Last week I laid out plans A through D for getting noticed by your future employer, but one of those plans deserves its own post, as it requires some ingenuity, investigative skills, and GUTS.

Did that just discourage you?  We will talk in the coming weeks about what caused that and how it can sabotage your success beyond your job search.

Back to Plan C – Find out what other media, social media, professional events, or social events enable you to capture an executive’s attention where few others will be vying for it.

Some executives are inaccessible. Can you presume that they are “ivory tower” types, making decisions from far above the front lines, making you schedule an appointment through their assistant, deeming the lower rungs of the career ladder less important and influential to success? Not really, and they probably are completely unaware that they give off that vibe. I have had to point out to many of my clients through the years just how unapproachable they have made themselves by failing to give themselves a presence.

Their top real reasons?

They are just too busy tending to the people and business that make their success possible. They sometimes even don’t have time to hire the talent that they desperately need!

OR…

They have valid reasons to be concerned about privacy.  They have had access to highly privileged and sought after information. They worked in industries targeted by zealots who bordered on dangerous. Some also worked in highly regulated industries that had not yet discovered how to navigate marketing while staying in compliance.

I have helped my clients overcome these challenges while remaining sensitive to them. But for the executives who remain “invisible,” but who still need YOUR value on their team to support organizational success, how do you make sure you become visible to them?

Have you tried googling their name in quotes? This sounds so common sense in today’s world where our first instinct to find any answer appears to be Google (or YouTube). However, I have been recruiting and finding people on the internet since 2000, and it may not be common sense to everyone.

• Perhaps if it is a common name, google it with a location or company name.
• Select the images menu of Google search. Sometimes, your future boss is tagged in photos at events by other people.
• Check the executive’s LinkedIn Groups and recent activity, if any.
• Check the company’s press releases (perhaps through your local business journal).
• Facebook search their name in quotes. Even if they do not have a Facebook profile, you may find them mentioned as part of someone’s post.
• Join a Meetup related to their industry in their vicinity and see if they are members, then also see what other Meetups they are in.

What clues are you looking for?

• Places they go.
• Organizations that they belong to.
• Events that they attend.
• Hobbies and interests that they spend time on.
• Who they hang out with.
• Causes that are important to them.
• Other social media that they might use more often, such as Twitter, Instagram or even SnapChat– seriously! You would be surprised!
• How they view a significant industry problem, company initiative, even their preferences on finding TALENT, aka YOU!

WHY?

This can help you determine:

• The best way to approach them.
• Whether to be casual or formal.
• A place that they might go where you will not have any gatekeepers (except your fear, but we will cover that in a future post).
• What to talk about when you have a chance to approach them that would be of interest or importance to them.
• People you may not have known you mutually know because someone wasn’t actively using their LinkedIn account.
• Maybe you might find that there is a path of even less resistance building rapport with their parent, spouse, child, or assistant.

Does this sound “stalkerish?” Is it Overkill?

That is most likely your fear talking. This is where the GUTS come in.

You may not be driven to try this if you are generating a lot of interest in your top companies by tapping the shoulders of the people you know in order to make powerful introductions that get you interviews. That is Plan A, remember.

However, before you go spend the same amount of time filling out a frustrating online application with redundant or irrelevant questions only to drop into an abyss of résumés that will never even get seen, let alone get a response, muster up some guts to try this experiment with two of your TOP target companies.

If you find yourself unwilling, scared, or thinking any of the following:

“I don’t want to bother anyone.”

“I don’t have time for that; I need a J-O-B!”

“They’re not going to like me.”

“What if I fail?”

“What if I embarrass myself?”

Then we have a post coming up that you need to read, because no matter what you do, you will STOP yourself from getting what you want every time if you do not address the REAL cause.

 

Do you have a story where you boldness was rewarded? Please share the results of your experiments!