The 3 Kinds of LinkedIn Messages That Are Unlikely to Get a Response

Author: Emily Liou

As a career coach, my inbox is often flooded with messages from people I’m connected with on LinkedIn who are reaching out about something or another. Now, I don’t mean to be judgmental, but I often find myself sighing with annoyance when I open them up—so much so that I was motivated to write this article.

You see, the thing is, I’m open to making new connections and willing to talk to anyone, so the fact that I often put off responding to messages means people are missing the mark. And that stinks because it takes effort to both find people to connect with in the first place and then cultivate a networking relationship from there.

I want to be excited when I read your message and I know you want that, too (or at least I hope you do!). Often times, it only takes a few tweaks to your words or tone to make that possible.

Below are messages inspired by real ones I’ve received along with my thoughts on why they’re not the best approach.

Quick note though: Unless you have LinkedIn Premium, you’ll need to connect before you send a message. But that doesn’t mean you can just send the generic invite. Instead, send a customized one with with these short templates so they’ll accept your request and you’ll be able to actually send over a note.

1. The Empty Query

Initial Reaction

It’s nice that you want to find a way to help one another out, but this message doesn’t give me anything to work with. Perhaps there’s something in my my background that led you to reach out in this manner?

Revised

Why This Is Better

Anyone can spot a generic, non-customized message from three Wi-Fi zones away, and if you care about standing out, you’ll be careful not to be labeled as generic, right? The updated version attempts to start building a rapport. By including a customized, targeted line, I can tell George has looked into my background and is excited about finding a way to potentially work together. And that makes me much more inclined to respond to this.

2. The Vague Ask

Initial Reaction

How’s everything? Hm, that’s a rather large question for someone I don’t know in real life. In fact, I’m not sure I’d even know where to begin in responding to this person.

The Revised Message

Why This Is Better

Being clear up front is just good business. It sets clear intentions and demonstrates professionalism. Many people have experienced accepting a meeting only to find it turn into a sales pitch. If you’re clear about the reason why you’re reaching out, you’re going to build a higher level of trust out the gate and find people who are attracted to your proposal. This is what building a network is all about.

3. The Forceful Demand

Initial Reaction

Hi Matt. My current profile has been updated to indicate that I’m no longer a recruiter (not to mention I definitely don’t specialize in the Florida market as I’m in Los Angeles). If you’re going to spend the time, energy, and effort in sending messages and attempting to foster relationships, it’s far more more effective if you target the correct audience.

The Revised Message

Why This Is Better

If you’re actively seeking a new position and are wanting to connect, it makes a huge difference if you can share in a couple of sentences what you’re looking for and a glimpse of what you bring to the table. Even though I’m no longer entrenched in the recruiting world, I’m still well-connected.

If Matt had demonstrated clear professionalism in a straightforward introduction, and made note of target roles he’s seeking, I’d for sure be inclined to point him to resources or ask him for his resume to pass along.

The thing to remember is that if you’re asking one of your LinkedIn contacts for something, you need to make it as easy as possible for that person to follow up.

It may be difficult to see it, but every piece of correspondence counts—from the way you first connect to how you stay connected. Don’t randomly reach out to 20 of your LI connections for the sake of hoping something falls into place in your job search. By building off of the revised templates above, you’ll be able to initiate conversations that result in meaningful networking relationships.

Photo credit: wernerimages/Getty Images.

To read the original article, click here.


3 Steps to a Perfect Informational Interview

Author: Lily Zhang

Let’s say you managed the tricky process of asking for an informational interview (and yes, we've got tips for that, too ) and have succeeded in arranging a meeting with an amazing contact.

What now? How do you make the most of this conversation—while still keeping things casual and comfortable?

As always, it’s just a matter of being prepared. Here’s a three-part process for your next meeting that’ll make sure you get the advice you need and make a great impression .

1. Warm Up

People love to talk about themselves, so when you first sit down, let them! Get the conversation going by asking your contact something about his or her experiences thus far—something he or she knows all about. Some good places to begin:

  • How did you get your start in this field?
  • What’s it like working at your company?
  • What projects are you working on right now?
  • What’s your opinion on [exciting development in the industry]?

You should also be prepared to chat about yourself, your past experiences, and your career goals. Remember, this meeting isn’t just a time to ask for advice and learn from your contact’s experiences—it’s also a chance to make an impression. For example, don’t be afraid to preface your questions with what you already know. Something like, “It looks like recent developments in the field of nuclear fission are going to be pretty disruptive to the energy industry. How do you think this will affect your company?”

2. Get What You Want

After you’ve made some general conversation, it’s time to move on to what you came for : the advice you can’t get anywhere else.

Before the meeting, think through the insider information you want to learn from this person. What information are you seeking? Is there something you can learn from this person that would be difficult for you to learn on your own? Depending on where you are in the job search process, adjust your questions accordingly.

For example, if you’re still in exploration mode, trying to find out if, say, working for an educational technology startup is for you, then ask questions like:

  • How did you choose this company or position over others in your field?
  • What is the most rewarding thing about working in this industry? The most challenging?
  • My background is in urban planning—how do you think I can best leverage my previous experience for this field?

If you’re further along in your job search and could use some job hunting and interviewing tips for specific companies, don’t be afraid to ask questions like:

  • I’m waiting to hear back about interviews for positions—what advice would you give me about how to best prepare?
  • What experiences, skills, or personality traits does your company look for in new hires?
  • What do you wish you had done differently when you first started at your company?
  • What job search advice would you give to someone in my situation?

Of course, you’ll want go with the flow of the conversation —you’re trying to build a relationship, not fire off as many questions as you can. Also remember that what these questions have in common is that they are all seeking advice. Keep it that way. It’s no mystery that you are clearly looking for a new position or career change, and the fastest way to alienate your contact is to ask for a job (or anything along those lines). If your contact offers to forward your resume based on your conversation, then by all means, take advantage of it. But that process is for him or her to initiate, not you.

3. Tap Into Their Network

That said, as you’re wrapping up the meeting, you should ask for recommendations for two or three more people who would be good to talk to as you continue networking. The likelihood someone will take time to chat with you goes up significantly if your initial request comes through a mutual contact, so it’s a fast, easy way to talk to even more people.

The key here is to make your request as specific as possible. This might be counterintuitive, but it actually makes it easier for your contact to think of someone when you say, “Could you recommend a couple more people for me to speak with to learn more about exit opportunities after a career in consulting ?” than to come up with an answer to, “Is there anyone else you would recommend that I speak with?”

To recap: Get the conversation going, know what you want to get out of the meeting, and don’t leave without knowing who you’re contacting next. And don’t forget to follow up with a thank-you note! Better yet, follow up again with an update on your meetings with the people he or she recommended and the results of your job search. After all, your informational interviewees aren’t just useful for their one-time advice—they can become a long-term part of your network.

Photo of informational interview courtesy of Shutterstock .

To read the original article, click here.


4 Tips for Reaching Out to Someone You Admire on LinkedIn

Author: Lily Herman

Every LinkedIn user has had that moment: You’re scrolling through profiles and stumble upon your role model. Whether it’s someone who works for a company you love or someone who has the career of your dreams, you’re now dying to talk to him or her.

The question is, how do you reach out without it seeming weird, random, or awkward?

Well, it’s not quite as hard as you think. Here’s my advice for actually reaching out to a stranger on LinkedIn—and getting a response.

1. Figure Out if LinkedIn Is the Best Way to Reach Out

Before you click the “Message” button and declare your admiration, make sure you check that person’s profile to see if there are any specific requests about messages. For example, does he only want notes from people he already knows in person? Does she ask people with inquiries to send her an email instead of a LinkedIn message? These are things to figure out beforehand, because it could keep you from getting a response.

For example, my website, The Prospect, has a high school internship program that requires applicants to send materials to us via our company email. One day I opened up my LinkedIn profile and was surprised to find a high school student’s internship application in my inbox with no explanation of why I was receiving it on my personal profile. Not only was it random, but I could tell that the person obviously didn’t follow our application instructions. Why would I consider someone for an internship who obviously didn’t follow directions or offer any reason for doing so?

My advice? Do a little digging (er, stalking) before you send a message. For all you know, you could be shooting yourself in the foot by sending it to the wrong place.

2. Find Common Career Ground

Since LinkedIn is centered around careers, it’s important for there to be some job-related link between you and the person you admire. This could be pretty much anything, from working in the same industry to knowing a couple of the same people, but it’s important to do a little more digging—both on LinkedIn and on the web as a whole—to find that common ground. Believe me: It’s much easier to break the ice when your message is tethered to something career-related and personal than to something generic (“Hey, I see that you live in New York…”).

For example, if you saw this person speak at an event recently (as in, within the last week or so), use that as the jumping off point for a stellar opening line to your message (“I saw your speech about Y at event X and had a couple of questions for you”). If you have a mutual contact who both of you know very well, that person can also be a great tool (“Jenny Smith and I were talking the other day about awesome programmers, and she suggested I contact you”).

3. Avoid the “Can I Have a Job?” Line

This is an obvious one, yet people still do it all the time: Do not ask for a job from someone you admire but don’t know. Rarely do people hand out jobs to strangers they’ve never had any contact with before. Plus, chatting with people on LinkedIn is great for making connections with colleagues in the same field or professional circles, but it’s not meant to be the pinnacle of your professional relationship with someone—just a jumping off point. A connection on LinkedIn should lead to a working online relationship or a lunch or coffee meeting, not just more online interaction.

Some great reasons to want to contact someone on LinkedIn? If you’re looking for specific industry advice from someone in your field or wanting to meet up with someone in the future (again, be specific about why), then LinkedIn is the place to go.

And if your main reason for admiring someone is because he or she could potentially get you a job? You may want to rethink the entire reaching out process.

4. Draft Your Message

When you’re ready to reach out, write out the message you want to send before you actually send it. It’s easier said than done to say, “I’m going to tell so-and-so that I admire him!” and it’s important to think through what specifically you want out of this correspondence beforehand. Think to yourself, What would be the optimal response I’d receive from this person if everything were to go perfectly? And, How can this message open the door for said response?

Draft your message by separating out an introduction, body paragraph, and conclusion where you explain who you are, why you’re reaching out, and (briefly) what you want out of the correspondence. Again, the name of the game is brevity; your message should only be a couple of sentences tops (what person wants to read an eight-page summary on the life of someone they don’t know or don’t know well?).

I once sent a version of the following LinkedIn message to someone I briefly (literally a three-minute conversation) met at a conference two days prior:

Hi [name],

It was awesome meeting you during the lunch break at [event] this weekend and talking about our favorite college admissions websites.

I remember you were discussing how much you were hoping to re-launch your website’s social media platforms but weren’t sure where to start and wanted some outside input. If you still want some help, I’d love to be of assistance.

Let me know if this is something that interests you, and feel free to contact me at [email address]. Hope you’re having a great week!

I ended up getting a response to this message only a couple of hours later—and since then, this person I barely knew but really admired has turned into a valuable contact for me all because of a brief LinkedIn message.

Freaking out about reaching out to someone you don’t know at all? I once received this awesome message from a fellow blogger and entrepreneur I’d never met (she’s a high school student, no less):

Hi Ms. Herman,

My name is [name], and I run a student-run website called [blog name] that seeks to empower young women to follow their dreams.

I’ve been following The Prospect for quite some time now, and it’s amazing to see how much it has grown over the past several months. The Prospect really is an inspiration for my website, and I was wondering if you had any tips for growing your team while keeping the content quality up? We’re hoping to expand soon and could really use some pointers.

Thanks you so much, and congrats again for running such a great website!

Best,

[Name]

[Email address]

I loved this message because it was short, straightforward, and friendly (but not pushy). The writer asked a career-related question that wasn’t too vague (like “How do I run a website?”), and it led to me giving her my email address so we could chat (and we’re still professionally connected months later). Above all, our LinkedIn interaction led to greater connection elsewhere, which is key.

Above all, try not to overthink your message. While you should dedicate a lot of time, care, and proofreading (typos are the enemy!) to your message, at the end of the day, it should sound natural and not too stiff or overly formal. You want to come across as approachable and likeable, someone who anyone would be happy to talk to and help out.

 

Photo credit: the Muse.

To read the original article, click here.


How To Ask People for Things Via Email: An 8-Step Program

Author: Jocelyn K. Glei

One of the golden rules of writing is: Respect the reader’s intelligence. This rule gets magnified by a factor of 10 when it comes to composing unsolicited emails.

Most people who receive any significant quantity of email in a day have developed extremely refined bullshit detectors. They can identify an impersonal templated email in 0.5 seconds, and they can spot a time-wasting “let’s explore the possibilities” ask from a mile off.

In short, getting someone that you don’t know to pay attention to you—and respond—is a delicate art. One that requires craftsmanship, charm, concision, and a lot of self-editing.

Based on years of drafting, redrafting, observation, and misfires, here are a few pointers to keep in mind when composing an email “ask”:

Step 1: Make it easy to say, “Yes.”

When it comes to giving good email, making it easy to say “Yes!” is objective number one. Sadly, it’s also where most people fall down on the job.

I frequently receive emails from people who are interested in some sort of knowledge exchange but never clarify how they would like for me to take action. Do they want to have a coffee? Do they want to do a phone call? It’s unclear, which means that instead of saying, “Yes!” I have to respond by asking them what they’re asking me for in the first place. Or, not respond at all.

If you are asking someone to take the time to answer you, it should be very clear what you are asking for. Look at your email and ask yourself: “Can the recipient say ‘Yes’ without further discussion?”  If the answer is yes, you’re doing well. If not, you need to redraft.

Step 2: Write an intriguing subject line. 

Composing a good email subject line is akin to writing a great headline. If you’re cold-emailing someone you’ve never met, it’s important to strike a balance between being direct and being interesting.

If I were asking someone to speak at our annual 99U Conference, for instance, I might use a subject like: “Jessica + Behance’s 99U Conference?” (Analysis: Using someone’s name feels personal; mentioning Behance in addition to 99U gives more chance of name recognition; and the question mark gives a sense of possibility/ creates curiosity.)

Keep in mind that while it’s always good to be clear, you also don’t want to give anyone a reason to dismiss your email before reading it. For that reason, you’ll want to avoid stock or cookie-cutter phrases that might get your email lumped in (and glossed over) with others.

For instance, for a speaker ask for the 99U Conference, I typically avoid run-of-the-mill phrases like “speaking opportunity” or “speaking invitation,” because they can turn people off before they’ve really assessed my particular opportunity.

Step 3: Establish your credibility.

“Why should I care?” is the tacit question hovering in most people’s minds every time they open an email from someone they don’t know. This is why establishing your credibility is crucial. Tell your reader why you are different, why you are accomplished, and why they should pay attention to you.

If I’m contacting someone about contributing to 99u.com, I might share stats on our monthly pageviews and social media reach to do this. If the ask is related to one of our events, I would share audience size, years sold out, and a power-list of past speakers.

If you don’t have “data points” to share, you can also establish credibility by being a keen observer of the person you are contacting; you could tell them how long you’ve followed their work, how you enjoyed the last blog post they wrote, etc. As long as it’s not fawning, most people appreciate being noticed.

Step 4: Be concise & get to the point.

Never assume that someone is going to read your entire email. You should make it clear from the get-go exactly what you are asking for. That means clarifying why you’re reaching out in the first sentence or two, and no later.

However, sometimes everything you need to say can’t be explained in 1-3 sentences. If this is the case for your ask, go ahead and say your piece (as concisely as you can) but assume your reader will be skimming it. This means using bolding, bullet pointing, and so forth as much as possible.

If it’s necessary to give some backstory prior to the ask, I like to just go ahead and break out the ask in paragraph two with a bolded preface that reads, “The Ask:” If you’re asking for something, there’s no point in beating around the bush. Make your objective clear.

Step 5: Give a deadline if you can.

People are often shy about including deadlines in emails, especially when cold-emailing. While it’s never a good idea to come off as presumptuous, deadlines do have great utility. In fact, most busy people like them. Bear in mind when you are emailing someone that—surprise!—they are probably also getting tons of emails from other people.

Most of those emails fall into one of two categories: 1) Things they have to do, and 2) Random requests for things that they might like to do, time permitting. Chances are, your email falls into group two. Which means it’s really important to know whensomething needs a response by. In other words, do whatever you can to help the receiver put the requested task on a timeline and prioritize it.

Step 6: Be interesting and interested.

At the most basic level, this means do not ever send anyone a templated email. If you are asking someone to take the time and energy to reply to you, make it clear that you actually know who they are.

That doesn’t mean being obsequious and singing their praises, it does mean talking to them like you are one human talking to another human. It’s nice to articulate why you’re interested in them. It’s also nice to articulate why they should be interested in you. Try to have a voice and say something funny, meaningful, or thoughtful—preferably all three!

Step 7: Never ever ever use the word “synergy.”

No single word lights up the experienced emailer’s bullshit detector like the word “synergy.” No one worth their salt wants to spend their time talking about exploring synergies. Emails with this language typically mean that the person asking for something hasn’t really thought through their ask enough to offer any specificity. If you want someone to take a chance on you, show them respect by thinking through what you are asking for and being up front about it. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your time and theirs.

Step 8: Preview your email on a phone.

You probably write most of your “ask” emails on a desktop computer. Bear in mind that your recipient will be receiving and reading your email on their mobile phone in almost all instances. And what looks “digestible” on a desktop computer looks like an epic poem on a mobile phone.

As per point 4, you may think you have already confirmed that your email is concise. But is it still concise on an iPhone? Once you check, you will probably realize there are a few more things you can remove. Edit your email again, and then send.

To read the original article, click here.


Ask a Boss: How Do I Deal With Useless Informational Interviews?

Author: Alison Green

Dear Boss,

I work in a high-profile field that’s extremely hard to break into. As I’ve become more successful, I’ve had a lot of people reach out to me and ask if they can have some of my time to ask some questions. I’m usually happy to say yes to these requests, and either answer questions via email or through a short phone call.

However, the past few times I’ve become dismayed with some parts of the conversations, and I’m wondering if I should be giving feedback, especially to the recent grads, on what works and doesn’t work with this kind of networking.

For example, I always ask people to email a list of questions to me in advance. I say it’s so I can prepare, but it’s also because I want to make sure they’ve put some thought into what they want to ask. Unfortunately, all too often the questions are impossibly broad (“How do you break into this field?”) or asking basic information (“What are the biggest companies in the industry?”). It feels like a waste of time for me to answer questions they could easily google.

Second, while I love my work and I’m very enthusiastic about what I do, I try to share some of the negatives of this business. For one, most people starting out don’t make very much money. In fact, many people, myself included, do this work part-time at first while working another job. Obviously, that’s not fun to hear, but I feel like that’s the sort of info people want from this kind of informational interview. However, some of these networkers really push back hard when I tell them this — they mention a friend of a friend who was very successful right away, or they express skepticism that I’m telling the truth. Now, nobody has to believe what I say (and I usually respond by saying, “Well, I hope you’re the exception!”) but it feels rude when someone discounts what I’m telling them right off the bat.

Third, I often find that these networkers put too much emphasis on the idea that I’m going to connect them with other people in the industry and create some kind of shortcut to success. I can sometimes make referrals, but I only do that if I think it’s mutually beneficial — not just because someone asks. Recently I had a networker who barely kept up the pretense of wanting to talk to me, but instead seemed way more interested in me as a conduit to other, more important people. Which is naturally insulting.

Finally, while I’m happy to spend 20 minutes on the phone, I can’t do more. And yet half the time people ask me to look over their work and give detailed feedback — something that can take several hours. One college student just assumed that I was going to do that, and acted as though the phone call was a formality. He was very discouraged when I said no, and I was too, because I thought I was helping him by answering questions and clearly he didn’t really care.

I’ve had a string of these experiences lately and it’s making me want to start saying no to people who ask for my time because it’s too frustrating. But I also wonder if there’s an opportunity here for me to circle back and say something like “I really enjoyed speaking with you, but I have some pointers if you do another one of these informational interviews in the future.”

What do you think?

Yeah, there’s a huge epidemic of bad networking out there.

One thing that’s especially common is people asking for informational calls and meetings when what they really mean is, “I’m hoping you will hire me or connect me to someone who will hire me, but since I don’t want to say that outright, I’m pretending I’m seeking more general advice.” Or sometimes, especially with people right out of school, it means, “I heard I should set up these meetings but I don’t really know what I should ask you” — and even then it still usually comes with a side of, “… and I’m hoping this will somehow lead to a job.”

It’s annoying to be on the receiving end of this because it’s a bait-and-switch: You were asked to set aside time to give advice and insight, and that’s what you agreed to, but the person has a different agenda entirely and in many cases isn’t being particularly thoughtful about your time. Part of the blame for this lies with the career-advice industry, which tends to encourage people to do really aggressive networking, and even outright encourages them to frame these requests as “informational interviews.”

For the record, an actual informational interview is for learning about a field you’re new to or otherwise want an insider’s point of view on. They’re for getting information that’s more nuanced than you can find in other places — things like which companies in the field are the best and worst to work for, what the job is really like day-to-day, what kind of salary progression is typical, what a realistic career path might look like, and so forth. There’s huge value to these kinds of conversations, and it’s a shame that more people don’t do them for real.

The other parts of your experience with bad networkers aren’t uncommon either — the pushback when you’re telling people something they don’t want to hear, and the presumptuousness about how much they can ask you for. Those two things seem to be most common with students and recent grads, and I suspect it’s an effect of them not yet having had a chance to calibrate their norms about how the work world operates. That said, there’s definitely some plain old selfishness in there too, especially when you consider that there are plenty of people in that stage of life who don’t conduct themselves that way.

So, what can you do? First, it’s great that you’re asking people to send you their questions ahead of time. (When I do that, I actually find that about a third of the requesters are never heard from again, presumably because they didn’t want to take the time to do it, despite being okay with asking me for my time.) But if people send back questions that are overly broad or that they could answer for themselves with five minutes of googling, it’s fine to say something like, “You know, these are pretty fundamental things about the field that you’ll be able to easily find online. Because my schedule tends to be so tight, I’m going to suggest you do that first. Once you do, if you have more nuanced questions that you can’t find answers to online, I’d be glad to set up some time to talk.”

And then with people who you do talk to and who end up committing other faux pas, yes, say something about it! After all, they’re asking you for advice on breaking into your field, and this is relevant advice. You could frame it this way: “Can I give you some advice on something you haven’t asked about but that I think will be useful to know? I was glad to talk to you, but you had asked me for an informational interview when I think you were looking more for a foot in the door. It’s generally not a good idea to ask for one when you’re hoping for the other, so I’d recommend just being really up front with people about what you’re hoping for from them.” Or, “You pushed back pretty hard on some of what I told you. I know it’s tough to hear X when you’re hoping for Y, but I’d really go into these conversations with an open mind since you’re asking people for the benefit of their experience and advice.”

With people who ask you for something more than you’re willing to do, like giving feedback on their work or rewriting their résumé, just be direct about it: “I’m happy to answer a few questions about the field, but my schedule is pretty busy and I can’t do more.” Or even, “What you’re asking for would take several hours to do well, so I have to say no to that.” If you’d feel more comfortable adding more of an explanation, you can say, “My schedule is in triage mode right now” (I get a ton of use out of that phrase) — but you don’t need to do that.

And really, these are people who are looking for connections and help finding work — and yet they’re inadvertently turning off their targets! It’s a kindness to let them know.

To read the original article, click here.


"Help Me Find a Job!" Emails to Send to Your Network

Author: Adrian Granzella Larssen

You’ve updated your resume, perfected your LinkedIn profile, and honed in on your target positions. And now, you’re ready to reach out to your network.

Which, let’s be honest, can be sort of daunting. Who do you reach out to? Where do you start? And, um, isn’t it sort of awkward asking people for help?

Here’s the thing: People are actually always willing to help out. But you can make their job easier—and get better results—if you give specifics about what you’re asking for. And that’s the step that most people miss: asking the right people for the right things, in the right way.

So to make sure you get the most bang for your job search buck, we’ve put together a five-step plan—sample emails included—for enlisting the help of your network as you're looking for a job.

Step #1: Draft Your Talking Points

At this point, you’ve (hopefully) updated your resume, but people will find it much easier and quicker to look at a short, bulleted list of where you’ve been and where you want to go (especially if they’re not totally familiar with your field). This should take no more than 10 minutes to pull together, but it will reap serious rewards.

In it, you should include:

  1. A list of your last three position titles, companies you’ve worked for, and responsibilities. Think your resume, but condensed into three bullets.
  2. Your ideal job title and function, as well as other job titles and functions you’d consider.
  3. A list of 4-5 companies you’d love to work for, plus their locations.

Example

Work Experience

  • Account Executive, Smith PR: Served as main point of contact for tech clients including Microsoft
  • Account Coordinator, APCO Worldwide: Assisted on high-profile consumer products campaigns
  • PR Assistant, Columbia University: Drafted press releases that resulted in media coverage in the New York Times

Positions Seeking

  • Senior Account Executive
  • Account Supervisor
  • Public Relations Manager

Dream Companies

  • Edelman, San Francisco or Mountain View
  • Ogilvy, San Francisco
  • Ketchum, San Francisco or Silicon Valley
  • Google, San Francisco or Mountain View

Step #2: Send the Mass Email

Your next step is to contact everyone in your network. (Well, everyone except your mentors, former bosses or colleagues who you’re close to, and anyone who works for your dream companies. We’ll get to that next.)

Draft an email sharing that you’re looking for a new gig, and that you’re enlisting their help. Most importantly: Be specific about what you’re asking for—is it job leads or postings? Informational interviews? New contacts? All of the above?

Also include all the details about you: your current position and company, the length of time you’ve been there, and what you’re looking for and where. Even if your friends know this information, this email may be passed around to people who don’t know you well. Finally, include your bulleted talking points at the end of the email, and attach your resume.

Example

Hi friends and colleagues,

I hope all is well!

As many of you know, I have been at my current position as Account Executive for Smith PR for almost 3 years. I have recently decided to look for a new challenge in the public relations field and am reaching out to you to ask for your help with any leads or contacts.

I am looking for a mid-level public relations position in San Francisco, ideally in the tech or consumer products field. I am particularly interested in joining an agency, but would also consider interesting in-house work.

If you know of any job opportunities or leads that you might be able to share with me, please send them my way. Below, I have included a list of my past experience, my target positions, and my list of dream companies. I have also attached my resume for your reference, and feel free to pass it along.

Thanks in advance for your help! I hope you all are doing well and hope to catch up with you individually soon.

Step #3: Send Targeted Emails

The same day (this is important—you don’t want anyone to feel like an afterthought), craft targeted, specific emails to your former bosses, your mentors, people who work at your dream company, or anyone who you think might be able to help you out in a specific way.

You’ll want to personalize each one (there’s nothing worse than feeling like you’re getting a form letter with your name slapped up top!). And most importantly, you’ll want to make a specific request—more specific than your mass email—about how each person might be able to help you. Don’t be afraid to ask for specific introductions or job leads at a particular company. You can also ask for informational interviews, general advice on companies and positions, or feedback on your resume.

Example

Hi Susan,

I hope all is well! I saw the photos of the conference you held last month on Facebook—it looked like a fantastic event.

I’m reaching out because I’m currently seeking a new position. As you know, I have been Smith PR for almost three years, but I’m ready for a new challenge in the tech PR world.

I know that you used to do work for Ogilvy, which is on my short list of dream companies. Do you still have any contacts there, and if so, is there someone that might be willing to do an informational interview with me? Any introductions you could make would be greatly appreciated.

In addition, if you know of any job opportunities or leads that you might be able to share with me, please send them my way. I’ve attached my resume for your reference, and feel free to pass it along.

Thanks in advance for your help! Please keep me posted on how things are going and if there’s anything I can do to return the favor.

4. Be Patient

In an ideal world, your inbox would be filled with new job leads two hours later—but remember that this stuff takes time. Even if people can’t help out right away, rest assured that they’re keeping their eyes out and that you’ll be on their radar if any opportunities come their way.

That said, if you haven’t received many responses in a month or so, it can be helpful to send a follow-up email. (A friendly, non-desperate follow-up email. One.)

Example

Hi everyone,

Thanks so much for the great leads and feedback you’ve sent so far. I just wanted to update you that I’m still searching for that perfect opportunity, so if you have any leads come your way, please pass them along. I hope all is well!

5. Say Thanks

You must, must, must send a personal reply and thank every single person who responds to your email or offers to help you out, whether or not his or her lead or contact is helpful in your job search. Yes, people are happy to help, but they also like to know that their efforts are appreciated.

Plus, remember: After you land this dream job, you may be enlisting their help again a few years down the line.

Photo of woman with laptop courtesy of Shutterstock.

To read the original article, click here.


How I Got 425% More Page Views on LinkedIn—and You Can, Too

Author: Aja Frost

In one week, I increased the number of people looking at my LinkedIn profile by 425%. And that’s pretty exciting—more views means more potential job opportunities, more connections, and more visibility in my industry.

Also exciting? The only thing I did differently in those seven days was start and participate in a few group discussions.

Now that I’ve discovered how beneficial it is to be an active contributor, I’m making it my goal to join group discussions at least once a week. Here’s how to do the same, so you can make your profile views soar.

1. Find the Right Group

If you’re already a member of several groups relevant to your industry, profession, or interests, great. If not, let’s fix that.

Go to the search bar at the top of the page and enter some keywords. If you’re a content strategist, try “content strategy,” “content marketing,” “creative content solutions,” and the like; if you’re into cloud computing, try “cloud computing,” “cloud storage,” “cloud services,” “cloud computing and virtualizations,” and so on. Then, in the left bar, click “Groups” to filter your results. You can also do a “blank search” (press Enter without typing anything) and let LinkedIn show you the groups it considers most relevant to you.

Groups range from the broad (like “ Content Strategy ”) to the ultra-specific (like “Women in Marketing, Chapel Hill, NC ”), and each has its merits, but don’t limit yourself to one size. If you’re just starting out, join one small group (less than 100 members), one medium group (less than 1,000 members), and one large group (anywhere from 1,000 to 100,000 members). This strategy lets you be a big fish in a small pond, a medium fish in a medium pond, and a small fish in a big pond.

One characteristic all the groups you join should share? They should all be active. If there hasn’t been any discussion in the group within the last week, pick a different one.


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2. Get the Lay of the Land

Don’t do what I did, which was immediately post a discussion without looking at anything else on the group page. After getting zero responses to my question, I scrolled down to see that someone else had asked the same thing just a couple days prior.

Now, when I join a group, I’ll read through everything posted in the last week (or month, if it’s a less-active group). I note the average conversational style (casual? formal? somewhere in between?), the most successful posts (open-ended questions? discussions about industry news? requests for advice?), and the types of responses (long? short and snappy?).

This process might sound time-consuming, but it shouldn’t take more than 15 minutes, tops. Plus, not only do I generate ideas for my own posts and comments, I also learn valuable information about my field.

You don’t want to overwhelm yourself, so go to your smallest group first and spend some time getting comfortable with the vibe. As you read, jot down any thoughts you have. These will become the jumping-off points for your first posts.

3. Join a Discussion

I like to contribute to a couple of threads before I start a new one. That’s because if LinkedIn groups are like dinner parties; you don’t want to be the obnoxious guest who shows up late and then tries to dominate the conversation.

The discussion you comment on doesn’t have to be active. Say you find one from a couple weeks ago that’s come to a halt, but it’s on a topic you know stone-cold and you’d love to point out something the other members missed. Feel free to revive the discussion! However, I’d simultaneously add to an ongoing discussion to make sure you don’t end up talking to yourself.

When commenting, keep a couple things in mind:

  • Statements like, “I agree with Joe,” aren’t valuable unless you expand on what Joe said, back up his point with your own experience, or in some way add new information.
  • Disagreeing with people is fine, but you should remain super polite at all times. There’s nothing worse than an over-aggressive group member.
  • You can promote your company, your product, or yourself, but only if it feels natural. For example, if a group member asks if anyone has read any ebooks on sales techniques, you can link to yours. If people are just talking about good techniques, don’t jump in with, “Read my ebook!”
  • Relevance is key. If your comments are random, people will ignore you.

4. Start Your Own Discussion

For my first post in “LinkedIn for Journalists,” I asked the group members whether they’d invested in a personal website. This was a great post for a couple of reasons: It invited people to share their expertise, it was broad enough that anyone could contribute, whether they had a personal site or not, and there were multiple sub-topics, like whether you should pay for a site and how you can use one to promote yourself. Try to think of an open-ended question like this pertaining to your own field. (If you need inspiration, go back to the notes you took!)

You can also share articles or sites that the group would find interesting. For example, in “LinkedIn for Journalists,” I could post an article about how most people now use their phones to read the news. Using questions will increase the responses you get, so I’d add, “Has your writing changed to reflect the size of the mobile audience; and if so, how?”

Bonus: LinkedIn allows you to share your discussions on social media, so if you really want to start a healthy conversation, post the link on Twitter and Facebook.

Once you’ve commented on or started a discussion in a group, your job is technically done. Even though my website post got tons of comments, none of them were mine: I just sat back and watched the conversation unfold. However, my next goal is to take on an unofficial moderator role. I’m confident my page views will really take off!

If you try this technique, let me know on Twitter —or even find me on LinkedIn!

Photo of woman clicking mouse courtesy of Shutterstock .

To read the original article, click here.


How to Have a Great Coffee Meeting—Guaranteed

Author: Lily Herman

You’ve been admiring a particular professional for a really long time, you finally worked up the courage to say hi and ask her to coffee, and she surprisingly said yes! But now the panic sets in: How do you wow your role model without coming off as trying too hard or being a total stalker (especially after looking at her LinkedIn profile at least 10 times)?

Good news: We’ve scoured the web for the best resources to use when you’re asking and meeting an important professional contact for coffee. (It’s actually a pretty easy feat once you know what you’re doing.)

  • The hardest part of a coffee meeting is sending an email asking for one. Luckily,here’s a step-by-step breakdown of how to craft the best “Wanna grab coffee sometime?” message. (99U)
  • If you’re still having trouble putting together your email, here’s one really great example that only takes five sentences. (Lifehacker)
  • Having trouble grabbing a slot with someone who just seems super busy all the time? There are ways to get around even the most jam-packed schedules.(Forbes)
  • Ever wondered why meeting someone for coffee is the norm? Comedian Jerry Seinfeld breaks down this 21st century contraption. (Fast Company)
  • Entrepreneur and venture capitalist Mark Suster encourages people to take 50 coffee meetings . Find out why. (Both Sides of the Table)
  • If you’re worried that asking someone to coffee might be too informal, here’s why coffee metings are totally awesome. (LinkedIn)
  • The four secrets to a great coffee meeting? Don’t be awkward, stalk, don’t do it out of obligation, and make later plans. (Technori)
  • Lastly, have you ever considered just working in a “coffice ?” (DailyWorth)

Looking for more advice on how to have awesome coffee meetings? Check out our suggestions!

Photo of coffee cups courtesy of Shutterstock .


4 Things Networking Can Help You Do (Besides Get a Job)

Author: Lily Zhang

How many times have you been told how important networking is? Plenty , I’m sure. So, at this point, you know that who you know can be the difference between you getting that new gig or not.

But, if that’s not motivation enough for you to go out and meet new people, here are four more ways networking can help you, beyond just growing your network in preparation for you next big career opportunity.

1. Gather Info on the Industry

Whether you’re changing industries or furthering your knowledge of your current one, networking and conducting informational interviews are a great way to figure out what’s going on in your field of interest.

Ask people you meet or sit down with about their recent challenges and accomplishments or about trends they’re seeing in their work. In particular, if something big has recently happened in your industry, see what your conversation partner thinks of the impact it might have on the field as a whole. You’ll get a much broader perspective if you expand the conversation beyond your own friends and officemates.

2. Learn From the Wins (and Mistakes) of Others

Sometimes it can be difficult to get people talking, even if you’re meeting one-on-one and not at some large awkward networking event. If this is happening to you, try asking the person you’re networking with about his or her successes and failures. Of course, you don’t want to say, “Tell me about a time you failed”—so try asking if, looking back on his career, if there’s anything he would do differently, or if there’s anything she would definitely recommend to people just starting out in the field.

Don’t feel weird asking about personal experiences. There’s plenty to be learned from the achievements and mistakes of others, and people love to talk about themselves.

3. Get Free Career Advice

Another bonus of networking is the chance to get some free career advice. Chatting with more experienced professionals in your industry of interest gives you the chance to ask them what they think of the career moves you’ve been mulling over.

Aside from getting good advice ( here’s how to know if it’s not ), it’s also a great way to show people your admiration. You wouldn’t be asking for advice if you didn’t respect their opinions, right?

4. Bounce Ideas Off People

You can also take the advice seeking a step further and bounce ideas off of people you meet through networking. Maybe you have an ambitious work-related project that you want to pitch to your boss or a presentation you’re thinking about submitting to an upcoming conference. Seeing what other industry professionals have to say can help you refine your argument and think through weak points.

This is also a great way to show off your skills a bit. Sharing some of your ideas gives you an opportunity to talk about your expertise and the issues that you care about. It’s usually easier to talk about your ideas than it is to talk about yourself, so if you feel weird tooting your own horn, this can be a good strategy.

Bottom line: There’s no excuse to not be networking. You stand to benefit from it no matter what stage of your career you’re in. And, if none of these four reasons appeal to you, consider this final perk of networking: helping people. Maybe you won’t directly benefit this time around, but helping someone else out has its own intrinsic value.

Photo courtesy of Nana B Agyei .