(Read time 7 min 37 sec)

“Who do I reach out to, and what do I say?”

This is a question I hear from almost every job hunter I meet.

Everyone has heard the saying, “Your network is your net worth.”

But wtf does that even mean?

And how do you build a network if you don’t already have one?

In 2012, while sitting in my cubicle, pecking away at my keyboard, soul slowly draining from my body, I asked all those questions, dreaming of a unicorn startup job.

I ended up stumbling into a love of building relationships with strangers and landed my dream job because of it.

So, today, I want to show you my process for fixing your broken networking system.

Even if you hate networking.

Because this my friends, is the secret weapon.

Why Most People Suck At Networking

Most people suck at networking because they’re doing it wrong.

Networking raises ideas of beige conference rooms, ill-fitting suits, and nametages. Yuck!

You can kill the word “networking” and replace it with “relationship building” if you want.

These are the five main reasons people don’t see results when they network.

Reason 1 - Not Knowing Why

The first reason people suck at networking is they’re networking for networking's sake.

Someone told them they should be networking, so they’re sending messages to random people, hoping it works.

Networking for networking’s sake, is like getting stuck talking to someone you don’t know and don’t want to know at a party you don’t want to be at.

You need to know why you’re networking for it to be effective.

You are networking to build relationships and gain information about how your previous experience can help a specific organization and the people inside.

Benefits that can come from relationships with people at target organizations:

1. A deeper network in your target industry

2. A better understanding of existing company problems to solve

3. A first-hand account of internal operations and culture

4. Resources they found helpful in their career

5. A possible referral

Build relationships with people in the company and your chances of being hired increase dramatically.

Reason 2 - In It For Themselves

The second reason people suck at networking is they think only about themselves.

This is not networking…

This message is the opposite of networking.

In fact, it’s a relationship killer.

Why?

It’s all about the job hunter and nothing about the person they are reaching out to.

For all I know, you sent that message to hundreds of other people, and I’m just a line on a spreadsheet.

You must deposit in the bank before you can make a withdrawal.

So, if you want your networking messages to be responded to, show you know who the other person is and how awesome you find them, their work, and their career path.

Show similarities between the two of you, indicate you know their time is valuable, and be gracious.

To be interesting, be interested.

Do your research, compliment the other side, and personalize your message.

Reason 3 - Targeting The Wrong People

The third reason people suck at networking is they target the wrong people.

Most people think sending a message to the recruiter after applying to a role is networking.

It isn’t.

Should you send a personalized message to the recruiter indicating your excitement about the role, the team, the company, and how your prior experience can help solve existing problems?

Yes. 100%

Should you leave it at that?

Absolutely not.

I recommend reaching out to at least ten people on the team.

Those people can include…

Founders / Skip Level Executives

They are always searching for unique, passionate, highly capable talent. Talent rolls down. It doesn’t roll up. You’ll need to stand out and make a great impression to get their attention. But if you stand out, they’ll pass you along to the relevant hiring manager or recruiter.

Hiring Managers / Recruiters

They’re in charge of the role, so they’ll be bombarded by messages indicating their interest. It’s important not to be another “please consider me for this role” message and to speak about how you can make their life easier.

Future Team Members

Applying to be a Product Manager? Reach out to other Product Managers. They’ll receive far fewer of these messages, so it’s easier to stand out, and they likely have more time to speak than the hiring managers and skip-level execs. These people are also looking to solve the problems you’re being hired to solve, so they’ll have plenty of specific details you can use in networking outreach, future interviews, and value deliverables.

Cross-Functional Stakeholders

Who will you be interacting with in this role? By being excellent at your job, you can make their life easier. These cross-functional stakeholders are a treasure trove of information about the things the team you’re joining does well and the things they can’t stand about them.

Other People You Have A Connection With

Is there someone at the company who went to your university but because of their department, you likely would never work with them? Who cares! You are connected to someone in the company, so reach out with your admiration for the company, your shared background, and your hunger to contribute.

Just, whatever you do, don’t stop at a single message to the recruiter and call it networking.

Reason 4 - Not Sending Enough

That brings us to the fourth reason people suck at networking.

They don’t send enough messages.

After sending one or two messages, they’ll say it doesn’t work and stop.

Like any sales process, you must make many attempts to get a response.

The more compelling your message, the more likely they’ll be to respond but make no doubts about it, your response rate will be dramatically lower than your warm network.

For that reason, you need to reach out to 10 people at 10 target companies at the very least.

That’s right.

100 reps of outreach.

I guarantee that after your 100th rep, you’ll be far more effective and may have an offer on the way.

MESSAGE SENDING TIP

Go where they spend the most time.

Does the person post on LinkedIn every day?

If so, that’s a great place to send a message.

Did you send a LinkedIn message and get no reply?

The person likely isn’t on LinkedIn very often, so try sending an email.

Email not working, but the person has an active Twitter account?

Engage with their tweets and slide into their DM’s.

Don’t assume they ignored your message.

Assume they didn’t see your message and you just need to put it where they’ll see it.

Reason 5 - Being Like Everyone Else

For herding animals, it pays to look like everyone else.

In the job hunt, it pays to be as unique as possible.

This is why cold outreach is so effective.

Most people don’t do it!

You know what else most people don’t do?

Record a Loom video where they speak directly to the person receiving the message and show their excitement and interest in the role.

Provide value deliverables they know will help the team solve existing problems without being asked to do so.

Send a slide deck with the company’s branding, sharing your personal board of advisors and case studies of your best work.

Most people don’t jump out of planes to land jobs but when they do they get noticed.

Don’t be like everyone else, be uniquely you.

My Cold Networking Strategy

Now that we know why people fail, here is my step-by-step process for what I do that has led to success.

1. Get clear on where you want to go (Not sure how to get clear? Read this) and what job will accelerate you there (Not sure how to create your ideal job description? Read this).

2. Identify five target companies with roles that match most of your ideal job description priorities and add them to a spreadsheet.

3. Start by identifying any 1st-degree connections at the company and add them to your list.

4. Then, identify any 2nd-degree connections at the company. Reach out to anyone and everyone you know who is connected to people at the company to see if they know them well enough to make an introduction. I’ll share a template for this message on LinkedIn next week. Add all people with 2nd-degree connections to your list.

5. Use LinkedIn to identify three to five members already on the team you’ll be joining. If you’re the department head, these could also be future direct reports.

   (Ex: If you’re applying for an Operations Manager role, find other Operations Managers in the same or similar divisions. If applying for the VP of Operations, you could add the Ops Managers and Sr Ops Managers here.)

6. Next, identify three to five cross-functional contacts using LinkedIn.

   (Ex: If you’re applying for the VP of Operations role, find the VP of Marketing, the VP of Engineering, the VP of People or your equivalents for each department.)

7. Next, identify the hiring manager and recruiter. You can do this from the job description (if the hiring manager/recruiter is tagged by name) or if they reference the position the role reports to. If neither exists, make your best guess and/or add more than one at each position.

8. Finally, add one to three relevant skip-level executives (your department or a related department) or founders.

9. Once you have all the company targets above (you should have at least 10) add a link to their LinkedIn profile and their email next to their name and position. You can find their emails using tools like Hunter.io or Mailscoop.io. Bonus points if you they’re active on any social media platforms and you can find those links.

10. Finally, next to each name, write your answers to three questions.

    1. What do I find fascinating about this person?

    2. What do I hope to gain from this conversation that's not a job?

    3. How can I help this person?

        

11. Start sending messages to 1st-degree connections, then 2nd-degree connections, then team members, then cross-functional partners, then the hiring manager and recruiter, then skip-level execs and founders. Why this order? Ideally, you can meet with some of them before sending your messages to the decision-makers. Any information you can gather from people at the company will make those messages more powerful. They might also lead to referrals.

12. Track the message copy you send, who responds, who doesn’t respond, which results in a conversation, and the outcomes of each conversation. This will help you adjust your copy and refine your targeting for each future company.

     

13. Once you have performed all 12 steps for the first five companies repeat it with your next five target companies.

Eight days into September, US companies have already raised over $1.3 billion!

$660 million of that came from only two companies.

One of them has 16 open roles.

Click here to learn more about all 22 companies that raised money this month and the positions they’re hiring for.

There you have it, my step-by-step cold networking process.

Remember:

• Be genuine in your excitement and interest in the people you’re contacting and the role.

• It’s all about progress, not perfection. It will feel uncomfortable, but push through it to realize the growth and land the role.

• If you approach it from a relationship-building perspective and try to understand how you can use your experience to make their lives easier, you can’t lose.

I'll share successful messaging templates, additional strategies, and maybe even my tracker template in newsletters over the next few weeks so stay tuned.

But until then… let’s become career champions together 🏆

Kyle

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