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Gone are the days when hiring managers are impressed by cold messages on LinkedIn<\/a>. With more than a billion users on the platform, it\u2019s perhaps no surprise that overloaded recruiters are increasingly ignoring messages from strangers. <\/p>\n This is why recent grad Basant Shenouda went back to basics, combining the insight offered by social media platforms with good, old-fashioned hand-shaking.<\/p>\n After graduating in 2019 from the University of Bonn\u2014one of Germany\u2019s top universities\u2014she spent six months sliding into recruiters\u2019 DMs and applying for jobs online, before realizing she needed to do something drastic to cut through the noise.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is becoming harder and harder to reach the hiring manager, even virtually\u2014which used to be a more non-traditional method,\u201d the Egyptian-born Gen Zer tells Fortune<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s incredibly hard to spotlight yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n After attempting to virtually connect with recruiters on LinkedIn for six months, she switched up her strategy and used the platform to see which conferences they were posting about to take her networking efforts directly to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n One event in particular stood out: Online Marketing Rockstars in Hamburg. \u201cIt\u2019s a really well-known marketing and sales conference in Germany,\u201d Shenouda recalls.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI graduated in marketing and was looking to get into sales, so it was just the perfect place where the decision-makers I was looking to target were going to be,\u201d she explains. \u201cPeople were even flying in from the U.S. so it was a good networking opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n With that in mind, Shenouda volunteered to clean up glasses at the conference to gain free entry, and traveled over six hours from Cologne to Hamburg by train with a stack of r\u00e9sum\u00e9s in hand.<\/p>\n During her breaks at the conference, Shenouda put her CV in front of 30 to 40 faces, with the premise that she was looking for feedback on it\u2014while secretly hoping her bold approach would impress just one recruitment manager. And after a six-month hiring process, it paid off.<\/p>\n \u201cI was one of the only graduates at the conference and so it was full of opportunities for me,\u201d the 27-year-old adds. \u201cI got insight into my resume, developed a lot of relationships face-to-face (and that was far more effective than networking online) and got my application kickstarted for a couple of positions.\u201d<\/p>\n One of those positions was in the sales graduate scheme at LinkedIn, where Shenouda still works today, three years later, as an implementation consultant in Dublin, Ireland.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you\u2019re a graduate you think everyone\u2019s going to say \u2018yes\u2019 to you and things are going work out. But it\u2019s a matter of building up resilience,\u201d she advises unemployed grads. <\/p>\n \u201cYou need to keep reassessing your process so that every no gets you closer to that next \u2018yes\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s a lot to be said for being in the right place at the right time, but Shenouda took a more targeted approach than just hoping to bump into her future employer.\u00a0<\/p>\n Not only did she draw up a hit list of conferences that hiring managers at her dream employers were going to be at, but she also went face-to-face with those who had rejected her advances online\u2014LinkedIn\u2019s recruiter being one of those.<\/p>\n \u201cI gained feedback from all the companies that rejected, which allowed me to reapply and get job offers,\u201d Shenouda says. <\/p>\n \u201cIt really brought me a lot of insight into how I can better distinguish my applications and what gaps I needed to fill to ensure that I made it past the final interview rounds.<\/p>\n \u201cTraditionally people don\u2019t reapply, people don\u2019t keep trying and keep reaching out to people and keep maintaining a relationship.<\/p>\n \u201cThey [the recruiter] thought those were really good transferrable skills for sales and that\u2019s what I ended up doing.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if you\u2019ve made every effort to ensure that you\u2019re showing up at all the places hiring managers are, it doesn\u2019t guarantee you\u2019ll actually get any leads. <\/p>\n Shenouda says she showed her CV to around 200 recruiters across a handful of conferences before striking any luck.<\/p>\n Here are some tips she learned along the way to convert networking from just chitchat into something more tangible, like a job interview or offer:<\/p>\n 1. Talk impact<\/strong><\/p>\n Don\u2019t worry if bigging yourself up to strangers doesn\u2019t come naturally. \u201cI was really bad at networking before,\u201d Shenouda recalls. Her biggest tip? Talk metrics.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, I know how to get someone\u2019s attention,\u201d she says, adding that that looks like \u201ctalking about impact instead of just saying, \u2018I want a job\u2019.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Looking back at the elevator pitch that landed her her current role, the Gen Zer says she talked about her wins during a previous internship at Intel<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Likewise, don\u2019t be afraid to outline what you want following a conversation with a recruiter. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d always ask the specific question: if they can refer me (for a job), or if they have feedback based on my resume, or my past interview experience with the company,\u201d Shenouda adds.<\/p>\n 2. Listen\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Want to know what metrics will stand out to the hiring manager at your dream job? Ask them.<\/p>\n \u201cAlways focusing your elevator pitch on the other person,\u201d Shenouda says.<\/p>\n It may sound counterintuitive to use the few minutes you have to pitch yourself to turn the attention on the recruiter\u2019s needs\u2014but it\u2019s a surefire way to closely align your message with what they\u2019re looking for.<\/p>\n \u201cIf they say they\u2019re looking for people who can achieve something like a particular project, make sure you\u2019re speaking that language,\u201d Shenouda advises.<\/p>\n 3. Foster friendships<\/strong><\/p>\n Even those with hiring powers are people at the end of the day, with lives outside of work. <\/p>\n While getting straight down to business may be beneficial in the short term, for long-term alliances, it\u2019s better to forge meaningful connections.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not just about networking,\u201d Shenouda notes. \u201cIt\u2019s about making friends because that\u2019s how you get people to support you.\u201d <\/p>\n It\u2019s why she recommends connecting with the people you\u2019ve met on social media, while your face and name are still fresh in their minds\u2014but don\u2019t be a stranger.<\/p>\n\nTarget the employers that rejected you<\/h2>\n
How to convert networking into a job offer<\/h2>\n