Advance your career

Let Your Connections Help You Get the Job

If you’re looking for a new job, we have just one tip today:

Nothing will ever be more helpful in your job search than the people you know.

The connections you’ve made and the relationships you’ve formed are often your best resource for finding your way in to a new job. In fact, more than 70% of professionals get hired at companies where they have a personal connection. Additionally, we know this: job candidates who are referred by an employee are 8 times more likely to get hired.

That’s a pretty big advantage.

But listen, if you’re not sure how best to leverage your connections, that’s okay. We’re sharing a few stories here that might give you some ideas. For example, there’s Claire’s story. While using LinkedIn, she discovered an interesting young company, right in her backyard. She was also surprised to learn that an unlikely connection from her improv days actually knew someone at this company and could make a helpful introduction.

And then there’s Rahul’s story. After making a big decision to switch careers and coastlines, he had arrived in a new city with the ambitious goal of finding a new job in less than six months. Rahul used LinkedIn to find and contact interesting people he wanted to get to know. After scheduling dozens (and dozens) of casual coffee meetings, a new opportunity opened up through one of his connections.

And finally, there’s Anna’s story. She wanted to become a software engineer and invested a ton of time and energy to bulk up her skills. Anna leaned on her connections for support and advice, and sought the help of a new industry connection to help jump start her career.

As you can see, everyone gets help from someone. At some point.

And even if you’re not looking for a job, chances are good someone you know helped you find your way in to where you work now.

Take a moment today to thank them and use the hashtag #TheWayIn

Over the next few weeks, we’ll continue with our The Way In series and share more about Claire, Rahul and Anna’s stories, and provide you with helpful tips and advice for how best to leverage your connections to find your way in to opportunity on LinkedIn.