The 3 Conversations Before The Recruiter
How to navigate the conversations that happen before you get in the door
I knew going into my PM job hunting journey that I wouldn’t be cold applying to most companies. But, I didn’t realize how many folks I would end up talking to before talking to a recruiter. This post is about those conversations that happened before I even got in the door and helped me get in the door.
The Referral
Referrals are key. Fellow PMs make the strongest referrals, both due to the referral meaning more coming from someone in the same function and because it’s much easily to connect with someone in the same function and prove to them why they should spend the time to refer me.
With referral conversations, my approach was being honest with the other person and to give them space to be honest about me. Specifically, my first message would be:
Great to connect! I'm looking for new product opportunities and _____ caught my attention because _____.
I wanted to get your feedback if I had an appropriate background for this role _____ (link to my LinkedIn). And, if so, if you'd be willing to refer me (happy to send over a blurb if so).
If you have time to chat, I'd love to learn more about the current challenges on the product.
When I am giving a referral, I want it to be easy for me to say if they aren’t a good fit and offer to have a conversation anyways (or not). When I’ve received the above, it’s made it really easy for me to do that.
Common Connection on LinkedIn
The caveat to the first section is most of us don’t know a product person at every company of interest. In those cases, I either looked outside the product org or look for a LinkedIn connection that’s connected to someone in the product org at that company. In the latter, I found even when the common connection wasn’t someone I’d spoken to recently, many folks were willing to help and I was truly blown away by my community’s generosity.
I think good messages to shared LinkedIn connections look like acknowledging the gap in time since you last spoke and directly asking them if they’d be open to introducing you to that person of interest. Something like:
Hi, how are you doing? It’s been awhile!
I wanted to reach out since I was looking at job opportunities at <> and saw you know _____ (link to their LinkedIn) and was wondering if you would be open to introducing me to them.
Here is a blurb you can use if it's helpful:
1 sentence on you and 1 sentence on why you want to chat
Hope all is well,
The messaging again speaks more to how I like being spoken to, which is kindly, directly and informally.
People Willing to Help
Connecting with relevant industry professionals can be challenging. This is especially true when you’re new to an industry or geographic area. In those cases, it’s helpful going to professional networking events—which I often find intimidating but useful.
I don’t recommend cold applying to jobs or reaching out cold to those you’ve never spoken to since the job market is competitive and everyone is hustling for a referral. I personally had a <5% hit rate on cold out reach.
I did find it helpful talking to industry insiders, who can unveil new companies or leads. Those “random” conversations ended up being the most special part of my job hunting journey—I learned and was inspired constantly.
One thing I wish I had been more thoughtful about earlier on in my process was navigating the conversations with people willing to help. Early on, I didn’t do a great job making it clear what I was looking for in my next role and so it took a lot of back and forth for the other person to get to a point where they could give me meaningful advice, companies names, industries and intros.
Lastly, show gratitude. Not only thank folks after conversations but also after landing a job. I can attest to the joy of hearing from someone I connected or advised who got a job and the feeling that my small action may have helped.