Can you land your dream job "without applying"?

Can you land a job without applying? 

Throughout my own career, networking has been essential in landing roles at companies I’ve always aspired to work in. Here’s some quick “don’ts” especially when networking:

• Making it a “One-Way” street: Most people will take rather than give; ask the person what you can do for them rather than what they can do for you.
• Always send a personalized invite: I currently have over 7,500+ pending invites on LinkedIn because they didn’t send a personalized invite and I’m running out of connection space. Imagine you being the 1 person who takes time to send a personalized invite.
• Don’t treat people as just “professionals/recruiters”: Treat them as human beings; we’re all human at the end of the day and want to not just gain connections but at the end of the day friends.

“Make friends, not connections”

In this article, I answer the question "can you land your dream job without applying" with strategies, templates, and breakdowns. Lastly, there will be real life stories of how some of our Wonsulting team was able to help you find inspiration in landing your dream job.

Can You Land Your Dream Job "Without Applying"?

You see a job you are interested in and fit the qualifications for the role. You're excited as you start the application process. You attach your resume, upload a cover letter, and envision yourself on your first day.

However, day by day, you get no response. Weeks go by, and the finally, you get an email response. It's not the one you wanted to see, but it's better than nothing:

“We have decided to not move forward with your application at this time.”

If you've received one of these emails that say something similar, this article is for you. Let's breakdown how you land your dream job without applying with real success stories from those who have been able to.

The 4 Tiers of Applying 

Let's go back to when you were going to apply for the role. At Wonsulting, we've identified 4 Tiers of Applying which are as follows:

• Tier 4, Applying to Jobs: Many people who just apply and hope for a job are stuck in Tier 4 of the job searching process. That is, the blind application phase. Submitting a resume and cover letter isn’t enough.
• Tier 3, Getting Referred: This is the referral stage. This is when you get referred by someone at the company you want to work at, but not on the team that is directly hiring.
• Tier 2, Hiring Team Member Recommendation: This is when someone on the team you are trying to join refers you. (Ex: Software Engineer recommends a Software Engineer candidate for a role on their team)
• Tier 1, Hiring Manager Recommendation: This is when the hiring manager who is directly responsible for the role recommends you. (Ex: Head of Strategy is hiring for a Strategy Analyst role. They recommend you for the role)

Let's give you a real life example below; let's say you're applying to a Product Analyst role at Meta.

Tier 4: Applying

How many people are applying? Let’s say 1,000+

Tier 3: Referral

How many people are getting referred? Let’s say 200.

Tier 2: Hiring Team Member Recommendation

How many people are getting recommended by a Hiring Team Member? Let’s say 10.

Tier 1: Hiring Manager Recommendation

How many people are getting recommended by a Hiring Manager? Let’s say 2.

Lastly, how many roles are they recruiting for? Let’s just say 5.

If you were a recruiter/hiring manager, what would you look at first? Let’s say they choose the 2 from the Hiring Manager recommendation and they choose 2 from the Hiring Team Member recommendations.

That only leaves 1 role left for 1,200 to go for.

The reason why you’re getting rejected is because if you’re in Tier 4 or 3, you’re getting beat out by the Tier 1 & 2. If you’re able to get into Tier 1 or 2, that’s when you get a better chance, especially coming from a non-target school or from a non-traditional background.

Now, how do you get into Tier 1 or 2?

Networking.

Networking is game-changing, especially with you getting into your career

How do you network?

Here’s exactly what I’d do if I were trying to get into my career.

Reach out to professionals who work at the company that I’m interested in; there are SO many ways on how to do it, but let’s dive into how to do it first with Alumni.

Let’s break it down:

How To Network With Alumni on LinkedIn

Let’s say you’re going for a Marketing Internship and you’ve identified your company as Cisco.

Search “Position” and then filter “Current Company” to “Cisco”. You’ve now identified 3,000+ results of Marketing Interns at Cisco. Now, let’s find those who attend your University. Let’s say that you currently go to Chapman University. You’d then change the “University” to “Chapman University”.

Go to their Profile and look at their About Section; the person will USUALLY have something regarding their lives, experiences, etc. You’ll use this information and incorporate into the personalized invite.

Then check their activity; the reason why you want to check this is because you want to make sure that they’re ACTIVE on LinkedIn. Why? If you reach out to someone and they’re not active on LinkedIn, you’ll never be able to connect with them because they’ll never see your message.

Now why do you send a personalized invite?

• Surprisingly, only 1% of people send a personalized invite when networking. This will help you stand out when networking with professionals
• Shows you put effort in networking with professionals/recruiters, etc.

After they accept your invite, most will NOT reply at first. After, they accept, send a message with the following content:

1. Quick Introduction of yourself
2. Show interest regarding their story
3. Ask how you can both be valuable to each other

Here’s a simple message template you can send:

Hi (Name), hope you’re well! Thanks for connecting with me on LinkedIn, I appreciate connecting with you!

I’m writing to you because I’d love to learn more about your story, specifically (xyz).

I’d love to follow in your footsteps & journey; my story is (your story in 1–2 sentences). I’d also love to see how I can provide value/help you in any endeavors/initiatives!

Please let me know if you’d be free sometime to chat, as I appreciate your time and help in advance.

Thanks and have a great day!

If they say yes to a phone call, that’s amazing! The goal of the call is as follows:

1. Build Rapport: Talk about both of your stories but focus it on them. You want to hear more about their story & journey because you want to follow in their footsteps.
2. Ask questions to show your interests in the field/industry: Let’s say we’re going for Marketing at Cisco. One of the day-to-day responsibilities could be “Utilizing Social Media Marketing to grow/scale Cisco’s growth”. Thus, one of the questions can be “So I know that Social Media Marketing consists of growing and scaling content. Was wondering what you do in your day-to-day and why you decided to pursue a career in marketing?
3. The Ask: If you’re comfortable, you can ask for a recommendation; instead of saying “Give me a referral”, you should ask “how do I get an interview?”. Why you do this is because they can either recommend you to the hiring manager OR give you advice; either of these are great especially for you getting into your career!

Real Life Success Stories

This process has worked for Wonsulting Team Members as well and they would like to tell you how!

“I initially approached the job hunt by simply applying to jobs on LinkedIn - often through the LinkedIn Easy Apply feature. However, after six months and hundreds of applications, my efforts were fruitless. I started to feel dejected and hopeless and wondered what I was doing wrong. At the time, I came across Jonathan’s Instagram Reels about resume and networking tips. It was a complete game-changer. I revamped my resume LinkedIn profile and began networking. Whenever I applied for a job, I reached out to the recruiter and hiring managers on LinkedIn. Within two weeks, I had five interviews and received several emails from recruiters asking if I was interested in a job, the most exciting one being from Amazon. I was now starting to get job offers without even applying! The most important thing is to Network, Network, NETWORK! LinkedIn is such a powerful tool, and when used with intention, it unlocks so many opportunities. Take the time to create a strong profile, reach out to hiring managers, and connect with people in the field and company you’re trying to break into. Another critical strategy is utilizing metrics on your resume. Wonsulting’s template does a great job of teaching you how to create an impactful one that showcases your skills and value. I was out of work for seven months and wished I had stumbled upon Wonsulting and utilized their strategies from the start. However, the learning process gave me real-life experience into the job-hunting struggle, and now I get to be part of the company that helped me. It’s a real full-circle moment" - Katie Espinoza (Marketing Manager at Wonsulting) 

“I would apply to jobs without doing much research about the culture, growth opportunities and truly understanding the role very well. Often in the haste of creating more opportunities I would miss out on quality opportunities. I also thought of looking for jobs as a solo effort that I had to do all on my own which made miss out from getting feedback and help from others. Working with Wonsulting, helped me realized that I am not the only underdog, international job seeker who is looking for work. It helped me realize that If I ask, I have a whole community around me of like minded people, mentors and supporters. This opened a lot of doors for me not just in the avenue of getting more interviews but also learning more about what jobs I qualified for and didn't and best ways to build the right skills I need. Don't be afraid to ask for help. Be open to learning and realizing that there are gaps and there are people that know more. Only if you ask will you receive and I encourage you to ask, open yourself up and realize that job search is not a solo effort. There's a lot more here that you can conquer. Also never give up on yourself. It's easy to equal rejection to "I am not good enough" but that's not true. Everyone has value, and there is a company and role out there that makes a lot of sense for you. Keep pushing forward and keep being kind to yourself.” - Alvin Meledath (Sr. Associate: Sales Strategy & Project Coordinator at Wonsulting, Sales at Softchoice) 

“Originally I would just apply for jobs by clicking “apply” online. However, I realized that building a strong network on LinkedIn and making sure I always was authentic to myself in the job process helped me. Apply to job/network for jobs authentically and you'll get way more engagement. Also remembering that a 'no' or 'rejection' does not mean that is the end for you! Build a network of strong people who support you and remember that you deserve to give yourself credit for how hard you work every day. A rejection or acceptance for a position doesn't change how hard you worked to get there. - Cheyanne Seay (Executive Admin at Wonsulting

“I used to go to job sites such as Indeed, Glassdoor and LinkedIn and simply submit my resume. However, I wasn’t getting many responses. Things changed when I found Jonathan Javier and Jerry Lee. The current role that I have with Wonsulting, I was able to secure without applying. I have been following Wonsulting and its amazing founders and cofounders Jonathan Javier and Jerry Lee for a long time on LinkedIn. Strategies that they shared helped me to create my own brand. Being a big follower and supporter of their content and strategies, I always made a point to keep building my relationship with them, by keeping them posted about updates and also sharing what I have learned from them each time on LinkedIn. Creating content and building my own brand caught their attention. When it comes to content creation, it’s important to be aware about your story, be genuine about who you are. Having a call of action at the end helps. When it comes to networking building genuine relationships and friendship is the key. The goal while networking should be to get to know the person for who they are not just treat them as source of referral or someone who will just do what you ask or expect from them. I ended up getting 11 interviews in 2021 through the strategies that I learned from Wonsulting.” - Akshay Dehadray (Executive Operations Intern at Wonsulting)

“I was originally just looking for jobs by applying directly, and/or spending hours tailoring my resumes/cv to specific job types. However, the best strategy that help me was forming authentic connections with people on LinkedIn and via email. I would do so much research on LinkedIn on people I have worked with in the past because I wanted to see what they were up to just in case I could join their company and even be referred. In cases where this wasn't applicable, I still used the same honest approach to message people in my desired field/industry and ask to meet for a coffee chat for two purposes: 1) to hear their career story 2) to see how I could help them or them help me. I learned that there are people WILLING to help you, but you have to put your request and yourself out there! I learned that I had to see the value in my education, career, personality first for myself before anyone else ever could. I am so grateful to work at Wonsulting and Notion! Wonsulting helped me so much to simply build confidence in myself as a professional and in my work. “ - Gabby Hoyos (Customer Success Intern at Wonsulting, Recruiting at Notion)

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Jonathan Javier is the CEO/Founder of Wonsulting, whose mission is to “turn underdogs into winners”. He's also worked in Operations at Snap, Google, and Cisco coming from a non-target school/non-traditional background. He's been featured on Forbes, Business Insider, CNBC, The Times, TikTok News, LinkedIn News, Yahoo! News, and more as a top job search expert and amassed 1.2M+ followers on LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok (verified on IG/TikTok) as well as 30+ million impressions monthly on his content.

Interested in working together? Check out wonsulting.com or email us at hello@wonsulting.com (reference this article too)!