A new company is moving to my area. I utilized LinkedIn to determine if I had any contacts there. I did not have any primary contacts but for one of the employees in the organization that I'm interested in had 20 shared connections. I reached out to him and invited him to be a connection. In that correspondence, I did say that I'm interested in learning more about the company and potentially the position if he was aware of it and requested some time to discuss....
He accepted my invite but didn't respond with any acknowledgement of touching base. Thoughts on if I pursue the issue with another follow up communication. For all I know, he could be involved in the hiring process. I struggle with being too aggressive.
Also, I would look and see if they have ANY jobs up on LinkedIn. Usually you will see who is posting them, and you can reach out to that person as well!
Also, I would look and see if they have ANY jobs up on LinkedIn. Usually you will see who is posting them, and you can reach out to that person as well!
With all due respect, I could not disagree more with this advice. If somebody called me at the office based on a blind LinkedIn request, that would do much more harm than good for them in terms of their job prospects for any position I was hiring for or had influence on. And even office phones have caller ID, so keep that in mind before you make repeated phone calls without leaving a message.
I think you can take one more shot with a follow-up message on LinkedIn. That's the only appropriate channel to contact this person, IMO, because it's the only channel through which you're connected, and you've never met directly.
Said another way, if you cold call this person's office, you're basically telemarketing yourself for a job that may or may not even exist, to a person who may or may not have any ability to affect or influence hiring decisions. What do you think the conversion rate is for telemarketing sales calls? And what is the overwhelming reputation of telemarketing sales callers? Don't be a telemarketer.
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and call him. If he doesn't answer don't leave a message, just try him at different times of the day.
Also, I would look and see if they have ANY jobs up on LinkedIn. Usually you will see who is posting them, and you can reach out to that person as well!
With all due respect, I could not disagree more with this advice. If somebody called me at the office based on a blind LinkedIn request, that would do much more harm than good for them in terms of their job prospects for any position I was hiring for or had influence on. And even office phones have caller ID, so keep that in mind before you make repeated phone calls without leaving a message.
I think you can take one more shot with a follow-up message on LinkedIn. That's the only appropriate channel to contact this person, IMO, because it's the only channel through which you're connected, and you've never met directly.
Said another way, if you cold call this person's office, you're basically telemarketing yourself for a job that may or may not even exist, to a person who may or may not have any ability to affect or influence hiring decisions. What do you think the conversion rate is for telemarketing sales calls? And what is the overwhelming reputation of telemarketing sales callers? Don't be a telemarketer.
As someone who does this everyday for a living, you would be surprised at the results. However, I will revise the statement.
SLIM, before you call him directly, see if any of your shared connections would be willing to introduce you to him.
If no one can help you from your contacts, you should send him a message on LinkedIn to see when he can be available to speak. To keep the conversation friendly, you can drop the best mutual contact you have with him. I see you are connected with John Smith, who I worked with in the past (Something like this). Give him 2 or 3 options and ask for his cell at that time. Keep it short and direct.
IF that doesn't work, you have to grab the bull by the horns and try to get in contact with him yourself by calling him directly at work. You aren't selling anything, you are just inquiring about the company and who the best person to speak with is. You can always say, hey if you can't speak right now, I understand whats the best number and time to talk to you off the clock.
At the end of the day, you have nothing to lose and all to gain. Your not pushing any agenda for a sale or trying to get him to change jobs.
Hell, sometimes I am given a job to recruit on and I have no clue what I am looking for and I end up asking people in the same field for some pointers. They are more then happy to just give me some direction on what I should be looking for.
face to face is always best.