How to ACTUALLY get more interviews

Let's be honest for a second. You probably hate "networking," right?

If you've ever tried it during your job search, you've probably had one of these thoughts:

"I hate networking, it feels fake and forced."

"How can I land a referral if I don't know a single person at the company?"

"I don't want to bother anyone. What if my email annoys them?"

"I have no idea what to say. What will make this person want to talk to me or help me?"

"I'm an introvert. I'm not good at this cold outreach and relationship building stuff."

If you have ever felt this way about networking, you're not alone.

But there's good news. If you feel this way, it's probably only because you've been using the wrong approach.

Here are 5 steps to overhaul your process and start landing referrals that get you interviews, even without submitting an online application:

Step 1: Identify the RIGHT contact

When it comes to networking, the quality of the person you connect with is exponentially more important than the sheer number of people you connect with. We want to focus on people who can have a direct impact on our goal.

Ideally, we're looking for someone with the same job title you want or a similar role (such as a manager).

Step 2: How to find your ideal contacts

Finding the right people is very simple. Use LinkedIn as your search tool.

In the search bar, type in Job Title + Company + Location (if location matters to you). You can also click on "People" and filter by job title, company and location, among other factors.

Make a list of 4-5 contacts at each company that you'd like to connect and build a relationship with.

Step 3: Find email addresses

If you're trying to do this on your own, you can use email lookup tools such as these:

• RocketReach - 5 free lookups per month or more with a paid subscription.

• Hunter.io - 75 free credits per month (25 search credits and 50 verification credits) or more with a paid subscription.

With some of these tools, you can simply enter the LinkedIn profile URL for the person you want, and it will provide that person’s email address.

Now that you have found the right people to reach out to, it's time to do some research so you can effectively reach out and build that relationship!

Step 4: Research your contacts!

The more you know about someone before you connect with them, the better your chances are of landing a referral from them. Effort is the key. If they notice the effort you've put in, they're more likely to respond.

Here are some places you can research your contacts to find interesting facts about them:

• Publicly available social profiles, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. Advice: stick to professional items that you're able to find. Don't dive into deeply personal information about someone right away when messaging them, as this can seem invasive.

• Organizations/activities where you might meet your potential connections.

• Company website or employee profiles.

Step 5: Send the email

Once you have your contact info and you've done your research, it's time to reach out to your potential connections.

Pick one contact to email first. If they don't respond to your initial email nor to a follow up, select the next person on your list and try sending an email to them.

Of course, this brings other questions, such as:

“How do I structure my initial email?”

“How can I improve response rate with my cold emails?”

“Once my contact responds, where do I go from there?”

“How do I turn the conversation from cold outreach into a valuable connection and a referral or interview?”

In my Powerhouse Networking course, I cover all of that and more. Included in the course are not only the answers to those questions, but also:

• How to have an effective networking chat

• Value propositions & why they’re essential to networking

• 10 ideas for value propositions

• Value proposition success stories

• 10 email templates to grab attention & land interviews

• Referral Tracker

• Email Address Tracker (we find 50 emails for you)

• 30-minute strategy call with me

If you hate networking or it just hasn’t worked for you so far, check out the details of the Powerhouse Networking program by clicking here.

If you need some clarity on your networking or your job search situation in general, schedule a call with me.