How to Hack Your Career with LinkedIn and Find Your Dream Job!

I have been speaking to executives, directors, managers, and every version of those types of titles for many years now (more than I like to admit), with some of the biggest companies in the world. And the one thing that has always amazed me the most is how so few of these amazingly talented and successful people know how to truly land their next best job. Aside from simply working hard for that panacea of all promotions or applying to jobs on career sites or through internal systems, few seem to be aware of any other channels. Of course, there's usually a reasonably good explanation for that quandary of sorts; they're so busy with the daily ins and outs of their own jobs that they simply don't have the time to discover alternate routes.

Ironically, you're reading this article, or at least I hope you're reading this article, on the best possible place in the world, where you can find that next best job. More accurately, you’re on the best site to find the right people that will lead you to that next best job. The formula that I will lay out here is something I've recommended to many others, and yet most never put it into action. However, the ones that did, reaped the benefits and had their pick of several tremendous opportunities. Instead of being a voice in the choir singing to an audience of one, when it came to competing with other candidates for a particular role, they were singing solo to a sold-out audience.

When you simply apply for a job online or submit your resume, you’re one of many resumes that will be received and reviewed by a recruiter, who may or may not forward your resume to the person doing the hiring. You’re presuming that the recruiter is well versed enough to know how great you are, despite your resume looking like so many others. Don’t trust in anyone else to sell YOU to the person doing the hiring. You and you alone can do that better than anyone, and even better than any piece of paper, electronic or otherwise. Resumes should not be treated like a key to open up doors for you, because sometimes that key won’t fit the lock. Historically, resumes come first, then if that looks good, the person doing the hiring will ask to interview you. Honestly, I think this universally accepted practice is backwards, and that the goal should be to use the resume to summarize who you are, after you’ve spoken and met with someone. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how you can circumvent the usual process and go to the front of the line. Let's hack your career!

6 Simple Steps

This simple 6-step process will land you better job opportunities than you’ve ever had before (and yes this even applies to executives), and if you follow these steps, you’ll be separated from the pack, who are simply sending in their resumes and applications. Now of course sometimes recruiters and headhunters reach out to each of us, when we’re not even looking or on the market in any sense, and that sometimes results in a terrific opportunity. However, why leave something to fate or happenstance, when you can control your own destiny and your destination? If you follow these steps outlined below, you will truly be separated from the pack. In fact, you’ll be leading the pack, and more importantly, you’ll be on a whole other level that will get you access and attention you didn’t think possible.

These steps have been proven to work repeatedly, and while I won’t go into great detail here, this is a basic outline of how it all works. Besides, knowing that your time is sacrosanct, I’ve opted for the abridged version of this process.

1.?Figure out What You Want

The first thing is figuring out what you really want in your next best job, and you’ll need to give it some thought and perhaps even do some research. A little reading here and there, as the result of some searches on Google or LinkedIn, will go a long way in helping you to know more definitively what your next best job looks like. Really stretch yourself and think creatively a bit. Where do you see yourself in 1 to 3 years? Where do you want to be? What sort of role do you envision yourself having? What do you see yourself doing in this role? What are your surroundings? What is the culture you’d prefer? What type of responsibilities will you have? What types of people are around you? What’s the environment like? Really paint a picture here in your mind about what you are doing, where you are and what you most like about that position.

2.?Determine What Roles

Now it’s time to match your visualizing to real jobs that meet what you would want in that next best job. No role will ever be a perfect match to what you visualized, but you can come pretty darn close, if you really zero in on finding the right opportunities. This step will require even more research on sites like LinkedIn, Dice and through reading various articles on LinkedIn and other sites in your industry and online community. You may even want to ask some friends, co-workers, or your current boss for their thoughts, if you’re not certain.

3.?Decide Which Companies

Once you’ve determined what roles are in line with what you believe your next best job is, take that same vision and apply it to companies. After all, any job you have means you’ll be working for some company somewhere; therefore, it’s imperative that you be sure that not only have you chosen the right roles, but also the right companies. The roles and the companies must match your vision; otherwise, you’ll head down the wrong track and have narrowly missed out on finding that next best job that you envisioned in the previous steps. I recommend usually starting with about 6 to 12 good companies that match your vison.

4.?Find the Right People

Ah yes, more research. LinkedIn becomes your go to place for this step, and this is perhaps the most important one in the entire process. Now that you know what roles and companies match your vision, you need to start determining who might be the people in the various corporate hierarchies, where your next role might fall. Find 2 to 5 people in each of the companies, who you believe from your research could ultimately be your boss or even higher up the food chain for that next best job. This shouldn’t include people, who you might consider at a peer level or below; it always needs to be at levels higher than you. If you’re an executive, then your 2 to 5 people should possibly include a senior executive or a C-level executive or even perhaps a board member. It’s up to you to figure that out, but always be thinking of levels higher than what you believe your next best role will be.

5.?Ask to Meet

After you’ve identified 2 to 5 people at each company, per the guidelines above, you now need to send each of them a message on LinkedIn. If they’re not a first level connection, then send them an InMail, and if you don’t have a paid LinkedIn Premium plan, then you need to get one that includes InMail credits. There are other ways to message them directly on LinkedIn, but I’ll defer to you and the platform on your options. Under no circumstances should you send any of these people an email, at least not at this point. Remember, you’re trying to separate yourself from everyone else, and besides, you have a far higher probability of them seeing your message and responding on LinkedIn. The message you send them should be quite simple and straightforward, and on average at least half of the recipients will agree to your request.

What is that request you’ll be making? Well, your request is to meet with them, preferably at a coffee shop close to their office or home, depending on where they work. Could you do this as a “virtual coffee” meeting? Yes, but it won’t have the same effect, and it won’t show that you went that extra mile. You’re trying to separate and differentiate yourself from everyone else, so put yourself out there a bit. Granted, it’s not comfortable, but when did anything in life worth having ever come with total comfort? And it’s important to meet with them away from where they work, because they will be more inclined to open up to you in ways they wouldn’t normally in an office environment. Meeting with them where they work should only be a last resort.

This is usually where people start to give up on the process and become too nervous to proceed further. Life is short, so please don’t let your nervousness stand in the way of what could be the best role you’ve ever had. Besides, people know that LinkedIn is for networking, and if you follow my guidance, you’ll happily discover most of your messages will be well received.

6.?Time for Coffee

The last step is obviously meeting with them over coffee. And while there are several things you can say and ask that will help this meeting go a long way, the most important thing to note is that you’re seeking guidance from them. You shouldn’t be asking them about how to apply for a role, or if you can send them your resume. This meeting is not for that purpose, and if you do that, then they’ll likely be put off and feel that the appointment was set under false pretenses. In this meeting, you should sincerely be asking questions about their career, their role, their company and seeking guidance about your own career. You’ll likely receive a generous amount of incredibly helpful information about your career, the industry, and other things. Even if nothing ever comes of this meeting, at a minimum you’ll gain a great new contact, and you’ll walk away with some helpful advice.

In Closing

I won’t go into all the specifics about some of the things you should be doing and asking via LinkedIn to request the meeting and at the meeting itself, for the sake of time. However, if enough readers are interested in learning more about this process and having more specifics, I’ll publish subsequent articles with more details.

Nevertheless, following the general guidelines outlined here should result in multiple opportunities for roles with companies that match your vision. And then, you’ll be well on your way to that next best job!