To land a job in 2020, more than ever, you’ll need to be proactive rather than reactive. In other words, stop blasting out job applications 10 per day. If you’ve been doing this for months, by now you know the ROI is very low. In some cases my clients, who are spraying and praying, haven’t heard a peep from employers.

This act of futility demands different approaches. I’m going to talk about one of them: how to be more proactive in your job search by researching and using LinkedIn. Below are the five steps you should take to do this.

1. Research to identify companies for which you’d like to work
2. Identify the people in said companies who can be of assistance
3. Utilize your shared connections
4. Get an introduction from your shared connections to the key players
5. Follow up

Identify companies for which you’d like to work

For some this is a difficult task, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s going to take some work on your part. Let’s say you’re in the digital marketing space and want to work in or around Boston, Massachusetts, for a company that requires someone with your expertise.

You Google, “companies in digital marketing, boston” and arrive at sites that include the types of companies you’re seeking: Digital Agency Boston, Digital Agency‎ | Top Creative Agencies in Boston – 2020 Reviews, Clutch.co | Top Creative Design Companies in Boston, January 2020.

Selecting Top Creative Design Companies in Boston, January 2020, you see it provides information important to you such as the size of the company, it’s location, and the clients it serves. Now your research begins, as you go through each of the agencies’ websites to determine if they will be included on your list.

Note: you can develop your list of companies by talking with people in the industry. In many cases they’ll have a better idea of the culture and management of the companies in question.

Identify key players in your companies using LinkedIn

You’ve completed perhaps the most difficult process of being proactive in your job search. From here on in you’ll be using LinkedIn for your proactive job search. I’ll walk you through the steps of finding people who work in departments for which you’d like to work.

You read the short descriptions of the companies on the website and one company catches your eye immediately because of its size and location. Plus they have a really cool website. They also have a LinkedIn company page which shows that 92 people are on LinkedIn. Now it’s time to use Search and All Filters on LinkedIn.

1. Using Search type in the name of a company. You’ll see an option to choose People, which will give you a list of those who currently work for the company as well as those who used to work for the company. You’ll select from people who currently work there.

2. Go to All Filters (seen below) and select your company in Current Companies. This will give you the people who currently work there. Past Companies can be useful if you want to contact people for the lowdown on your company’s management and culture.

3. Other filters you’ll want to select are Connections (2nd), Locations (Boston), and Industries (Broadcast Media and Marketing & Advertising). This should give you a more manageable list of people from which to choose.

Utilize your shared connections

Shared connections can be extremely helpful when asking for an introduction to the people you have identified as key players in the company. This is why it’s important to have a focused network with like-minded people, as they can vouch for you when you want to correspond with said key player/s.

The connections you and your key player share is located under your key player’s name (seen below).  Josh is the one you want to contact and potentially connect with. You’ve identified Meredith (last name) as a shared connection who is trusted by you and your key player.

Get an introduction to your key players

Sending a cold invite to a desired connection is the least of successful of the three methods I’ll mention, especially if you send it with the default LinkedIn message, “I would like to add you to my professional network.”

The second least successful, although much better than the aforementioned, is mentioning a shared connection in it. “Meredith (last name) and I are connected and she strongly suggested I invite you to my network.” This is the gist of the second type of invite.

Your best route to Josh is having Meredith send him an introduction. Of course she will, but out of courtesy you send her an email outlining the purpose of connecting with Josh. As well, you ask her to point out three of your areas of expertise.

Meredith sends Josh an email carbon copying you:

Hi Josh.

I’d like to introduce you to Sherri Jones, a trusted friend of mine. She is a marketing specialist with extensive knowledge in digital marketing. I worked with her two jobs ago in our marketing department.

Sherri has recently been laid off, along with her whole department, due to the company being acquired. She has many accomplishments to tout in data analytics, lead generation, social media marketing. I know the two of you can benefit from connecting and having a discussion.

Sherri,

You’ll find Josh to be a great resource for questions you have about companies similar to his. I hope you and he have the opportunity to connect on LinkedIn and then speak in person. You two will hit it off.

Note: Meredith could send Josh a LinkedIn message but he is more likely to open his email, especially if it’s sent to his work email address.

But you’re not finished

That’s right, you’re going to follow up with Meredith to thank her for the introduction. She did you a solid and you promise to keep her in the loop by pinging her on any progress.

Next you send Josh an invitation to connect with him, referencing Meredith and the email in the invite. Josh naturally agrees to connect because, as I once said to one of my close connections, “When you recommend someone to connect with, I do so without hesitation.”

After thanking him for agreeing to connect, circle back to Meredith and thank her again for the introduction. You tell her that he agreed to connect.

Start building the relationship by sending a message to Josh, further introducing yourself to a greater extent and offering your assistance in any way. You noticed on his profile that he’s from the Greater New York area, so yo ask him, “Yankees or Mets?”

When he returns your message with an answer to your question–it’s the Yankees–you first tell him you’re a Red Sox fan and tell him you won’t hold it against him for rooting for the Yanks. In the next paragraph, you ask if he’ll be willing to give you some advice at his convenience. You’ll be willing to call or set up a Zoom session.

He gladly accepts to Zoom with you and so the relationship begins.

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To recap

The year 2020 will be your year if you’re proactive with your research and utilizing LinkedIn. Keep the five tenets in mind:

1. Research to identify companies for which you’d like to work
2. Identify the people in said companies who can be of assistance
3. Utilize your common connections
4. Get introductions to your key players
5. Follow up