Professional Networks & Best Practices in a Job Search

The Covid-19 crisis has taken a difficult toll on working professionals around the world. Small and large enterprises, depending on the ability of their business to function through a global shutdown have had to let employees go. More people are job-hunting now than the world has witnessed in the recent past. As I was clearing out some old LinkedIn messages yesterday, and trying to respond personally to as many as I could, I realised that close to five hundred people had reached out to me since March on this platform alone regarding employment. The messages ranged from highly experienced executives writing in for professional references, to asking for direct contact information of human resource executives and hiring managers, to students and recent graduates asking about internship opportunities, writers and directors wanting to pitch shows and films, people asking what jobs are available, some simply dropping their resumes in without any context, to some highly entitled individuals sending me downright abusive messages. It’s been a difficult few months for all of us. Between balancing my professional life working from home, living in a high-risk area with multiple positive Covid-19 cases in my apartment building, to helping family in multiple parts of the world cope, I have tried my best to be sensitive and respond individually with useful information and guidance to as many people as I can find time for.

As I wrote back to people, I found that a pattern emerged in terms of who I chose to respond to immediately, and which messages got pushed down on the priority list. The messages I chose to delay responding to, or chose not to respond to initially angered me due to their lack of professionalism. It was disappointing that a large number of this highly unprofessional communication came from candidates with much higher educational qualifications than me - people with MBAs and multiple post-graduate degrees. But as I engaged more, I realised that I was connecting with some exceptionally intelligent people, who unfortunately were struggling to differentiate between communicating on casual social media platforms versus LinkedIn, perhaps for no fault of theirs. Many interactions led to individuals asking me for guidance on how their application or candidacy could stand out of the clutter, given that so many people apply for open positions, especially in large companies. I felt it could be of benefit to some if I listed some thoughts, some “dos and don’ts”, some ideas around best practices when looking for a job, especially via platforms like LinkedIn, to help people engage better. You may agree or disagree with these ideas, and that’s okay. Understand that these are not rules, and just my personal views, and not reflective of any industry standard or the company I work for.

AVOID SMS LINGO

This may come as a surprise to some, but it happens too often. LinkedIn is a professional network, not a social network. And the messaging function sure is not WhatsApp or iChat. If you are messaging someone for an employment or business need, treat it as you would any official communication. Your written communication skills immediately speak to your seriousness, your professionalism, and your work ethic. Remember that this is the first impression you are making on someone you wish to associate with professionally. Make it count. For starters, SMS lingo like “plzz, u, ur, der, dey, hw r u, howz u, bro” is NOT okay. You do not need to go overboard and call people, “Sir” or “Madam”, but it is never a good idea to address someone you do not know, whom you want help from, as “bro”, “dude”, or “man”. I prefer to be addressed by my first name. Some people, especially in very senior positions may prefer to be addressed as Mr. or Ms. followed by their last name. The latter option is usually the safer one. If this is a skill set you feel you need to work on, there are numerous, free online tutorials available on the basics of professional communication. Make use of them. Take the initiative.

ENGLISH IS NOT IMPORTANT, CLARITY OF COMMUNICATION IS

English is just another language. Proficiency in the English language is not reflective of your competence in work. If you are not confident about your English proficiency, write in the language you are strongest in. One of the most insightful interactions I had many years ago was with a motion graphics artist who wrote me exceptionally professional, perfectly formatted emails in Hindi. Even if I receive an email in a language that I do not understand, if I can tell that someone has put in the effort to present the communication cleanly and professionally, I will take the the time to use tools like Google translate to interact with that person.

ADDING PEOPLE AS CONNECTIONS ON LINKEDIN

Typically, people prefer to connect on LinkedIn with those they know, or industry peers related to their job function they wish to get to know. Unlike Twitter or Instagram followers, LinkedIn networks are not about quantity, but quality. When you try to add someone to your network, it is best to first reach out with a message. Sending a blank invitation to someone is more likely to result in them ignoring your request. Send them a message with specific questions that they would be interested in answering. Once you are successful in getting them to engage with you, ask politely to add them to your network.

GET TO THE POINT - ASK YOUR QUESTION DIRECTLY

A large number of the messages I receive just read “Hi”, “Hi sir”, “Hello”, “You there?”. There have been some who have simply been messaging me “Hi and Hello” for the last three years, at regularly monthly intervals. If I have a limited amount of time that I choose to spend engaging on a professional network, I would choose to focus that on answering specific questions that people have and not exchanging pleasantries. If you want to make friends, try Instagram or Facebook (what old people like me use). If you have decided to reach out to someone, you obviously have a reason for doing so. State it, ask your question clearly, specifically, briefly, and politely, and you are more likely to get succinct responses from professionals. Do not treat that messenger like chat, treat it like an email. Avoid sending multiple messages, and work your entire query into one all-encompassing message.

DO NOT HIJACK POSTS AND THREADS

Understand that people do not spend all their spare time on LinkedIN. They will respond at their convenience. This is a choice that professionals are making, and responding to communication on this platform is not a professional obligation. It is perfectly fine to follow up for a response if you have not heard back for a substantial period of time, but do so via the messaging tool, and do so politely. Just because someone posted something new or shared an article on their timeline does not mean they are available. It is never a good idea to hijack the comments section of those posts with your follow-ups, and it is certainly a bad place to express your frustration. When that happens, I would go as far as to say that there is a 99% chance you may just get blocked from that person’s network altogether. I have also had some people find me on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter and hijack my posts there. Annoying someone into responding is simply not an effective method. Don’t be a stalker!

DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU ASK QUESTIONS

Keep reminding yourself that people are not getting paid to spend time on LinkedIn (unless they work for LinkedIn). People do so during their spare, disposable time. Personally, I try to use this spare time to give back and help whoever I can. But due to the large number of people who reach out, it isn’t possible to engage with each and every one individually, and have to prioritise who I respond to. I often find that I am more inclined to respond to people who have taken the initiative and made a genuine effort to gather information before coming to me with questions.

If you are looking for open positions, do not just send your resume or ask people to look at your profile and suggest suitable roles. This never works and does not speak too well towards your ability to take an initiative. Most companies, even small boutique ones have a “careers” or “jobs” section on their website where open positions are listed. If a company is willing to take unsolicited applications, they will message that on there. Most companies do not create positions based on candidates applying. They look for candidates suitable to specific open roles. As a first step, devour that “jobs” page. Even if you do not find a suitable role for you, the jobs section is a great way to learn about how a company is structured and how it functions. Go through the roles, read the job descriptions in detail, understand the qualifications that are expected. This will help you be informed when you get an opportunity to interact with someone who works for that company. It exemplifies your genuine interest, willingness to put in the effort to go out there and gather information about the company, and overall is just one of the most impressive qualities a potential candidate can have. When you ask questions, it is useless to ask questions for which the answers are already available through a Google search. These questions will either never be met with a response, or even if you’re lucky enough to connect with a nice, helpful guy like me, will receive a template response pointing you to the job site at best. Ask meaningful questions which can only be answered by the person you are reaching out to. Yes certain companies do not update the jobs section regularly, so it is usually helpful to state that you have been through the careers page, and wanted to know if there was a specific role that may not have been listed. Again, be specific about the role you are looking for.

EXPRESS YOUR INTEREST IN A ROLE OR FUNCTION, NOT THE COMPANY

Once you have learnt about the company, one of the biggest mistakes you can make (with me at least), is to portray that you are willing to take up any job as long as you get to work for a specific company. I like to hire people who are passionate about the work they do, not just who they work for. Some executives have a different view on the matter, and that’s okay. Understand that companies are not just looking to fill seats, they want people who can add value. Focus your communication on the value you can add to a role that you are qualified for. Expressing that you are willing to take on any role tells the company that you would be getting a lot more out of this job than the company would out of you.

When you apply for jobs via a company’s job portal, two behaviours specifically are bound to hamper your consideration. One is applying for roles you are not qualified for. The job descriptions are usually very clear on what background and skill set is expected of potential candidates. You know your background and skill set well. Look at your resume and compare it with what is listed in the job description. If you don’t see an obvious match, don’t apply. When you do, you are adding to the volume of applications, and creating more work for recruiters and hiring managers. Don’t take long shots. They don’t work. The second behaviour to avoid is applying for a large number of positions, especially ones totally unrelated to each other. Recruiters and hiring managers can usually see all the roles you have applied for and when they see a candidate has applied for everything from IT support to Marketing Manager to VP Finance, to Creative Assistant, and Managing Director, chances are that they will not be taken seriously even for a role they may genuinely be qualified to interview for.

ASK RELEVANT QUESTIONS OF RELEVANT PEOPLE

Do not treat people like a step to get your foot in the door. Don’t just look at where they work, go through their profile in detail, and understand what they do. Take some time to evaluate if this person is genuinely related to the function that you are looking to work in. Let me give you some examples. I get people reaching out to me asking for a job in functions like product development, merchandising, engineering, data analytics, etc. Spending sixty seconds going through my very detailed profile would have shown them that my job function has nothing to do with these fields. Unless I work on one of those teams or a genuinely related function, I am also unlikely to really know about roles on those teams. At this point, the best information these people would get from me is a template response pointing them to the job site, as it’s the best I can do with the time I can spare. It would have been more productive for these candidates to take the time to understand my role via my profile, rule me out, and take the time to reach out to someone else more specific to their area of expertise. Perhaps, the most puzzling queries I receive in this regard are from actors, asking me for roles on Netflix shows. When I have responded saying I do not work with casting teams and my function is not related to them, I have got some interesting replies such as, “You fraud! Your profile says DIRECTOR!”

ASKING FOR PHONE NUMBERS

If you have been directed towards a job site, or advised to apply via LinkedIn, there is a reason for that. Companies have tools at the back end that help them manage a large volume of applications. While you can ask people you interact with for the recruiter or hiring manager’s contact information, understand that the large volume of applications is exactly why most companies are not at liberty to share that information. Emails are simply not an effective tool for companies to manage the hiring process any more in this day and age. So while there is no harm in you asking for that information, be understanding when people decline to share it and respond professionally.

Many people I respond to insist on talking to me on the phone. Be cognisant of the fact that you have already opened a channel of communication. If the person you are interacting with feels it is pertinent to connect over a different channel, they will say so. Do not insist on people’s phone numbers. Some people are just not comfortable talking on the phone. I am an introvert and hate speaking on the phone to anyone, and prefer written modes of communication. If someone pressurises me to connect over the phone, I am more likely to end interaction with that person completely. It’s not a reflection on them, it’s my personality type. I am just not wired for it (pun intended).

ASKING FOR REFERRALS - A TRICKY SPACE

People regularly reach out to me asking for direct, internal referrals for open positions. At this point, think about what a referral means. When someone refers you for a job, it means they are vouching for you either personally or professionally. They are recommending you to the company, putting their own reputation at stake, backing up your character, work ethic, and/or competency. If someone asked you to stake your reputation based on a resume or LinkedIn profile, would you do it? Regardless of whether you answer yes or no to that question, the important thing to understand is that each person may have and is entitled to their own point of view on the matter. If the person you request a reference from is someone you have not worked with before or known personally, do not hold it against them if they decline. I am not comfortable referring candidates that I do not know personally or have not worked with professionally. Others may feel differently.

STANDING OUT OF THE CLUTTER

We’ve discussed the large volume of applications that companies receive for open roles. People are often under the impression that nobody looks at their resumes or they just disappear into a large pile. I find this to be quite an ignorant hypothesis that stems from not having sufficient knowledge of how modern-day recruitment tools and processes function.

Regardless of which tools are used, and different companies use different tools, they all serve the same purpose. To manage a large volume of applications, and to help sift and sort through those to filter the ones most relevant to the role in question. Remember, no company wants to lose out on a good candidate. Everyone wants to hire the best candidate that comes their way, so their processes and tools are all oriented towards that goal.

Different tools do this in different ways, but they all look to highlight key information for recruiters and hiring managers, which is why it is of utmost importance to format your resume cleanly, keep it concise and clearly legible. Put forth the most important information first, organise it clearly, and include career highlights, not your entire bio data. Full disclosure, majority of applications I receive from candidates in India have very poorly formatted resumes, most running several pages long, with irrelevant information. Your father’s name, your age, your passport number is of no consequence to anyone. Tell me what you’ve done, and what you can do. There are several free tools online that help you format resumes. A simple Google search is all it takes to find these. More information on a resume is not valuable. Key, relevant information is. Keep it simple, keep it informative, and don’t try to be cute with strange fonts and awkward layouts.

Make sure you keep your LinkedIn profile updated. For many, their LinkedIn profile is their resume. Many employers will give you the option of just including your LinkedIn profile instead of uploading a resume at all. If your LinkedIn profile is not updated or detailed, do not include it. Recently, someone reached out to me asking for professional guidance requesting me to view their profile and guide them. When I viewed their profile, all I saw listed was one role, with no description, and self-employed at that. When I wrote back saying that there is nothing in their profile related to the work they were looking for, I was told, “My LinkedIn profile is not updated”. Needless to say, I was quite annoyed at being asked to go through an incomplete profile, and not really inclined to carry the conversation further.

Always include a cover letter with your application. Not all companies provide a field to upload a cover letter separately. Don’t use this as an excuse to avoid including one. If the portal allows you to upload a PDF of your resume, using the most basic tools, you can include a cover letter in the same PDF. It’s that simple. Including a cover letter drives home your keen interest in the role, showcases your initiative, and demonstrates your written communication skills. Make sure your cover letter is customised for the position and company your are applying for. We all apply to multiple companies, but it never looks good when I receive a cover letter for a role I’m hiring for at Netflix, that reads, “I am keenly interested in working for Amazon”.

Let’s assume you’ve done everything right so far, and the talent recruiters have been impressed with your application. As a first step in the interview process, someone from the talent team will reach out to you to schedule an initial screening interview. Mostly, talent teams will email you asking for a convenient time to set up a call. Make sure you respond to the email promptly. If you missed responding in a timely manner, ensure that you apologise for doing so, whenever you do respond. Be very clear when you suggest available time slots for you to take interviews that you can genuinely be in a place where you can take that call without interference.

Most interviews, especially in this post Covid-19 era are or will be conducted over video conferencing. Remember, you have to make a good impression. Put effort into setting this up:

• Ensure you can take the call in an enclosed space. It is a horrible idea to do phone or VC interviews in the open, or in the middle of your work day.
• If the timing suggested by the talent team overlaps with you having to be at the office, be honest and let them know. Recruiters will understand and will work with you to schedule a time where you can have the physical space you need to interview well.
• Ensure everyone in your home is aware of the importance of this interview and that they are instructed to maintain silence till you are done with it.
• Take a shower, get a haircut, dress professionally, like you would if you were visiting the office in person.
• Ensure your computer has been restarted, all unnecessary processes stopped.
• Test your webcam and microphone.
• Use a wired connection for the interview and avoid using WiFi or 4G tethering.
• Find a desk lamp or ensure your room is brightly lit.
• Place the computer on a stack of books or a stand so the camera is at eye-level. It never looks good to be looking downwards into a webcam.
• Shut the door, shut the windows so you have as silent an ambience as possible.
• Ensure that you are sitting against a background that looks respectable. A blank, white wall is better than sitting in front of your messy bed.
• Log onto the call 5 mins earlier than your scheduled time. There is nothing worse than being late for an interview.

The above are very simple steps for interviews conducted over video conference. I personally have experienced some nightmare stories interviewing candidates, often for senior roles. One candidate hadn’t tested his microphone before the interview. I could barely hear him, with all sorts of static noises his device was making. Out of the half an hour scheduled for the interview, he wasted a good ten minutes troubleshooting his gear. And then when it didn’t work, banged his fist on the table in frustration. Another candidate showed up for the interview with his shirt unbuttoned, three buttons down, and wasn’t wearing an undershirt either. I had to politely suggest that he either button his shirt or turn his video off. Needless to say, that interview was not a successful one for him. And then there was that one who thought it was appropriate to participate in a VC interview with one of my female recruiters, laying down on his bed, contrapposto!

During interviews, be honest, be humble, and display curiosity. Don’t oversell yourself. Understand that hiring managers and recruiters are talking to candidates all the time. They can see right through someone trying to oversell themselves. Just be yourself. When you are honest, you tend to be more articulate. Never be afraid to say, “I don’t know, but I will make an effort to learn”. Always read about the company extensively before you interview with them. Understand the company’s greater business needs and speak to them. When you complete your interviews, it is always a good idea to email your recruiter a small note thanking the interviewer for their time. These are small moves that can go a long way in showing your professionalism.

Different hiring managers look for different values from a candidate. A candidate may be qualified for a particular role, but a manager may already have a similar skill set on the team, and may be looking for strengths in a different area. Sometimes, qualified people may not get hired for a role they may be right for. Never take it personally. If you don’t get the job, thank the team for their time, and ask them for feedback. Not all teams may relay feedback to you, but many do. Use it as an opportunity to do better next time. Maintaining your professionalism goes a long way.

This may have a been an incredibly long read, but I hope it was of some value to those hunting for a job. I took the time to write all this down because I care. I believe in the strength of professional networks. I found my current job and the one before that by applying via this platform, using a lot of the best practices mentioned above, without direct professional references within those companies. I am proof that the system works, if used correctly. And I hope this write-up helps others use it better. I hope everyone stays safe, and is able to ride out this incredibly difficult phase.

(I would like to reiterate that the above are my personal views and not necessarily reflective of the company or industry I work for. I am happy to answer any questions in the comments section. However, I will not be responding to any questions or queries specific to the company I work for as I have written this in a personal capacity).

Photos courtesy: PEXELS