Chapter 18
Engaging with Hiring Managers through Social Media
In This Chapter
Using the right online etiquette when contacting decision makers
Knowing when to follow the rules and how to use them to your advantage
Figuring out what to do after you apply for a position
Learning from a failed online approach to make sure you win the job the next time
As the saying goes, “You never have a second chance to make a first impression.” So make your online impression with a hiring manager count big-time by demonstrating your value without being pesky.
If you’re applying for a job, or if a hiring manager won’t talk to you until after you’ve formally submitted a résumé, then you can try several social media tricks to remain top of mind and relevant. In this chapter, I reveal these tricks and how to improve your online approach after experiencing a rejection.
In this chapter, I get you up-to-speed on proper online etiquette for communicating with a hiring manager, even if no jobs are open.
Reaching Out to the People with the Power to Hire You
In this day and age, using social media to reach out to hiring managers, those people who can make a decision about bringing you onboard at an organization, gives you a better chance of having your personal brand seen.
Contacting a hiring manager through, say, Twitter rather than by phone gives her more time to respond to you. Because you’re not sitting on the other end of the telephone line waiting for an immediate reaction, the decision maker has less pressure on her, which ultimately helps her let her guard down.
This strategy also gives her a chance to check you out first. And with your strong online presence, she’ll be able to experience your key message in a medium she prefers.
Hiring managers can browse your online profiles, Google your name, or do a background check before deciding that you’re not wasting their time. As long as you spent time polishing your profiles and improving your online reputation, you’ll improve your odds of hearing back.
The following sections help you make contact with your target hiring managers by following the proper online etiquette so you don’t wind up sounding like a pest. (Note: I’m presuming you’ve already created a list of hiring managers to contact. If you haven’t, flip to Chapter 15 before trying to apply the following advice.)
Getting introduced on LinkedIn
When using LinkedIn to make your first contact with a hiring manager (and chances are you’ll use LinkedIn to do this), never, ever, ever (did I say “ever” yet?) invite a hiring manager to connect with your network as your first communication. Many professionals guard their first-degree connections on LinkedIn very carefully. If a stranger comes around looking not only for a job but also for access to their network, they may get defensive. Restrain yourself from connecting with a hiring manager on LinkedIn until after you’ve met in person and you’ve asked whether it’s okay to connect (unless of course the hiring manager indicates something different on her profile).
The best way to contact a hiring manager via LinkedIn is through an introduction. A LinkedIn Introduction has two parts to it: a note to the person you’re targeting and a note to whoever’s introducing you to that person. Figure 18-1 shows you what a typical LinkedIn Introduction looks like. But if introductions don’t work, you can always try InMail.
Figure 18-1: A sample LinkedIn Introduction.
If you’ve done a good job conducting informational interviews, as described in Chapter 17, then you’ll have met with and made connections with people at your target organization. Adding these folks to your LinkedIn network increases the odds that you’ll become the second- or third-degree contact of your targeted hiring manager, which means you can ask for an introduction to that person through your first-degree contact.
The number of introductions you can request per month is limited depending on your level of subscription on LinkedIn. To ask for an introduction, follow these steps:
1. Navigate to the profile of the hiring manager you want to speak to.
2. Click on the Get Introduced link hidden behind the drop-down triangle next to Connect.
If you have more than one common contact, choose the contact most likely to pass on your connection request. Jot down your note to the introducer here.
3. Include the name of the person introducing you in the Subject line, such as, “Friend of Ian Troducer looking to connect about a potential fit.”
According to Neal Schaffer, a friend and fellow LinkedIn trainer, this approach to introduction subject lines adds credibility to the note and increases the likelihood that the person will respond.
By asking the introducer person to pass on your request, you’re asking her to put her reputation on the line for you, meaning she’s taking on some risk if you monkey things up. So be as respectful as you can of her time and willingness to help.
Many people, including me, have people in their network they don’t know very well. I’ve been asked by strangers to get introduced to friends in my network. Also, I’ve been asked by friends to get introduced to people I don’t know in my network. In both cases, I’ve either had to decline the request or ask for more information. Be prepared to get some push back from your introducer if they’ve ever been an open networker, like me. They might say, “I just don’t know the person you’re trying to meet”.
Pay as much attention to your request for an introduction as you do to your message to the hiring manager. When asking a contact for an introduction, make sure to follow these guidelines:
Tell the introducer why you want to talk to the target person. Reassure your contact that you’re not planning to ask the hiring manager for a job. Instead, you’re simply exploring the possibility of a fit between you and the hiring manager’s employer. Say how this introduction will help you with your professional goals.
Specify what the conversation will be about. Share the types of questions you plan to ask. Reassure the introducer that you won’t pester her contact.
Offer to answer additional questions about yourself and your intentions on the phone with the introducer. It helps to throw this option out there, but leave the final decision up to your contact. Don’t start calling her every day to find out whether she’s passed your introduction along. Just one call or reminder e-mail is sufficient.
Show appreciation for the impact this person may have on your career. Be professionally assertive, not casually apologetic. Say something like, “I would very much appreciate it if you would . . .”
Here’s an example of a note you may send to a contact asking for an introduction:
Hi [name of your contact],
I am interested in setting up an informational interview with [name of hiring manager], one of your connections on LinkedIn.
I want to ask her about open positions she may have at [target company] and see if I may be a fit for the organization.
If you are more comfortable passing on this introduction after a phone call, I am happy to chat with you about my intentions. You can decide whether to pass my name on from there.
Otherwise, I would very much appreciate it if you would forward my message to [name of hiring manager].
Thanks for your help,
[your name]
If you’re networking the way you should, which is a lot, then you may have many outstanding introduction requests. Keep track of them in a spreadsheet. If, after a reminder to your introducer, you are still not connected, withdraw your introduction request and find someone else to connect you to your target. I would give the introducer ten days to act or not before moving on. If the introduction approach doesn’t work and you’ve tried the other social networks, then see the later section in this chapter called “Making the gonzo approach.”
After you’ve been introduced, the onus is on you to take the next step. But proceed carefully. Because you’re not yet sure of your fit with the organization and, in some cases, you may not even know whether a position is open, don’t be overconfident in your message to the hiring manager. I’ve spoken with quite a few hiring managers who are turned off by candidates who insist they’re perfect for an organization even though they haven’t asked any questions yet. So instead of making this faux pas, be clear that you’re just looking to explore the possibility of a fit. After all, thinking you’re a fit and admitting that you’re curious to find out whether that’s true is perfectly okay.
Follow these guidelines when crafting your message to your target hiring managers:
Lead with something in common or how you found them. A common group, school, or interest is a great way to show that you’ve done your homework and helps hiring managers put their guard down. Pending that, context also helps open them up. For example, tell them you found them when researching your interest in XYZ Company.
Respect their time by getting to the point fast. If you think you’re a fit for the job, say, “I think I’m a fit.” You’re looking to explore the possibility of employment, so say so. There’s no shame in admitting that.
Show your value. This introduction may be your first impression, so do what you need to do to separate yourself from the crowd within the structure of your personal brand. (I help you craft this brand in Chapter 4.) Repurpose your value statement based on all the research you’ve done on the needs of the company and the hiring manager. (If you haven’t yet done this research, turn to Chapter 16 for some pointers on conducting it.)
Establish credibility. Use social proof, such as recommendations, blog traffic, and other evidence, that shows people respect you. Doing so reduces perceived risk about you as a candidate. How so? Well, if a hiring manager sees that other people are willing to vouch for you, then he knows that you must be all right.
Talk about how you can help them solve their problems or reach their goals. Remember that the job search is about the employer, not about you. The company has many choices about who it can hire, and you have lots of competition. The company is ultimately going to hire the person who seems like he’ll benefit the company the most.
Invite them to learn more about you before deciding. Take some of the pressure off by inviting hiring managers to see your blog, an online résumé that’s different from your LinkedIn profile, or other link. Inviting them to learn more about you also helps establish credibility. (For guidance on creating a blog, see Chapter 6; for the scoop on other online résumés, see Chapter 11.)
End with a request to move the conversation offline. Ask for a meeting and put a time limit around it. Be sure to be professionally assertive, not pushy or needy. You can take the conversation offline by meeting for coffee or meeting at the hiring manager’s office. For out-of-towners, you can simply request a phone call.
The sections that follow show you how to put all these elements together to craft your message to your target hiring manager based on whether that person’s company has an opening you’re interested in.
Example letter to a hiring manager if the company has an open position you want
When writing to a hiring manager who is actively trying to fill a position, you can approach your letter to them more directly. I suggest naming the position in the first sentence, as I do in the following example. Be sure to jump into some credibility-building statements derived from both your personal branding work and your research. End with a call to meet.
Hi Mary,
I found your listing for an Assistant Supply Chain Manager and think I may be a good candidate for the position based on the job description. Before I apply, I want to be sure that I’m not wasting your time or mine, so I’d love a chance to chat with you about a potential fit.
For the last nine months, I’ve volunteered at a local food distribution center that serves area homeless shelters. I’ve helped it increase throughput by 10 percent while simplifying the delivery routes and boosting participation. Prior to volunteering, I was supply-chain manager at Home Improvement, Inc., for five years.
You can view my online portfolio with some work samples at www.gittakwainted.com/ILoveSupplyChain, and I also blog about my views on supply chain at www.gittakwainted.com/blog, where I get 3-5 comments per post on average.
Do you have 10 to 15 minutes for a chat sometime this Thursday after 10 a.m. or Friday morning?
I look forward to speaking with you.
Thanks,
Gitta Kwainted
Example letter to a hiring manager if the company has no obvious openings in your field of interest
If you can’t find an open position, don’t worry. Most jobs never make it to job boards anyway. Plus a good hiring manager goes out of his way to meet potential candidates in the event something opens up. When writing to a hiring manager with no obvious positions open, you can lead with something you have in common instead of a specific opening. Because you’re not sure whether the hiring manager is currently looking to fill a position, be sure to say that you understand his situation. Check out the following example letter:
Hi Mary,
I found your name when researching fast-growing import/export businesses in town, and we are both in the Supply Chain LinkedIn Group. I’m not sure whether you’re hiring, but I’m impressed with what I’ve learned about your company so far. I’d love a chance to chat with you to see whether you have a place for my skills on your team.
For the last nine months, I’ve volunteered at a local food distribution center that serves area homeless shelters. I’ve helped it increase throughput by 10 percent while simplifying the delivery routes and boosting participation. Prior to volunteering, I was supply-chain manager at Home Improvement, Inc., for five years.
You can view my online portfolio with some work samples at www.gittakwainted.com/ILoveSupplyChain, and I also blog about my views on supply chain at www.gittakwainted.com/blog, where I get 3-5 comments per post on average.
I understand that you may not have any job openings now, but I would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to learn more about the company and any potential fit in the future.
Do you have 10 to 15 minutes for a chat sometime this Thursday after 10 a.m. or Friday morning?
I look forward to speaking with you.
Thanks,
Gitta Kwainted
Generating curiosity with Twitter
Twitter is a great tool for generating a hiring manager’s curiosity about you. The short bursts of interesting content directed at your target company can leave people wanting more and with the impression that you really know what you’re talking about.
A great way to generate some curiosity is to send a hiring manager an @reply message. An @reply is any tweet that includes the Twitter username of someone with the @sign in front, like @name. An @reply is a public tweet that the hiring manger is alerted to. But because you don’t want to keep this conversation in the public domain, try asking for a DM reply. A DM, or direct message, is a private tweet. Try something like, “I have some ideas that may help you with improving supply-chain costs. DM me back with an e-mail.”
The problem is that if you ask for a DM right away, people may think you’re spamming them. This is why you really should retweet them, send them interesting tweets, and begin to engage with them by asking questions or asking for their opinion on matters. See Chapter 12 for some great ways to warm things up before asking for a DM.
Knowing what’s relevant to hiring managers separates you from all the other job seekers they interact with on a daily basis. Take the time to research any problems that the company — and consequently the hiring manager — may be facing. If you do, you’ll automatically know what to say to get a hiring manager’s attention. Head to Chapter 16 for guidance on conducting your company-related research.
Calling in a favor on Facebook
When people tell me, “I only use Facebook for personal networking,” I respond with, “What’s more personal than getting referred into a new business opportunity?” After all, who else would feel the most comfortable putting their neck on the line for you than your closest friends and family?
And guess which social network is filled with your closest friends and family? Facebook! Remember the movie The Graduate? In it, the main character’s father has a house party filled with his closest friends. One family friend finds the 21-year-old graduate and offers to introduce him into the plastics industry, uttering those famous words, “Plastics, my boy! Plastics.” These days your Facebook network is likely to be full of people who can help you.
Using one of the apps I told you about in Chapter 13, see if any of the companies you’re targeting are represented in your network at all. You may stumble across a second- or even third-degree connection you had no idea about. For example, I recently learned that my aunt knows someone recently recruited by Google. If I wanted to, I could ask my aunt for that introduction, and because she’s known me since I was as tall as an apple, she would probably be more likely to introduce me than someone I met at a networking event last week.
If you try to send a message to someone you aren’t connected with, say if I try to bypass my aunt and directly message the contact at Google through Facebook, then my message will wind up in that person’s Other folder. Basically, this is how Facebook deals with spam prevention. Chances are your message won’t get read. So be sure you let your main contact initiate the first message.
Making the gonzo approach
Sometimes those hiring managers can be hard to track down. If you’ve exhausted all your warm approaches, like introductions on LinkedIn, tweets on Twitter, or referrals on Facebook, then it’s time to roll up your sleeves and go gonzo.
Currently, LinkedIn InMails get a higher open rate than regular e-mail (although with all the spammers now, that may change soon). So take advantage of this by trying a LinkedIn approach before sending a cold e-mail.
For many job seekers, you’ll find that you don’t have an option to send an InMail. You’re either not connected to the person enough or you’ve used up your monthly quota. If you’ve found someone you really want to talk to and are stuck, follow these easy steps:
1. Look at the person’s profile and note which Groups they’ve joined.
If you can’t even see the person’s full name, let alone their full profile, no sweat. Just copy their full job title and paste it into Google. If the job title is unique enough, they usually are, then the first result will be a nonrestricted version of the same profile.
2. Join one of the groups they’ve joined. For best results, join the group most relevant to your career aspirations or industry.
3. When you’re in the group, you will be able to send as many free messages to anyone else in the group, including the hard-to-reach hiring manager. And the cool thing with this approach is that now you have something in common to lead your message.
Should this LinkedIn Group method still prove unsuccessful for you, then pick one of the following cold approaches:
Look the person up on ZoomInfo.com. This website provides you with e-mail addresses.
Find someone else’s e-mail address from the same company to learn the pattern. It might be first initial.last name, or last name.first six characters of first name @company.com. Whatever the pattern is, try it out for your contact. The easiest e-mail to find is the PR person. Google the company’s name and “PR” as a start.
Check the Whois record on the website. Every website has a Whois record, the person responsible for the domain name. Use a Whois Lookup service to uncover the company’s e-mail pattern.
Call the front desk of the company and ask for the e-mail address. I’ve found gatekeepers don’t like to give out phone numbers but seem willing to give out e-mail addresses if you’re polite enough.
Visit this reference site to see if your target company's e-mail pattern is listed: https://sites.google.com/site/emails4corporations/home.
Following up the right way
What do you do if you haven’t heard back from a hiring manager after a week? Keep in mind that a nonresponse or a slow response may have nothing to do with you. Before you jump to any conclusions, consider some of these possibilities:
The person may be very busy.
You may have picked the wrong person to talk to about the opportunity.
The person may not check his LinkedIn messages very often.
The job position may be very competitive and the person has chosen to not respond.
The person’s HR department may forbid her from responding.
I knew a hiring manager who was very busy and also very clear in setting expectations with candidates. One time, he told a candidate that he’d get back to her in about five days. But this candidate called the next morning, then e-mailed, then called again the day after that. Her persistence turned into peskiness and showed the hiring manager that she couldn’t take direction.
If you don’t hear back after your first attempt to get a hiring manager’s attention, hold off a week before trying again. When you do try again, it’s better to assume that he’s busy, not that he thinks you’re inadequate. For example, your second communication may start off with, “It seems like things must be really busy for you right now. I can appreciate that, which is why I’d be even more appreciative of just a few minutes of your time at your convenience to discuss . . . ”
After making three attempts to follow up with the same hiring manager, with at least a week between each attempt, give up and try someone else.
“Apply First”: Dealing with HR’s Insistence on Following the Rules
If you’re reaching out to a hiring manager who has a position open that you want to fill, you may find this person unwilling to talk with you until after you’ve followed company procedure and actually applied to a job posting. Either the company is strict about its internal processes or the job opening is so competitive that employees are overwhelmed by people asking them for advice. In either case, following the rules is a wise choice.
The following four-step strategy has worked for many people in situations where a hiring manager has asked them to follow standard procedure:
1. Do your research about the job opening and the company.
Be sure you tailor your résumé and value statements appropriately.
2. Apply to the job according to the company’s instructions.
The company has either an applicant system or a designated e-mail address.
3. Follow up immediately with your closest connection at the company.
If you were able to get in a few info interviews, follow up with your info sources to let them know that you formally applied. If you have closer relationships, you may even ask them to flag your résumé. Flagging your résumé means a person mentions you to the HR department, which likely brings your résumé to the top of the pile.
4. Ask the hiring manager whether you can answer any additional questions about your application.
Often an HR department needs to go through some background checks or maybe even a phone screening with you before it passes on your application to the hiring manager. However, the hiring manager can put pressure on the HR department to speed this process up and even make sure you make it through. So stay in touch with your hiring manager contact as you go through the HR process.
If the company has a new-employee referral program, your info interview source may have a financial incentive to recommend you for a position. Find out whether the company has such a program and make sure you’re seen as the best candidate to stand behind. When I worked at Cisco, I recommended talented people to HR all the time, hoping to collect my $2,500 bonus. However, before I referred people, they had to prove to me that they had a very strong chance of getting the position.
Using social media to get an edge when applying to a well-known company
When the barriers to blogging went down along with the economy in 2009, websites like www.bsfshouldhire.me and www.twittershouldhireme.com started to appear, but the strategy of creating such a site isn't very creative or compelling anymore. However, these campaigns do offer the following lessons that are still applicable when applying to a job at a company with a well-known brand:
Growing a social media following is easier when applying to a big company with a brand name.
Building a social media following only works when you come across with authenticity and your story is compelling for others.
Sharing your job search publicly and authentically (like through your blog or website) can demonstrate your credibility as long as you don’t get into too much detail (like salary).
Having followers rally behind your goal to get a job can feel great and does wonders to your personal brand.
Using the names of big companies on social media channels gets their attention.
Having fun and being creative in your campaign can go a long way.
If you do have aspirations of making it into a large organization, you may consider trying out these techniques to get noticed. You never know what opportunities may arise by putting yourself out there.
Impressing a smaller company with your social media prowess
Most small businesses compete against their larger counterparts through their market agility. They’re able to respond to customer requirements faster, develop features faster, and enter new markets faster. Being cutting edge and responsive in your own online presence is a great way of aligning yourself with the needs of a small business.
Shane Barker, who I write about in an article at http://bit.ly/shane-barker, was hired by a small startup and eventually made into a partner. But his real dream was simply getting hired by the San Francisco 49ers. His blog post, "San Francisco 49ers Social Media: Why Hire Shane Barker" ultimately got him the attention of the startup community . . . not the 49ers. When you put yourself out there, you never know what surprises will happen.
By the very fact that you’re willing to adopt and use social media to manage your career, you’re not only communicating that you’re open to change but also demonstrating that you have what small businesses need to remain competitive. Don’t be afraid to leave comments on a company’s blog, interact with it on Twitter, and write about it to your own blog readers.
Helping Out Your Application
After you’ve applied for a job with an organization, you still have some work to do. Remember that at least 16 other people are likely to apply for the same position (according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics); in some cases, up to 300 people may apply for one position (according to some job boards). Although you may be qualified, your application may not even be looked at. I encourage you to do the following after submitting your application in order to lend it a helping hand:
Go radio silent on your Twitter account and other networks in regards to that company. Companies aren’t happy when candidates talk about the fact that they’ve applied to a job or about private conversations they’ve had with their staff. Now that you’ve applied, let things fall where they may. Private correspondence is fine, however.
E-mail any contacts you’ve made during your info interviewing and your discussions with hiring managers. Let them know that you applied, that you’re available to answer any questions, and that you’re more passionate than ever before about the possibility of working with them based primarily on their generosity of time and information.
If you really want to know where your application stands, follow the company on LinkedIn and pay attention to whether any new hires have been added recently. If you see someone has taken the position you just applied to, move on.
Turning Rejection into a Chance to Improve
Whether you’re applying to a particular position or just reaching out to hiring managers to explore possibilities, the results of your efforts won’t always go your way. If you don’t get the job or if hiring managers don’t want to talk to you, it’s probably not your fault. Don’t take it to heart. Instead, look at what you did well and what you can improve on. Then the next time you make a move into a company, you’ll have an even better strategy.
If you’ve had personal contact with the hiring manager, he may personally let you know that you weren’t chosen. If not, he may just let HR send an impersonal form letter. In that case, you need to ask for feedback so you can learn from your mistakes. When asking for feedback, query the hiring manager, not HR. The decision maker chose someone else for a reason, and that reason may be valuable information to help you do better next time.
Make sure you follow a rejection letter with some of the questions in the following list (don’t ask all of them; just pick three):
Was there something in particular about my qualifications that lead you to this decision?
Did you have any reservations about hiring me that I can know about?
Is there a particular skill or certification that, if I had it, would have helped me get the position?
Could I have improved my communication with you in any way?
What could I have done better to influence your decision in my favor?
Please describe the person who did get the job. What made that person different/better than me?
Would you offer me any advice as I move ahead with my job search?
I suggest using e-mail to ask these questions rather than LinkedIn. In most cases, you’re alerted of the rejection via e-mail, and all you have to do is reply. If you don’t have an e-mail address or an e-mail to reply to, then a LinkedIn message is the next best option. You may use a subject line like, “Quick follow-up on the XYZ position.” Just be sure you don’t come across as whining or nagging.
Not all hiring managers are willing to answer these questions, but it’s worth a try. Preface your reply with a statement like this, “As a professional, I’m always looking to improve myself. Would you be so kind as to answer the following questions for me? Please be as direct as you can.” Giving them permission to be direct is important. Fluffy answers won’t help you. Never get defensive if a hiring manager gives you hard feedback. Just reply with a simple “Thank you.”