How to Reach out to Hiring Managers Successfully

In most cases, employers ask candidates to submit applications online through their career website or other websites that feed their recruitment system, also known as an applicant tracking system. Once an application is received, it is usually prescreened by the applicant tracking system, and then screened by recruiters. Then, recruiters typically call interesting candidates for a phone screening and invite successful applicants to interview with the hiring manager.

Reaching out to hiring managers can provide an opportunity to interact directly with them before the interview stage. This interaction can enhance your application, however, it shouldn’t be used as an attempt to bypass other stages of the process, as this is unlikely to happen. Reaching out to a hiring manager is not about looking for favouritism. Rather, it is an effort to go above and beyond, which implies following the standard process, too.

When it comes to job searching, timing is everything. When a job ad is posted on the internet, it’s likely that it has already been circulating internally for a while. Also, you can safely assume that at the point when a vacancy has been published, there are thousands of potential applicants who are eyeing this opportunity. If you wait until you submit an application to reach out, it may be too late. Instead, plan your campaign irrespective of active vacancies.

First, start by identifying your best next job. You can select up to 3 similar jobs, but make sure you take the time to prioritise them. Once you have this clarity and are ready to make the transition, it’s time to select the employers you’d like to work with. Make a list that is long enough with a minimum of 10 companies. Again, list them in order of priority so that you know where to start from.

Once you have completed the above exercise, it’s the best time to identify your networking targets, develop your outreach message, and get started. This will allow you enough time to build and nurture a relationship that has the required depth to make a difference in your job search. Let me share with you how.

While this part of the process requires some research, in most cases all the information you need is publicly available, and getting it may be faster and easier than you think. I suggest keeping it simple, so start by using some of the best and most popular internet tools. A combination of search engines, such as Google, and professional networking sites, maybe all you need.

Use your preferred search engine and type the name of the employer, the department you are interested in joining, and a job title likely to be held by the hiring manager. For example, if you are interested in joining the marketing department of Apple as an HR Manager in the UK, you could search for “Apple HR Director UK”. It is important to use a good number of specific keywords to help the search engine pull related results.

While not all results will be relevant, you may see a number of interesting entries. From sites that provide professional contact details to the employer’s website to relevant articles in publications, use everything related to your campaign. Your goal is to locate the individuals who hold a position that hires at your level, find their contact details, and learn as much as you can about their professional background.

Even if you find a wealth of information, don’t forget to check professional networking sites too, as they can be a goldmine. For example, you can use the LinkedIn search functionality, specify a company, location, and role, and see all related people. If your targets are active on the platform, you can also find a lot of useful information by their activity, such as content they engage with, curate, or create.

Once you have a complete list of at least 5 individuals per company, it’s time to move on to the next step. Here, our goal is to understand the best communication channels to use.

While the multitude of options available can be confusing, there is a simple rule when it comes to selecting your outreach channels. The best way is to meet people where they hang out. The good news is that you may already know this from the research you’ve done.

For example, if you see that a potential hiring manager is active on LinkedIn, this is likely the best platform to use. However, if they are a LinkedIn celebrity with hundreds of thousands of followers, your message may get lost, so another channel may be more suitable. Equally, if they barely use LinkedIn, they may not see your message at all if you reach out this way. When it comes to social media, LinkedIn and Twitter are considered to be the most appropriate networks to use.

Reaching out using a professional email address is another sensible choice. In many cases, it is easy to find someone’s email address with their employer. For example, if the hiring manager works for Amazon, use their Amazon email address. This will allow you to get into their work inbox. However, if this inbox is very busy, controlled by an assistant, or uses heavy spamming filters, your message may get lost.

Other interesting ways may include reaching out using other internet platforms as long as they have a professional element. However, I would recommend steering clear of any personal networks, such as Facebook. Also, using a personal email address or phone number may be a bad idea. However, if you are comfortable with calling, you could try their work phone.

As you may know, most outreach messages won’t yield any results. This is not necessarily an issue, as you only need one relationship to work and we have already identified at least 50 potential hiring managers. However, we want to maximise your success rate. Here’s how.

Instead of sending a cold email to your audience, I suggest warming them up through other interactions first. To do this, start by searching for anything your audience has created in public. These days, it is common for professionals to be active on platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter, to publish books or articles, or to appear in podcasts or other speaking events.

When you manage to find any of the above, start by consuming the content. Then, leave a thoughtful comment or positive review. If this is not possible, create a message revolving around this piece of work. It makes the interaction about them and is an excellent way to maximise your reply rate.

The key to a successful outreach message is adding value to your audience. Even if a potential hiring manager is not an online creator, there are always ways you can help them. From supporting them with your expertise to introducing them to your network, adopt a giving mindset, be creative, and tailor your message accordingly.

Then, no matter what channel you have decided to use, craft personalised content around them, not you. Let them know that you are interested in their company, how much you appreciate their work, and focus on something specific. This could be a project they’ve worked on or a book they’ve written. Lastly, offer to do something for them that seems relevant to their needs.

While I don’t suggest giving a pitch at this stage, as people are bombarded with sales messages and tend to get defensive when they receive one, you can plug key info about you in several places using the above structure. However, no matter what you write, it is recommended to avoid asking for a job or attaching a resume at this stage, as an outreach message is not a job application.

Lastly, remember to keep it short. Business leaders have limited time and many stimuli fighting for their attention. A couple of light paragraphs with no more than a handful of sentences may be a good balance to make your message informative, easy, and fast to process.

When you reach out and don’t receive a reply for a week, you can follow up with a short message. However, I suggest keeping it brief and only following up once, as your audience could get annoyed by multiple messages. When you get someone’s attention, make sure to keep the relationship growing with regular interactions that lead to a meeting. In any case, keep networking best practices in mind.