TL;DR:

Build an outstanding LinkedIn profile, introduce yourself to hundreds of recruiters, attend interviews and sign the contract ✅

The long version

It was the summer of 2017, I finished university, I had close to zero professional experience, I wanted to grow and I was ready to move to a new country.

With almost zero savings in my bank account, going to a random city and chasing work onsite was not an option. I wanted to sign a contract before making the move.

I was also a little lazy, to be honest. I wanted to skip applying to hundreds of jobs, write motivation letters and hope that someone will answer. There must be another way. Something more fun. Something more effective.

Turns out there is, hello LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a social network tailored to professionals. It is the place to be to showcase your experience, achievements and your thoughts about your industry. You can connect with thousands of people from all over the world.

There are a lot of recruiters whose job is to match people with companies. They also get paid for this(anything between 5—20% of one year’s salary of the hire), meaning they have a big incentive to find as many people as possible.

If I connect with enough recruiters and make a good first impression, they are going to do the heavy lifting of putting my resume in front of the right people. Often they also work for more than one company, increasing the value of every outreach.

I saw an opportunity here

Breaking it down

1. Polish your profile

You want to make a good first impression and a big part of it will be having an updated and well-crafted profile.

• Make sure to have a high quality, professional profile picture, it helps to make your profile more personal and put a face to the data.
• Your headline is what appears underneath your name. It should be memorable, include keywords related to your expertise and make clear what are you capable to do.
• In the summary section, try to showcase your talents, highlight successes with numbers, tell your short story and be authentic. Avoid using cliche-words, like passionate, strategic or expert. The goal here is the same, to stand out from the crowd.
• Include your work experience with a proper description of your responsibilities, list your education and showcase your side projects.
• Try to get endorsements on your listed skills. It looks nicer if there are people who approve your knowledge.
• Ask for recommendations. While endorsements look good, the real social proof comes with the recommendations. Ask a former colleague, your teacher or some of your friends to highlight who you are and why should others care.

2. Connect with recruiters

Recruiters are the bridge between you and the companies. You want to connect with them because they are the ones who will introduce you to different companies and guide you throughout the whole hiring process.

• First, compose a good connection message. Include a brief introduction of you, why do you want to connect with the person and why should they accept you. At the time of writing, there is a 300 character limit on this message, so use your characters smart.
• Go to the search bar, type in ”technical/sales/marketing recruiter” and filter on your preferred cities.
• Finally, start sending out the connection requests. Remember to include the connection message with your invite.

Some people will not accept the request. Even who accepts it, it is possible that they will not able to help you. And that’s fine. The law of large numbers is on our side. The probability of you stumbling upon someone who can help you increases with every request you send out.

3. Getting to know the recruiters

Your profile is on point, you’ve sent out hundreds of connection requests and you’ve found some great people to collaborate with. Good job!

Usually, you will have a brief call with the recruiter, where they want to find out more about you. They will be curious about your job preferences, relevant skills, work experience, and your personality.

If everything goes well, they are going to introduce you to some of the companies they work with.

4. The interviews

This will be different for each one of you, depending on your field of expertise. But, you can use these general tips, no matter where you apply to.

• Research about the company. Try to get a lot of information. Check their website, read their blog, find articles about them. If you want to dig deep, connect with a few employees(on LinkedIn for example) and get input from them.
• Ask questions. What do they expect from you? How is the company culture? What is their story? Future plans? What about competitors? Asking a lot of questions will convince the hiring managers of your true interest in their company.
• Leave talking about the compensation package for later. Starting with the benefits will imply that money is your sole motivator.
• Be on time. Remember, the first impression is super important. Being late to the first meeting will have the opposite effect.
• If the interview is online, make sure to be in a quiet space with a stable internet connection.

Try to get multiple offers. This will increase your negotiation power. It will also make you feel more confident, which is always a good thing.

5. Sign the contract

Congratulations, you’ve made it!

You’ve completed all the steps and got offered a contract. If it is a “fuck yes”, go ahead and sign it.

Now you can sit back, pat yourself on the back for the effort and prepare for the new adventure.

Final thoughts

Now go out, create your profile if you don’t have one and take steps towards your dream job.

If you want to move to a new country, check out my other post, where I share some of the things you should consider before moving to a new place.

Check out this excellent post if you want to take my advice to the next level, the author gives a bunch of practical advice. Get some snacks as well, as it’s going to be a long read.

What do you think of this approach? What’s your go-to strategy when looking for new opportunities? Do you have any other creative methods to find your dream job? Let me know in the comments section or feel free to reach out to me on any of the socials listed down below.

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