How to Get an Interview at Any Company

A simple cold email worked for me, and here it is

I‘ve lived in NYC for 4 years now — called 4 different apartments home and worked at 4 different companies. Interviews have been about the only constant thing in my life since I began my New York journey, and I thought that this would be a great time to share some of my secrets that helped me get my foot in the door. Additionally, I am very excited about my current role and don’t plan on using any of these tactics in the near future!

For reference, all of the positions that I have held have been finance focused, but I have interviewed for just about everything. Additionally, these tactics have helped me land interviews at 30+ companies where my resume would have otherwise gotten lost in the shuffle.

Getting Interviews

Getting an interview can sometimes be the hardest part of getting the job, especially when there is so much talent flooding the market. Here are a few of the top tactics that I used to get my foot in the door.

LinkedIn — It is one of the best tools for finding a job if you utilize it effectively. Make sure you have a clean, professional, and up-to-date profile and start connecting with anyone and everyone. Here are my tips for success:

1. Identify the job — Find your desired job through searching LinkedIn or on the company’s website. Use filters to try find people who have the same interests; for instance: hobbies, alma mater, sports teams etc. Also, make note of anyone that you are already connected with or have mutual connections with while conducting this search.
2. Choose your “Target” — Before you apply for the job, identify 2 or 3 people that you think will have the highest chance of responding to you. I’ve found that the most responsive people are at the mid-senior level. They seem to have enough pull to get your resume through, but aren’t too important not to respond to you.
3. Send A Direct InMail — Assuming that the person is not already a connection, compose a note to go along with your connection request. The message should be short and sweet. Ask them if they have time for a quick phone call and tell them you are interested in learning about their career and experience at their current company. If you have anything in common, make sure to reference that as well. Lastly, ask for ADVICE on what the best way to apply is. Obviously the best way would be to apply online, but the goal here is to get them to pass your resume along. REMEMBER — there is a real life person on the other end reading your message, make it genuine and be yourself.
4. Follow up — This may seem very uncomfortable to do, but it could be a major deciding factor in you landing your dream job. If the person you targeted accepts your connection request and doesn’t respond, then you should send a follow up note. Keep it simple and ask them in one or two sentences if they have 5 minutes to chat with you.

Cold Emails — Sending an email to someone who you don’t know is a lot more difficult than LinkedIn, but it shows your commitment and interest in a position/company. I have only done this a handful of times, but if the person actually reads your email, odds are they will give you some sort of response. Here are a few things to keep in mind when drafting your message:

• Reference anything that you might have in common with the person.
• If they are the person you would directly work for, mention that “you would love to work for them”.
• Value Add Approach — At the end of the day, companies are focused on making money. Outline what skills you would use to add value to the company and describe why you would be a good fit.
• Personality Approach — Layout the steps that you have taken in your career and a brief description of your background. Be straight forward and honest about why you want to work for the person or the company.

Networking — Most of the time, tapping into your network or meeting new people works best when you have time in your corner. Regardless, it is easily the best way to get your foot in the door.

• Keep a list — (I use excel or google docs) of all of the people that you meet. Include where they work, their email, phone number, and anything that you talked about (ie. sports, family, weather).
• Stay in touch — make sure to stay in touch with your network and reach out every 3 to 6 months. The purpose of networking is NOT to just extract value from people — keep in touch, and even make some new friends.
• Do the work — When using your network to find job openings or opportunities, it is important to remember that this is your career and not theirs. Most of the time your network will not go out of their way to search for positions that you might like. Do the research. Identify roles that you are interested in and ask them to check internally for similar positions.

Messages That Worked For Me:

• Hey XXX, I noticed that you were connected with a colleague of mine, XXX. Do you have a few min this week to jump on a quick call or grab a coffee? I recently applied for a XXX position at XXX and would love your advice. Either way, great to connect. Thanks, Alec
• Hey XXX, hope you are having a great summer. I recently noticed a job posting for XXX and wanted to see if you have a few min for a phone call or coffee. From looking at your profile, you check all of my boxes for someone that I want to work for. Either way, great to connect. — Alec

Conclusion

With every failure comes growth; keep at it and never give up. I always like to ask myself, “what would you be willing to do if your life depended on getting an interview at this company?” If you get to the point where your efforts seem hopeless, that’s where the real magic starts to happen!

Alechajdukovich.com