131 - How I'd find a remote job part 3 - Be opportunistic

The Connection / 2023.06.26 / Issue 131

In this series, I'm covering the exact process I'd follow to find a remote job.

So far, we've covered high-quality and high-volume applications.

This week, we're diving into tactics to be opportunistic in your job search. 

It's important to have a holistic approach to your job search strategy. Sometimes, you want to optimize your career trajectory. But other times, you don't have the luxury of time to sit and wait for your dream job. You have to get out there and create your own opportunities.

This comment from Alan Stein summed it up:

In other words, you have to hunt.

Here are 4 tactics to help.

Let's jump in.

1/ Tap your friends and colleagues' network

Remember all the times you said half-heartedly, "Let's catch up sometime?"

Now is that time.

Friends and old colleagues are the best way to fast-track new employment... IF done correctly.

• First, prioritize professional and ambitious friends and colleagues (like you).

• Next, create a Calendly account. It's free. You create your 1:1 call availability and copy your booking link URL.

• Last, start inviting people to connect. Call it whatever you want: a "catch-up" chat, a "virtual coffee," etc. But reach out and include your booking link.

Here's a script you can steal:

To start, send 3-5x messages per week.

On the call, be honest about your situation. Mention if they know of anything, to think of you. No need for a hard sale. If they think you're a fit for something, they'll let you know. Other than that, treat this as a catch-up.

2/ Draft off of layoff announcements

Here's a way to draft off layoff announcements. In other words, you're going to use the employment environment to find new job leads.

In LinkedIn, do one of two searches:

• Layoffs

• Layoffs + Company doing layoffs

Filter for:

• Posts

• Top Match

• Past Month

Skim the posts. You're looking for posts with a lot of comments. That's where you're going to dig in.

You'll find people who are still hiring or looking to help those who are open to work.

If you see someone posting about a company or role you're a fit for, then DM them.

You can send an InMail message if you have LinkedIn Premium...

Or you can send a Connection Request and "Add a personal note."

Let them know how you found them, why you're reaching out, and why you're a fit.

3/ Connect directly with the decision maker.

Who are the decision-makers?

Here are good bets, depending on the role:

• The direct manager of the role

• The skip level of the role (the manager's manager)

• The CEO of the company

How do you connect with the decision-maker for roles you're interested in this?

There are 2 parts:

1. The Channel, i.e. how to reach them

2. The Message, i.e. what to say

The Channel

What is the best channel?

The one that gets their attention.

In other words, be channel agnostic.

As a general rule, many professionals have some activity on LinkedIn.

Do your research. Are they active? Do they post? Do they react?

If so, that's your channel.

You can buy LinkedIn Premium but you don't need it. You can still send a connection request and include a personalized message with it.

What if they're not on LinkedIn? 

Figure out where they spend their time:

Twitter? Instagram? None of the above? Find their email and email them.

This leads to the second part:

The Message

• Bad: “Here's my cover letter and resume. I look forward to hearing from you”

• Good: “I completed 10 user interviews. Here are 3 takeaways you can start implementing next week. Would love to chat about these ideas.”

A lot of these messages are going to fall flat. Especially at first.

It's a skill. It takes reps to improve. As you do, your response rate will go up.

This strategy works for two reasons:

1. It's always better to be passed down than passed up. So when it comes to getting a job, always start at the highest level you can reach.

2. You're showing you can do the work, not just telling them you can.

That makes all the difference.

4/ Give more than you get

Give to others.

There's "liking" content and "commenting for reach".

That's fine, but it's surface-level.

Take it a step deeper.

Each time:

• Someone mentions an open role

• Or a recruiter pops into your inbox

• Or you see someone hiring in your feed

Ask yourself:

This habit takes time to develop. But the ability to connect the dots between people and new opportunities is a force multiplier on your life.

Now, will every person you help reciprocate down the line?

No.

That's also the wrong way to think about it. Not everyone will be in a position to help. Some won't even remember to follow up, to let you know what happened, if they interviewed, or even if they got the job. That's OK. That's life.

But over the course of a career, this is how you build a network. And your network is directly correlated to your net worth.

Give, give, give.

Conclusion

In this 3-part series, we covered:

• Part 1: High-quality applications

• Part 2: High-volume applications

• Part 3: One-off, opportunistic tactics

It takes all three to create a holistic job search strategy. In my opinion, start with quality and work your way down. Focus your best, more cognitive hours in the day on this work. Then, sprinkle in volume or one-off tactics as your energy wanes.

Remember: Everything takes longer than you think. Even when you "get lucky" and you're wrong... this is still the right mindset.

So whatever you decide to do:

Keep doing it.

See you next week.

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