125 - 10+ remote role interviews in 30 days

The Connection |  2022.04.04 | Issue 125

Today, I'm going to teach you how to get 10+ remote role interviews in 30 days.

Job searching takes its toll. There's the obvious financial cost. There's also a deeper emotional cost:

• Feeling lost

• Missing team camaraderie

• Feeling like part of your identity is gone

Sometimes, you need a quick win, like interviewing for a role, to build momentum and confidence

Unfortunately, landing an interview is part of a long process in the job funnel:

• Find job opening

• Apply for the job

• Pass the ATS

• Pass a screen

• Interview

• Offer

• Job!

Here are 6-steps to hack the process and land 10+ remote job interviews in 30 days: 

(When you’re in the interview, don’t forget to use these 8 questions tech leaders ask.)

1/ Review your LinkedIn Inbox for recruiter messages

Target recruiters who reached out about open remote roles from the last 12 months.

Using the right keywords are critical to find recruiters for remote roles: 

• Remote

• Recruiter remote

• Talent remote

• [Role] remote

• [Function] remote

You can also use broader keywords:

• Talent

• Recruiter

• [Role]

• [Function]

(What if you don't have recruiters in your inbox? We'll touch on that at the end.)

2/ Repeat for your email inbox

Use similar keywords to find recruiter messages in your email inbox.

3/ Build a database of recruiters

Here are the fields you'll want to include: 

• Date

• Name

• Email address if they left it

• LinkedIn profile

• Company they reached out about

• Description

• Notes for light research

Click here to copy my database template.

4/ Perform deep research

Get a sense of who these recruiters are before you reach out.

What might you have in common?

What's a recent accomplishment they might be proud of?

• Read posts and articles

• Review social media accounts

• Explore their connections & network

Add what you learn to your database.

5/ Reach out

Here are my two favorite scripts to use:

Script 1

Script 2

(h/t Michelle Coulson from Remote Rebellion)

6/ Repeat

Do the same for all the recruiters in your database. 

If they have openings, great! You'll skip right to the screen, saving you weeks of your life. 

If not, you're top of mind for the recruiter again. 

7/ (Advanced only) Want to double your response rate?

Always respond back to recruiters, even if you're not interested in the role.

Script

How do you get recruiters to reach out to you?

This strategy requires recruiters to reach out to you.

What if don't have an inbox of recruiter messages?

A big misconception: recruiters only source people from "top companies".

The truth: what recruiters look for (and how much they source) is industry and role specific. So much of this is outside of your control:

• Some roles are harder to recruit for than others and require sourcing

• Others are more straightforward, with a large pool of qualified applicants

• The market is also a factor. For example, tech hiring is slow at the moment, so recruiters do less sourcing because inbound quality is high

However, here are things you can control:

Study successful profiles. 

What do you notice about their profile pictures, their summaries, and their experiences? 

Don’t make-up experiences you don’t have, but you can identify the skills and experiences that are important. 

Once you do, find ways to:

• Speak to them in your profile

• Acquire them yourself

Niche down. 

Get as specific as possible. 

For example, "digital marketer" is too general. 

Are you SEO content marketer? B2b Saas demand gen marketer? Paid acquisition?

Get clear, not clever. 

No gurus, no ninjas, no superpowers. 

Your LinkedIn profile is not a Marvel movie. 

Use keywords in your summary and experience that recruiters would actually use in sourcing.

"How can you help them?" 

Your keywords should focus on outcomes you can drive for the company. 

Too often I see people describe what they are looking for. 

Instead, focus on the impact you can drive for the employer lucky enough to pick you up.

Optimize for brand. 

Targeting roles with marquee companies and optimizing for brand names is a valid strategy. 

However, you should execute it in parallel with other strategies. It's a long-game.

Conclusion

That's it. 6 steps to land 10+ remote role interviews in 30 days:

1. Review your LinkedIn Inbox for recruiter messages

2. Repeat for your email inbox 

3. Build a database of Recruiters

4. Perform deep research

5. Reach out

6. Repeat

See you in 2 weeks.

Did you enjoy this? Here are 3 more ways I can help you: 

👉  The Remote Life Database. Access the word-for-word scripts and templates that helped me land 5 remote jobs and "go remote" for the last 10 years. All 100% free.

👉 Find me on LinkedIn and click the Follow button. Get daily tips on careers, remote work, and living with your family abroad.

👉  Subscribe to The Connection newsletter. Someone forward this email to you? Join 1,700+ readers and get expert tips on remote work, moving abroad, and managing your remote career.