to over react and to stay level headed, confident and prepared. All of that is controllable. At the same time, you must have a carefree attitude. The job is not bigger than you. You have reached this point in life because you have something awesome about you. Utilize your awesomeness and remember that finding a job in US is just one small part of your life. Don’t stress too much over it. Do your part and forget the rest. This attitude will help you in the next phases of the process.
Good luck with your Job hunt!