077 How To Get On The Radar of the Hiring Manager

Getting noticed by a hiring manager can take some effort. You have interest in a company or even a specific position, but are unsure about how to get on the radar.

Scott and Andrew discuss some strategies for finding hiring managers and getting their attention.

Don’t miss these Topics:

  • Getting around the applicant tracking system (ATS) and recruitment processes.
  • Reverse engineering the roles and industry trends based on research to craft attention grabbing mindsets.
  • Leveraging industry associations and relationships to get introductions.
  • Position your expertise to align with current events and trends.
  • Tracking and keeping tabs on hiring managers of interest through authentic engagement.
  • Identifying problems you solve or can help them avoid proactively.
  • Incubating and updating hiring managers with valued content.
  • Be an extension of the hiring manager’s work by becoming a subject-matter expert (SME) and bringing information back to the team.
  • Share the truth about your capabilities and accomplishments.
  • Volunteering alongside hiring managers with similar interests.

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00:00:02 – 00:05:01

welcome to Job Seekers Radio Andrew and I’m Scott. This production is meant to provide you meaningful support to find great careers faster. And that’s why they’re you’re working or not today. We’re talking about getting on the hiring managers radar this can be challenging and it’s going to be different in every situation but we want to talk about this in just general terms because often there are ways to get on the radar that either we forget about. We don’t know about or that. We sure whether or not it’s going to be effective and so we don’t try and I think the first step is you gotta try what you know. Hopefully we can build on that today. Today’s episode is actually brought to you by the anatomy of a networking conversation. It’s an e book that Scott Ni- put together to free sort resource for you on job. Seekers RADIO DOT COM. You can download that at your leisure. The challenge with getting on the hiring managers radar is feedback. That I’ve gotten from a lot of job seekers that I coached those ones that are working in ones. That are not that are just trying to get. I don’t WanNa say around recruitment or talent acquisition. But really they WANNA talk to a human being and often. They’re not able to because of all the layers of process that stand between them and the company so many companies now are using automated systems to go through a recruiting process and so it is difficult to get in touch with a human being and we recognize that. Turn the tables just long enough to to think about why they would wanna do that. I can’t really blame them. Having been on both sides of the coin both as a hiring manager as well as a job seeker. The hiring manager needs help anymore. I don’t know. Many companies that have a lot of recruiters are a lot of people that have the bandwidth to be doing a lot of the sourcing. Most the recruiters I know have an enormous number of tickets open for positions that they need to hire people into and it can be daunting so the automated systems that they use help them to find people with the right qualifications at least with the right keywords. So all of the PODCAST THAT. We’ve we’ve already done where we’re talking about how to get into that. All of that still applies. Hopefully we can maintain a sense of empathy for those who are going through all of that processing the ones that are reaching out using these automated systems. We want to help them to find us. So that’s really elite sort of the the perspective we WanNa start with today. Part of this is really reverse engineering. The roles you’re interested in in identifying. Then okay what are some of the challenges that are common in the industry? What are some things that the company has facing is Is there a trend? That’s happening. That’s relevant. Have you been able to navigate that trend in the past that that would be relevant to that hiring team and also where are we in the employment cycle? We go through this with the economy and we see it time and time again where the economy is getting really strong or has been strong for a period of time. Unemployment is low. I’ll give the caveat. That employment is never as low as the numbers that we hear. Say It is. It’s true that unemployment does go through the cycle so the tactics that company us will also change based on the volume of applications. They receive the number of qualified candidates that are currently in the the job seeker pool. What is the competitive environment? Like in terms of being an employer. Do they have to work harder to find someone to fill the job and so they have to sweet deal? Somehow all of these things play into that cycle so be aware of where where we are whenever. You’re looking where we are in that. That employment cycle and many of these hiring managers are easy to identify because most of them at least in my experience or online din and the big question I have from clients is. How do I find the hiring manager? Did you look on linked it? Well there’s one hundred of them great. Got One hundred people. Now that you can network with that you don’t know. Is it that one or that one or that one? But it doesn’t matter because right that Mo- some of them are gonNA respond anyway. Sure and those who do will probably be able to lead you in the right direction the right direction but linked him also offers filters that you can use in that search so you can. You can search for specific words so if you if you’re looking for a position you’re looking for that hiring manager for a position that you’ve been in or that you’re familiar with should be able to figure out what the titles are at least some keywords that you can filter that search and Lincoln is not the only source though of work in industries where there is an industry association which means there are people from a variety of organizations. That do what you do.


00:05:01 – 00:10:01

And whether that’s the industry that your company is in or the industry of your discipline for my own example. The Association for Training and Development Ata as the Association for Training and Development. It covers all industries but it is specific to those of us and the learning and development world. Then you also have the those in For example the medical industry you have the people who are in an industry these associations will depend on what it is you do but they will be able to help you find people to start conversations. Let them know what it is that you’re trying to accomplish to expand your network to expand your contacts within your industry to develop new skills perhaps looking for new opportunities. Whatever that might be work with people in your affinity group that can help you and that really comes down to then. I just identifying that leader once you’ve identified that leader. I think it’s important maybe to put together a profile on them. Not that I’m looking to put together a dossier but I really WANNA see. What are they talking about? Where did they were they coming from? What what sort of things can I find? What I google their name. There’s a lot published anything. There’s a little bit of research that you can do on the front end in order to position. Whatever it is. You’RE GONNA put out there in alignment with what that leader is interested in and we can talk about values. We’ve talked about that in prior podcasts. We can talk about areas of interest that are both professional or personal for these individuals. And it’s not like we’re trying to teach you how to stalk someone this is really about. How do I have a conversation? That is then meaningful to the other person. Once we know who some of the hiring managers may be in an organization whether they have a position open or not isn’t the point these are people who have direct reports and therefore will at some point need to bring someone else on the team. They lose a team member. Whatever you’re already preparing for those conversations and that’s the point is just keeping track keeping tabs on. This leader is really important primarily because if you decide to make a person a mentor or even a thought leader than you probably. WanNa keep in regular contact ’em overtime if you’re connected with them already on Lincoln. You can make comments on the things that they post. You can reply to come as they make on yours or other people’s like showing up at the gym if you keep showing up in these different platforms to simply engage not to show how important you are. Or how knowledgeable you are but just to join the conversation. You’re going to create that sense of trust with these hiring managers. You will get on the radar without having to say. Hey I want you to hire me and really it’s positioning yourself too. So once you understand this hiring manager saying okay what problems do I solve? And if you position yourself as a solution to a problem then you’re going to be seeking problems to solve and you don’t offer the solution until you know there’s a problem right. This is another conversation that we can have with those who will be hiring. What are your pain points? Or what problems are you solving? There’s also the conversation of what problems are you trying to avoid? What do you see as potential for your organization that you are actively trying to improve on before you get there before it’s a problem? I’ve had conversations with people recently certainly from a development side of. How do we become proactive? When what we’re trying to do is solve problems while problem solving is a reactive function. So how do you turn that around to be proactive? Well what is it that you’re trying to accomplish? What outcomes does your organization want in terms of its schools and now we can do things like for example reverse brainstorming. Which is okay. We’re going to approach this. How do we totally screw this up? And you use the worst thing that could have right. And how do we make that worse thing happened? What’s great about this is now you start to often see the humor in it. You’re creating a conversation that most people don’t have that becomes memorable but also it’s how to identify the things that are going to trip you up. It’s a great way to proactively problem solve before problems. Show up and when you become adept at this not only will you have had a more positive conversation with these people who may be hiring. They will see you as a problem solver without having to be reactive and really that applies also to internally if you’re in a company and you’re trying to get on some of the folks that I’m coaching right now our our at a larger organization and these people are starved for time. You know and everybody wants to get on their calendar. And how do you manage that? And how do I make my fifteen minutes more important than somebody right minutes and that competition starts to come in and really Part of this process is putting yourself in a position to give that person regular communication.


00:10:01 – 00:15:05

Just as course of your work and that sometimes doesn’t require getting fifteen minutes on their calendar that could just be having project update right. Here’s the project we’re collaborating on together. Wanted to keep you posted on. What’s going on? I also think about what when we think about values and goals. What are the hot buttons involved? What do we need to be sure that we’re we’re giving positive information about how we are? Achieving around those hot buttons can also be a really helpful conversation. It’s not that you’re solving. Their problem is that you have a mindset of providing solutions. And if you know what they’re put buttons are you can actually lead into that very comfortably. Those regular check ins do more to create credibility than simply having a good answer. The other way to create credibility is to actually go to some of the industry events that the leader or the hiring manager doesn’t just have bandwidth time to go to absolute so now you can be that that sage right the industry sage that is always going to the industry events and bringing the latest things to hiring team once you establish that communication with the hiring manager that you can be an extension of their work. That y’all do the legwork for them they actually would appreciate that. As long as you’re bringing back the value from these activities the other thing to think about is what meetings can you sit in on to gather information A present consistent resource you know I think oh I think of all these meetings. We see on C. Span where there’s a committee meeting and you know the the congressman’s upfront. And there’s like five staff members behind the camera not quite uncanny quality camera but you know not aware that they’re being filmed. Yeah yeah there. There are so many of these that actually happened that we don’t think about in terms of our participation as we’re trying to get on somebody’s radar. We may have restricted bandwidth. We may not have the time to attend all these other things. So that may be a conversation you have with your current leader or boss to try to free up a little bit of time and that that’s going to look different depending on the kind of work that you do. Here’s where at least for me. My ability to communicate my own brand statement my personal branding statement. Okay that needs to align with my company. The brand that. I’m working four when I can talk concisely about the value. I bring as an individual into these conversations. That’s actually going to inform the conversation I have with my boss where I’m asking. Can I have a little extra time to do? X Y and Z activity. Yeah and then you go do. Xyz activity bring back. Bring back the value that then maybe saving them time because now don’t have to go do it or they can rely on you to be a consistent force in the organization to make that kind of thing happened and that’s going to make you more visible to other leaders who then can see you coming under the radar as being somebody. They want to bring on board doing good work. I mean that’s what it is. It’s really just demonstrating to people around you that you do good work so part of this problem that I see with a lot of people is hey. I don’t like to Brag. I don’t like to toot my own horn or whatever Being that they’re hiding right. That’s what it is. They’re really hiding behind in keeping all of their capabilities secret. And if I have some strength inside of me I want other people to know about. Maybe they just haven’t identified that or are willing to embrace what that is right now. You’re reminding me of a quote and I wish I could remember who said it i. Most people are most afraid of success. It’s true the and they don’t realize it. S The channel. I don’t really horn. Tooting Your Own Horn in an appropriate and helpful way is not conceit. You’re not being stuck up by telling people what you bring to the table if anything helping them help you. And this becomes a symbiotic relationship. And isn’t that what we’re trying to do? A bid that it actually helps the manager is the company helps. You helps has got to be able to toot your own horn to some extent. So don’t be afraid to do that. You don’t want to be a clanging cymbal. So that you’re like just constantly that it’s annoying. It’s very annoying. But there’s you absolutely have permission to tell the truth about the things you’re good at and the things you enjoy doing so that you can advocate for your own data’s faction your own happiness so then if you know what brings you satisfaction on the job you know what interests you you know the direction you. WanNa go now. You have another filter to us. Which leaders do you? WanNa get onto their radar. You have now away to focus your efforts in the right directions because the more you do the things you love to do the more energy you get the more passionate you become the more of an expert you appear to other people because they see how you’re tapping into this this is one of those virtuous circles these are ways for you to get involved and be seen as a thought leader or as a good person to have on the ground and people want to be around.


00:15:05 – 00:20:01

They don’t WanNa be around a milk toes. Person Keeps everything why it? It’s just not very exciting. I’d rather be around people that got going on. That are full of energy that understand who they are no what they bring to the table and they have capacity that that’s exciting it demonstrates life well and you don’t have to do that on the job either. You can do volunteer work. You can get out there and do things. Maybe it’s not even involved in your work when people know that you are volunteering your time. That says something about how you feel about your community. Your worldview depending of course on what voluntary work you’re doing or the organization you’re doing for. Here’s another opportunity to expand your network doing things that you really are interested in doing. You may take that a step further and volunteer to do project. Hey I see this thing. I think there’s a project there. I’d like to volunteer to take that on and really you’re demonstrating to a hiring manager. You have that capacity. Sure and that. You are proactive. And you’ve identified a need and you’re ready to address it now. We think about different resources that we can turn to to find these sorts of opportunities. There’s the business journal from your city and every large city in most the smaller cities have a business journal if not called the city. Business like Portland Business Journal Los Angeles Business Journal. There are others like that. You look at the news sources. If they’re making an announcement that something is happening. There’s nothing wrong with contacting someone in that organization. Say Hey I see this happening in the news. I would love to know how I might be able to get involved in that. What volunteering opportunities might you be offering it? It’s not hey I want you to hire me. It’s hey how can I volunteer thing might just hire you? Yeah there’s lots of hiring managers that have lives outside of the job and that might include the American Cancer Society or diabetes. Well we have whatever we have a mutual friend that’s involved in the Alzheimer’s Organization. There are all sorts of different groups out there doing this kind of work that you can now get involved in and meet people expand your network. You can find them on social media whether that’s facebook or linked in or any of the social media platforms out there. I look at it kind of like a circle by that I mean. Hey you know if you’re trying to get on the hiring managers radar there’s the gravitational satellite right around that person and just not close enough to the hiring manager to get sucked into that to get sucked into the vortex but I guess what I’m suggesting is there’s always somebody that’s a little bit closer to that hiring manager than you are and often they. There’s somebody that each leader that I’ve ever met relies on is kind of like they’re sounding board or the go-to person or someone that they can how them to be influenced by because they value that person’s opinion and if you can’t get to the hiring manager one way you get on their radar as maybe through their executive admin or a potential here that you happen to play squash with on Saturday afternoons or something. I don’t know that brings us back to your one of your early ideas of doing the search on linked to find the Harry Manager. Look at the peers. Look at the other people. Who are the various people on that level that you might be able to connect with just to get some information about the company? What does it like to work there? What what are your current strategies. I mean I’m just interested in the industry. Whatever that looks like because that’s going to tie tie you right back into where you need to be. There’s more than one door into the organization and it’s either through the hiring manager. The peers could be somebody in sales or somebody in finance that you end up bumping into just kind of serendipitous at a weekend event maybe a wine tasting or crawl or some sort of faith organization. That happens to go to your church. Sure all of the the the potential conversations somebody in the grocery line. It’s not that you should be talking about your employment situation in every conversation you have keep that in. Mind that any conversation. You have could go there so that if you have your personal branding statement written out in practice that you can jump into that opportunity as soon as it presents itself because you never know where when it’s going to happen it may be just a stepping stone. We do want to encourage you to look for any opportunity. All Opportunities Don’t feel like you’ve exhausted the mall because you probably don’t restrict yourself keep an open mind because you’ll be surprised in how many opportunities actually come up if you’re just ready for them. Keep your eyes and ears open at all times. Well that does it for this episode of Job Seekers Radio You can get all the show notes and resources and job seekers radio DOT COM FORWARD SLASH. Zero seven seven. We want to remind you that we do have the book. Called Anatomy of networking conversation. Is there it has companion audio? Avail yourself of it. It’s totally free. And it’s one of the best ways to get on.


00:20:01 – 00:20:45

The radar of hiring manager is to do your network to your networking excellent in a somewhat pragmatic direct. Way If that works for you. But getting on their radar it could involve the networking piece and that is one of the resources we have. It’s totally free. Our gift to you. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Job. Seekers Radio we really do appreciate your investment of time and your attention head on over to I tunes and subscribe to get future episodes. While you’re there. Please leave us a rate and review. We really do appreciate that. And we. We want your feedback. You can also give us feedback or ask US questions on job seekers radio DOT COM and according to Mahatma Gandhi. Be The change. You want to see the world. I’m Scott I’m Andrew. Thanks for being with US aggregrate day.


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