Soft Skills Guide to Job Searches

Soft Skills Subject: Mistakes to Avoid

Don’t Make This Fatal Mistake in Your Job Search Efforts

Last week, I got this message on Linkedin. Let’s call this person Amanda. “Hi, I’m looking to make a move out of my current company – prefer a South Bay location as I live in San Jose. If you come across product leadership roles in and don’t mind referring me, I’d appreciate that. Let me know. Thanks!.”

If you were me, how would you respond to Amanda? I have been getting messages like this since I took a new job two months ago. Here is a little more information. I don’t really know Amanda. I think I had one meeting with her six months ago at my old job.

I am not sharing this example to pick on Amanda. She is likely quite capable at her current job. I share it because I know too many highly skilled professionals who are unfortunately not good at their own job search. I share this example so that you can avoid making this mistake in your job search efforts

What are the mistakes in this LinkedIn message?

I recommend jotting down what you think are the mistakes before reading further. I think there are 3 mistakes with this message. I will share what they are below this image.

Mistake 1: I, I, I. “I’m looking to make a move out of my current company – prefer SVB’s South Bay location as I live in San Jose.”

When you reach out to others for help, it cannot just be about what you want. You need to ask yourself why someone else would care to help you. In the case of Amanda, it’s not clear from her message why I should respond to her. Also, the fact she wants to join SVB because of its location is not a good reason. If she said that at the interview, SVB will unlikely to be impressed.

Mistake 2: Asking me to look for work for her. “If you come across product leadership roles in SVB …”

Remember I don’t actually know Amanda. I am also 2 months new to my job which means I am swamped “drinking from the fire hose.” Actually, even if I wasn’t working long hours, this is a fatal mistake on her part. She is literally asking me to do her job search. I don’t even know what she does today. “Product leadership” is pretty vague. This is not the best way to be bold.

When you are job searching, you need to do your own job search. While this seems obvious, this is one of the most common messages I have gotten from friends or colleagues looking for work. The most likely response you will get from a message like this is no response at all. This message pushes all the work on me to find her a suitable job.

Mistake #3: Asking me for a reference even though I don’t know her. “If you don’t mind referring me, I’d appreciate that.”

I am new to SVB which means my referral is unlikely to matter much to any department. I haven’t even build my reputation yet. On top of that, referring someone requires me to vouch for their abilities. If I don’t know her, I would be hard-pressed to refer her. She is asking me to put my reputation on the line for her.

The only impression I got from her message was that she is desperate to leave her old job and want a new one asap. She is also likely blasting this kind of message to all her Linkedin connections and likely getting very little response.

How Should She Have Written This Message Instead?

Here is another version to consider. “Hi Lei. I don’t know if you remember me. I remember you well as I really admired how you led that workshop with our group six months ago. I know you left to join SVB recently. I am also looking to make a move. I am really interested in X because Y. I came across this job at SVB. Do you know anything about this department? I would appreciate any insights.”

This message is a lot more targeted and only requires a few minutes of my time to help. This would have also shared why she reached out to me even though she didn’t know me. Her ask was quite small and specific. I would have been happy to tell her what I know. Depending on how our exchange goes, I probably would have helped her further.

Did I respond to Amanda?

I really thought about not responding to her. Her message was a bit ridiculous. However, since I am passionate about helping others with their soft skills, I decided to respond to guide her in the right direction.

“Amanda, Happy thanksgiving. There are a lot of openings in product. I would recommend looking it up on our site and find ones that peeks your interest. If I know anything about the group, I can share more.”

This is as much as I am comfortable saying to someone I don’t know. In general, I would be surprised if these kinds of messages get any kind of meaningful response. I also didn’t feel comfortable telling Amanda her mistakes directly.