Sidestepping the resume slushpile

One way to avoid the “send-off-the-resume-and-wait” approach to job hunting is to make someone like you so much as a potential candidate that your resume just becomes a formality – a necessary piece of paper for their records. Internal promotions often work this way, but external hires do, too. Your aim is to be known so that when a job becomes available, they think of you rather than recruiting.

Here are three steps to getting hired without anyone seeing your resume first.

1. Build a solid reputation in your field

Are you well-respected in your industry? Do you have a quality following on LinkedIn and Twitter? This isn’t so much a numbers game, but a question of being known to other experts, and having a reputation as someone who knows their stuff. This also means your online presence is clean, and that a google search will turn up pages of useful links to forums or blogs where you’ve posted helpful information or advice, shared ideas, or discussed current trends.

2. Build up a relationship

You’ll need to be in the same places as your target company. Follow them on Twitter and participate in the same conversations. Do they frequent certain industry blogs or forums? Be there too. Give something of value for free – some advice on how to solve a problem, best practices and so on. Do you have mutual contacts on LinkedIn? Can you get an informal introduction through them? The idea is not to ask straight out for a job, but to establish a professional connection.

3. Meet in person

Get your foot in the door with an informational interview, or meet at conferences and industry events.

The rules of good interview skills apply when you meet a person you’d like to work with. Do your research before you meet so you know as much as possible about the company and the sector. Allow your counterpart to present the company’s products and services first, and ask intelligent questions.

Get your interviewer to like you on a personal level. Appear friendly and polite, but make sure you also give a good professional impression. Take time to answer questions, so that your replies are thoughtful and considered. Be positive and enthusiastic – but don’t appear desperate for a job. You might not get an offer there and then, but stay in touch afterwards. Send a follow-up note or email, saying how much you enjoyed meeting and continue building your relationship.

Photo credit: Darcy McCarty