It's Not Who You Know It's Who Knows You

(Read time 7 min 15 sec)

“I honestly don’t know what I’m going to do,” I said in a low voice, putting my head in my hands.

It was May of 2020, and the COVID-19 pandemic was in full swing. I had just returned from four months of paternity leave from my job at Uber and, within weeks, was laid off. No one knew how long the virus would keep the world shut down, and businesses that relied on foot traffic were taking a beating. None more than the e-bike and e-scooter companies.

In the late 20-teens, a wave of e-bike and e-scooter companies began launching. They presented a rosy view of the future. Thousands of people biking and scooting in cities across the world. Streets closed to cars. Air pollution eliminated by using electric cargo bikes instead of gas-guzzling trucks. Unfortunately, for these companies to work, people needed to ride bikes. And when your customers are not allowed to go outside, let alone touch another surface that someone else may have used, your business is in trouble.

Uber saw the writing on the wall. A low-margin business that was losing money was at the top of the chopping block when they needed to tighten up finances and prepare for what could be years of operational slowness. The company decided to sell its e-bike and scooter division (JUMP) to a competitor (LIME) in exchange for stock in their company.

Unfortunately, all that Lime wanted were the customers and the intellectual property, so they didn’t take anything else.

Every member of the JUMP team was laid off, including me. Nothing was left when the sale was over. They even destroyed the bikes.

After seven years of working at my dream job and the ride of a lifetime, I was left empty.

What in the world would I do next?

Working for Uber was the only thing I knew.

It was the only thing I was good at.

Sitting there, I thought, “I don’t know what I am going to do or what I will be able to offer to other companies. Uber is so unique. Other people have left and been successful, but they’re different than me.”

Everyone Has Those Thoughts

Have you had these limiting beliefs?

Are these thoughts going through your mind during your job search right now?

Despite having spent 7 years building one of the fastest-growing startups of all time and working alongside some of the most amazing coworkers anyone could ask for, I felt I didn’t have a network.

I had been so “heads down” building Uber for those seven years that I didn’t pull my head up to network and curate relationships beyond the walls of the NYC office.

Since I hadn’t continuously reached out to people I had met over those seven years, I thought that no one would respond to me, want to help me, or even remember I existed.

Thankfully, I had experience from a previously successful job search to draw from.

That previous job hunt landed me a role as Uber employee #250.

Remembering What Worked

As I thought about my approach to finding my next opportunity, I remembered those scattered days when I was 24.

It wasn’t cold applications that had led me to my dream job.

It definitely didn’t come from trying to figure things out on my own.

My big break opportunity came from leveraging my network.

I had spoken to a friend about what I was looking for.

She had spoken to her roommate.

He was working at Uber.

He called me to ask if I was open to an hourly gig.

The rest is history.

I remembered that you never know when, how, or if someone can help you and that the more conversations you have, the more your message will circulate in the world.

So, instead of throwing out dozens of cold applications, I started by speaking with people in my network.

I opened LinkedIn and made an initial list of 55 people in my network who I was genuinely interested in connecting with because:

1. They were doing the thing I wanted to do

2. They worked in an industry I wanted to be in

3. I respected their career path and trajectory

4. They were also going through the job search process, and we could share notes

All four of the above reasons are very different types of connections, but equally important for me to make sure I could take my best next step forward.

Next to each of the names, I listed two things:

• What was my relevance in reaching out to them?

• What did I hope to gain from our connection?

What I should have added in addition was:

• What can I give to them that would serve them? How can I help them?

I quickly realized the power of delivering value in every conversation.

I fell into that strategy because in my conversations, something would click in my head, and I would say, “Oh, have you seen this podcast about X company/founder? It was awesome, and I think it would be super relevant. I’ll send it over to you.”

Or, “I know X person that’s also in the industry. You two would get along well, and chatting would be beneficial. I’ll send a connection email to the two of you.”

Why Warm Networking Is So Powerful

For all the different potential actions you can take in your job hunt, warm outreach is by far the most powerful for three reasons.

1. It’s Easy: I’m not saying that getting over the nerves of sending those messages is easy, but in the grand scheme of things, crafting a message to a person who already knows you is easy. You don’t need to search for their contact information. You don’t need to come up with an excuse for reaching out. They know you, and that’s enough of a reason.

2. It Has A High Likelihood of Success: Warm connections are significantly more likely to respond to your message than someone you don’t know. They’re also far more likely to help you because they know you, and if they know you and like you, they will trust you enough to help you.

3. The Stakes Are Low: There is no downside to these conversations. It doesn’t matter if you mess up catching them up on where you have been, fumble your ideal job description, or can’t remember a relevant story to tell. In fact, this is the perfect practice field to rehearse all those aspects so you’re comfortable and confident when you enter higher-stakes conversations like interviews or cold networking calls.

I always recommend job hunters start their outreach with warm networking so they can get practice in a warm, forgiving environment before jumping into the deep end of interviews and cold outreach.

An Important Reminder

Did all of the connections lead to job opportunities? No.

Did all of the connections respond? Nope!

Was I happy that I reached out to each one of the people? Yes!

What was I able to get out of the conversations:

• A better connection with the individual

• Great information about what it’s like to work in their company or a similar company

• Great information about how they approached their career and/or job search

• Useful resources in their industry (books, podcasts, companies to check out, articles, tools, etc.)

• Connections to other people they thought would be relevant for me to meet

• Refinement and confidence in my story and what I was looking for next

• Strengthened speaking muscles

What can you get out of this process if you do it in a focused way?

• Improved personal connections to your network

• Job offers

• Mentorship opportunities

• Accelerated learning in your area of focus

• Confirmation or rejection of potential career direction

Harness The Power of Your Network

Be prepared.

Be genuine.

Be ready to give back.

Reaching out to people in your network and starting these conversations may feel scary.

I know I was scared when I started reaching out.

But this is a critical part of your job hunt.

If you approach it right, it will be an activity that will lead to significant growth.

And if you’re anything like me and the members of the UpEmployment Accelerator, it has a significant chance to lead to a job.

Steal My Step-By-Step Warm Outreach Process

1. Download your LinkedIn connections by following the directions HERE (Watch a How To Video HERE)

2. Once you have received them in your email, open a fresh Google or Excel spreadsheet.

3. Paste your network connections into the spreadsheet.

4. Add 3 additional columns to the sheet.

   • What do I find fascinating about this person?

   • What do I hope to gain from this conversation?

   • What value can I deliver to this person?

5. Go through all your connections and find at least 100 people from the list you’re most interested in reconnecting or connecting with.

6. Start sending messages via email and/or LinkedIn using this format:

   1. The Greeting

      • Hey [CONNECTION FIRST NAME],

   2. The Check-In

      • Ex: I hope you (and your family) are doing well since [LAST TIME YOU INTERACTED]

   3. The Connection & Compliment

      • Ex: I have been loving the content that you have been posting on LinkedIn

      • Ex: I have loved following your post-[EX COMPANY] journey and all the success you and the team have had.

   4. The Catch-Up

      • Ex: I was a part of the industrywide layoffs last month.

      • Ex: The company I was working for couldn’t raise another round and, as a result, laid off all staff last week.

   5. The Ask

      • Ex: I would love 30 min of your time to ask how you approached your career path from X job to Y job and any recommendations you might have for your 24-year-old self.

   6. The Link

      • Send the link to your calendar using Calendly to eliminate the scheduling back and forth.

7. THIS IS IMPORTANT: At the end of each conversation, they will say, “So [YOUR NAME], how can I help you.” This is where you share a specific ideal job description that you’re looking for. Specific is the key word here. If you’re not specific, they cannot help you.

8. Repeat until you get through all 100 connections.

9. After you get through 100, repeat steps 1 through 7 with the next 100.

August is over.

The results?

$6.8 Billion raised by 131 companies with headquarters located in the US.

Click here to see all the open positions at those companies.

There you have it, how I approached warm networking at the start of my job hunt and a step-by-step process for how you can see the same success.

Remember, not everyone will respond, and that’s ok.

You’ll get continuously better by taking action, so don’t wait - send the messages and start having the conversations.

And until that offer’s in your lap… let’s become career champions together 🏆

Kyle

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