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How To Find A Contact At Your Dream Company: Six Ways To Get Insider Information

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Yes, companies post job openings, and some people do get hired just by submitting a resume. But, more often than not, by the time a job is posted, a short list of candidates is already being considered, and unsolicited resumes get overlooked. The best way to ensure you get in the running for your dream job is to have an inside contact at the company. Ideally, these contacts include the decision makers for the role you want – the hiring manager, that manager’s boss, the HR contact and any other people who will weigh in on the final hiring decision. You may think you don’t know anyone at your dream company, but you probably know more people than you think, and you can always contact a decision-maker directly once you identify who they are. Here are six ways to get information on company insiders:

Internet Search

Company websites often include a list of the executive management team, sometimes with pictures and biographies. If your position reports to a top job (e.g., you’re a Marketing Director who would report to the CMO), knowing the executive team is a must. Even if you’re a few layers down, knowing the leader of your target group is a good starting point. It is more effective to ask who reports into a specific person than the Chief Marketing Officer in general.

Financial Filings

Public companies need to file an annual report and quarterly statements which list key officers. Non-profit companies file IRS Form 990 which list the top job and Board members. For private companies, you can get basic information from Dun & Bradstreet’s Million Dollar Directory. Inc Magazine compiles the fastest-growing private companies in its annual Inc 500 issue and provides more in-depth features on some of the companies. The names you gather are starting points for figuring out who does what within a company.

Media Profiles

In addition to the Inc 500, there is the Fortune 500 list for public companies and numerous lists compiled by Forbes which offer profiles. Many profiles mention several executives within a company or area. An added bonus with lists and the accompanying profiles on industries, companies or people is that you get an overview of your target area, which is required knowledge for you as you network, so you can engage people in your dream company and industry and assure them that you’ve done your homework.

Social Media Connections

Of course, check your LinkedIn or Facebook community for connections at your dream company. Don’t just stop at people you know well. Once you have additional names from the company (from the Internet, financial filings or media profiles), you can look up these names specifically, and these profiles will often be connected to others within the company. You may be connected to some of these secondary connections in ways that hadn’t surfaced in your initial search – e.g., you went to the same alma mater, you share a similar career trajectory. These additional names will be people you can contact cold, or that you can reference when you’re asking your warm contacts for further information.

Competitor Connections

Your warm contacts can absolutely further your search even if they don’t know people at your immediate dream company. If they know competitors, they can give you information that can help you better engage with your dream company. If you know that marketing groups at other companies are structured in a certain way, this can be something you bring up when you poke around your dream company. It positions you as an insider in your field, and people will be more willing to share additional information when you clearly are in the know. If your warm contacts are at your dream company but do not know the exact decision-makers, they can still be helpful by giving you a lay of the land – e.g., how the marketing department is perceived, who marketing tends to work closely with. If a job is posted and you’re not sure exactly what group it aligns with, your warm contact may be able to look that up for you.

Industry Experts

A contact doesn’t have to be directly inside to know a company well. Sometimes people know a whole industry well and all of its active competitors. Recruiters, journalists, financial analysts, business consultants, academics – these are all occupations that may require coverage of specific industries and therefore have knowledge that helps you better understand how a company’s structure and organizational chart. As you think of warm contacts to tap, don’t forget industry experts you may know (another reason to make friends with recruiters!).

Sure, the closest shortcut to your dream company is being best friends with the person running the group you want. But even if your connections are outside the group or even outside the company, they can still give you insider information. Even if you don’t have warm connections now, you can learn enough about a company to help you effectively approach the insiders you need cold. Don’t just take the passive approach of submitting your resume and hoping someone notices it. Get inside through research and connections.

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