Land a New Job with the Back Door Method on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is the best professional network for finding a new job and developing your career, but going the direct route and responding to job listings on the site isn't the most effective tactic.

Instead, hiring guru Lou Adler recommends using the "hub and spoke" concept to find companies with multiple openings for jobs similar to the one you're looking for. Then contact the hiring manager (or a person who can connect you to the hiring manager) on LinkedIn and demonstrate your ability related to the company's needs. Instead of giving them your resume and applying for a specific job, you're going through the back door to get noticed, more importantly, that job referral:

There is no rule stating you must send in a resume to get a job interview. Getting noticed first is the key. One way to get noticed is to solve a problem likely being faced by the company. There are often clues to this in the job posting and by doing a little company research. Over the past few years candidates have told me they have sent in samples of their work, prepared PowerPoint decks describing related work they've handled, created YouTube videos answering The Most Important Interview Question of All Time and conducted the type of analyses described in the job posting to demonstrate their subject matter expertise.

None of these were sent to HR or the recruiting team. All were sent to the hiring manager or someone who could refer the person to the hiring manager. For the Halliburton example, I'd send the material to all of the senior project managers and then follow up with a phone call. If you mention you've also sent the material to the senior VP the other directors will likely act upon it sooner.

It's even better if you can get connected through your network to the project manager or the hiring manager rather than sending material out of the blue. In any case, getting referred is usually the best way to get a job. It's hard work, but more effective than applying to all the job listings in your field.

3 Things You Should Do Before Applying to Any Job Posting | LinkedIn

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