Hey, everybody, Don Georgevich here with Job Interview Tools. Today, I want to talk to you about using LinkedIn to get job interviews.
So, I recently had a client write in and she said, “Hey, Don, I’ve got a job interview coming up and I want to know if it’s okay to send the recruiter a LinkedIn invitation before my interview.” And if you want to know what I told her, go ahead and hit the “Like” button on this video. Subscribe to my channel, ring the bell. We’ll dive right in.
So, anyway, Gabriella; she writes in, she says like, “Don, I’ve got an interview coming up. And is it okay if I send out a LinkedIn invitation to the manager before our interview?” And my answer to that was, “Yeah, why not?”
But if you do that, don’t use the standard greeting. Because when you go to send an invite through LinkedIn, they just have a standard greeting that says, “Hi, this is Don. I’d like you to join my LinkedIn network.” It’s really dull and boring.
You want to use a warmer introduction; something like, “Hey, this is Don. I’m really looking forward to our interview next week for the marketing manager position. And I’d like to ask you to join my LinkedIn network.” You know, something like that. Don’t use exactly what I said, but do something that suits you, that fits you and fits your personality.
And what this is going to do, it’s going to just make some initial contact with the interviewer and kind of letting them know that you’re LinkedIn savvy out there. You’ve got a profile and maybe you have some stuff on your profile that isn’t quite on your resumé.
Because your resumé only gives you so many options to say certain things a certain way. But with your LinkedIn profile, you have a lot more flexibility of how you can present yourself.
So, sending a LinkedIn invitation to the hiring manager and even in that invitation, drawing attention to a certain part of your LinkedIn profile might help. You might say, “Hey, I’ve got some really unique marketing experience under ABC company. And here’s my LinkedIn profile. Take a look at that and let me know if you think.” Something like that.
But it gives you that extra opportunity to give yourself that extra edge above everybody else. Because I can tell you right now, most job candidates are not sending out those LinkedIn invitations to the hiring managers.
Yeah, of course, you are because you’re watching this video right now. But all the other people who aren’t so fortunate to watch this video and get the special inside tip, they’re not going to do that.
And that’s going to put you at an advantage over them, because it’s giving you that opportunity to make that one extra connection with the hiring manager. That way, before you even go to the interview, you’ve already exchanged LinkedIn information. Maybe you’ve looked at his or her profile and he’s looked at yours and maybe you even start a little bit of dialogue going back and forth. And you get some pre-interview questions answered and addressed and you make that extra special connection.
And that way, when you go to the actual interview, you feel like you know the person because you’ve already chatted a little bit through email and LinkedIn Messenger. And now you’ve kind of warmed up your relationship a little bit and it’s taking it a step farther; that little bit farther than everybody else.
And that’s what you need. When you’re interviewing for jobs, you’ve got to remember; there’s a 100 other people that want the job that you’re applying to. And of those 100 people that applied for that job, maybe only 10 or 15 are going to get the call for the interview, maybe. But still 15 to 20 people to one.
So, you need to set yourself apart. You need to stand out. You need to make yourself look a little bit different than everybody else. Otherwise, if you don’t, you’re just going to blend in; look like everybody else and they’re not going to know. They’re not going to know you from anybody else. So, that’s just one little idea.
And since Gabrielle has sent this to me, I actually had another idea about how to use LinkedIn to help you get interviews. Because, I mean, think about this. All the jobs that are out there — I mean, you probably heard this before, all the jobs out there, they’re not posted online. The jobs that are posted online are just a tiny fraction of all the jobs that are available.
But how do you find out about all these jobs that are available if they’re not posted anywhere? That is a trick. Quite a trick indeed.
One of the ways to find those jobs is through networking. So, maybe, you know somebody. You know somebody who works at Google or Facebook or Amazon or wherever it is. And they like, “Hey, Don, we’ve got an opening over here. We’re not going to post it yet, but why don’t you reach out to the hiring manager, you know?” So, that’s one way to do is through networking.
But let’s say you’re like me. And while everybody else out there who doesn’t have that big network of people where they can just call a few friends and get a job, I mean, I wish I had that kind of network, but I don’t. And it’s valuable. Building all those relationships throughout your lifetime and all these connections really pay off in the end and allow you to navigate your career and employers with great ease.
So, let’s just say you don’t have a big network; like most people don’t. What can you do to use LinkedIn and networking to get those opportunities? Well, I’ll tell you; I got a great idea for you.
Have I told you that you can reach out to hiring managers through LinkedIn Messenger and request an invitation? Well, let’s say there’s a certain place that you want to work at. And let’s just say (I’m just going to say Google. Even though that’s like the biggest place on the planet, I’m just going to say Google) and you can apply this methodology to really any type of company.
So, let’s say you’re interested in working in the R&D (Research and Development) Department in Google. So, how do you get a job in there? How do you get in there? How do you find out what’s available if nothing’s posted online?
Well, let’s just say you use LinkedIn and you go out and you find human resources managers that work at Google or hiring managers that work at Google or managers that work in R&D. Let’s just say you go find the manager of R&D at Google. I bet I could do that right now. If I had LinkedIn up, I could go find the Research and Development Manager at Google or Amazon or Microsoft or anywhere else.
Find that person and then reach out to them through LinkedIn and say “Hello, Mr. R&D manager, (Use their name)” but you’ll say, “Hey, I noticed you work in R&D at Google, and I’m really interested in the position over there. And I wondered if you guys have anything that’s open. I have a really unique background in research and development” or “I just graduated from Stanford with a degree in engineering”, whatever it is. Start that conversation through the LinkedIn Messenger while you’re requesting that they connect to your network or they join your network. That makes sense?
I mean, just think about it. Think about this for a second. You reach out to a R&D manager at Google. You say, “I’m interested in working there. And what kind of positions do you have?”
Now, remember, this person, they’re just a manager there. They’re not in human resources. They’re not a gatekeeper. They’re not screening anybody. It’s just wide open. And they might say, “You know what, Don? We don’t have anything right now. But I happen to know that in our other office over in San Francisco (Actually they’re in San Francisco.) But in our other office in Cleveland, Ohio, they actually have some openings in that area. Let me forward your contact information over to the manager in that area.” You just nailed it.
Or they might come back and say, “You know what? We don’t have any openings right now, but we’re going to in a couple of months. Can you send me over your resumé in the meantime?”
Only good things can happen. And when you’re doing it this way, you’re leaving out all the job boards and you’re going direct to the source.
Now, it’s different. It takes a little bit more skill to navigate that area if you’re not used to it. I mean, if you’re just kind of the person who always reads the job boards and posts and read the job boards and post (Post and pray, I think, is what they call it), because you’re sending in your information and usually you just never hear back.
But cut all that stuff out. Use LinkedIn direct. And you don’t have to pay for this. I mean, this is free. You LinkedIn is a free tool. And all you got to do is just go find the place that you want to work, go look up the managers that work there and then reach out to them directly with a kind, warm, heartfelt LinkedIn invitation and then start a conversation.
It’s that easy. It doesn’t get any easier than that. Where are you looking for something hard? Well, it’s not.
So, it’s all I got for you today. Oh, hey, while you’re here, you know what? I got something free for you too. I actually have a special guide I created about LinkedIn and how to create a strong LinkedIn profile. And I think it’s called Seventeen Minutes to LinkedIn Success. And you can get that for free from jobinterviewtools.com.linkedin. And I will put a link for that below this video.
Go there, put in your email address, tell me where to send it and we’ll send you a free copy, compliments of me.
And while you’re here, I kind of have a gift for you too. I love giving this away because when you get those interviews and you start using LinkedIn to get those interviews, you’re going to need help answering the questions. And this top ten guide here, this is free. Absolutely free. You didn’t know you’re going to get all this free stuff coming here today, just watching this little video.
But anyway, you can download it for free; jobinterviewtools.com/top10. This is going to tell you how to answer some of the most common interview questions. And one of the questions you’re going to need to know how to answer, “Why do you want to work here?”
So, if you are searching out the Research and Development Manager at Google, why the heck do you want to work at Google? Why do you want to work there? You obviously don’t want to work there just because you want a job; there’s something more. Something more about Google that’s attracting you or Facebook or Amazon or Microsoft. You know, those are just three of the companies in the United States. There’s ten thousand others.
So, why do you want to work at that company? You’re going to want to have a good answer for it. It’s not just because you need a job or you need the money. And maybe that’s the truth, but you need a bigger reason because there’s 50 other people that want to work there, too, that have bigger reasons than “I just need a job.”
So, this little guide here; top ten questions can teach you how to answer, “Why do you want to work here?” It’s also going to teach how to answer, “Tell me about yourself” and “Your greatest weaknesses and strengths.” It’s going to cover all of those.
This is a great little guide. Get it from jobinterviewtools.com/top10. It is absolutely free.
That is all I have for you today. I really hope you enjoyed this video. And if you did, I would appreciate if you give it a Like.” Subscribe to my channel. I will see you in the next video. Bye now.
