How can you use LinkedIn most effectively to get an executive job this year? LinkedIn is absolutely a powerhouse for executive searching. In the last 3 years, the platform has really come into its own. But it’s not the LinkedIn job boards that are helping executives get their next job. (Keep reading to learn what part of LinkedIn to use...)
Instead, it’s using the platform as your main communication channel to reach out to the person who can become your next boss. LinkedIn is the best place to find and reach out to a decision-maker and connect with them. I'll give you a paint-by-numbers approach in this blog post.
Many people think of these connections as a way of selling themselves, but they often make a tragic mistake: they try to sell themselves too quickly.
If you’re going to use LinkedIn to find the right people and to see and be seen by the right people, you want to start by sending a connection request to the person at the company where you’d like to work who would be your boss. And you want to match this person to the level you’re targeting.
For example, let’s say you’re at a Manager level and you would like to make a move up to Director in your next role. You'll want to target one level above your target role, which would be a Senior Director level, maybe even a VP, depending on the size of the company. Find the person at your target company who would be the boss of the role you’re targeting and send that person a connection request. Be sure to personalize it and mention something specific about them or their company. (It's best to mention something about that person that is impressive.)
But here’s the trick: don’t mention that you’re looking for a job. Don’t mention it at all!
Now that you’re connected with that person, or perhaps even before you reach out, start to put some content on your LinkedIn profile. You can share your own insights on leadership or on the industry of your target company, your take on someone else’s posts that you like, and even write your own LinkedIn articles. Don't overthink it!
If you want to be a thought leader,
you have to get your thoughts out there.
Let’s say you want to write an article on LinkedIn. Keep it simple with a title like “3 Things to Keep in Mind When Selling to Enterprise Clients.”
In the article, you can list the 3 main points and then include a quick blurb at the end about how you’ve done that in your own career. And remember: anytime you share a specific achievement story, put quantifiable results in there whenever possible.
About a week after you’ve made the connection with the decision-maker, send them a link to your LinkedIn article – either on your newsfeed or in a direct message to that person.
In a direct message, let them know that you just published this article you think they might be interested in reading because it relates to something specific about that person or their company.
Give it another week or so before you reach out again to invite them to have a conversation. With this approach, you avoid coming on too strong too soon. Instead, you show them the gaps that you are uniquely positioned to fill and the problems you’re able to solve.
In other words, you meet them in their headspace—right where they are. For instance, let’s say you’re really good at turning around underperforming operations. You could let this person know that if their operations are still struggling from the pandemic and they’re wrestling to find a plan to get the company out of the hole they're in, perhaps you could have a conversation because that is your expertise.
By speaking to their pain points and demonstrating how you can meet their needs, you’ll get a better response than if you just told them you’re the best thing since sliced bread!
You probably won't know for sure that they have the pain point you are best at solving, but you can either do a little research on what the company is going through or simply put what you have conquered throughout your career - what you are known for solving.
Don’t sell yourself too quickly.
You have to build your value first.
Now, how do you find the right people on LinkedIn when you don’t even know all the companies that are out there? This is where Sales Navigator comes in.
A Sales Navigator subscription through LinkedIn costs $80 a month and will enable you to utilize tons of filters to find the exact decision-makers you’re looking for. You can search through all kinds of filters like geographical location, industries, specialties, etc. You can even search through lead filters versus account filters—leads being the individual people and accounts being the companies you’d want to work for.
This way, you can find the individual names of the people you want to connect with and send them connection requests, one at a time. For CRC clients, we play a bit of a numbers game. We help our clients get out 75 to 100 connection requests on a daily basis and we routinely get them a 30% to 40% acceptance rate.
This approach allows you to completely avoid cold calls and focus on meaningful conversations. You’ll be able to speak directly to the person who would become your boss in the company you want to work for. No more placing cold calls and waiting around for them to reach back to you, or fumbling around on the phone, trying to sell yourself to someone who has no idea why they are talking with you.
It’s not an outbound campaign but an inbound one: if they’re interested, they’ll contact you to have a conversation. With this approach, they do know you’re looking for a job. They see your experience on LinkedIn, and they are interested—otherwise, they wouldn’t have said yes to the connection request! This means they are interested in talking with you about opportunities. You’re laying the groundwork for a hiring process without even having to sell yourself too much.
I have built an entire program around this approach, which is the foundation for CRC's Networking Superhighway program, which is a two-month, one-on-one coaching program of active outreach instruction, including extensive coaching on how to have these exploratory conversations with your target hiring manager with the authority to create a job for you with no competition in a company that you would love to work for and that can definitely pay you what you are worth.
If you'd like to talk with me about this program to see if it's right for your situation, click the button below to schedule a convenient time for us to explore a partnership.
