The best message I got from an applicant last quarter

I get anywhere from 10 - 50 DMs a day on LinkedIn, and I can’t respond to all of them. But I wanted to share one that got a response:

“I have recently exceeded my $1M quota in just 11 months and am looking for another opportunity to go back to selling technical data infrastructure. I applied for the Enterprise AE role and would love to connect with the proper hiring manager.”

In one sentence, they let me know they are metrics-oriented, a high performer, and are selling solutions and at a volume aligned to what my company was hiring for. They made it really easy to see the fit, and “pitch” them to the hiring team. And bonus points because they had already applied. 🙂 

That was the message y’all. This stuff doesn’t have to be complicated, it doesn’t have to be overly personalized, it doesn’t have to extol your many virtues and achievements, nor do you need to heap a bunch of praise on the person you’re messaging.

Try crafting a few lines that can quickly communicate what you bring to the table and test that out over the next few weeks and see how it goes!

Career Resources

• This was a fantastic “hack” that I learned for finding jobs posted not just in the last 24 hours but the last hour on LinkedIn!

• Solid jobs report this month, check out an update from Erin Riska. Headlines are that we’re seeing an increase in new payrolls (heavy on manufacturing, but also professional services and finance), but fewer reported job openings (which may be tough on jobseekers.)

In the News

• This was a great read from Thomas Friedman about China. A few things I’ll highlight are the strong infrastructure and strategy for pumping out talent that aligns with the the country’s needs such that they can move quickly on any initiative, and the infusion of AI at every step.

• I don’t even know where to begin with this trade war that we’re kicking off, with our harshest penalties targeting our closest allies. But I’m glad to see some small instances of members of Congress pushing back. And many Americans are panicking, going so far as to pull money out of retirement funds. I’m reminding myself that time in the market > timing the market so not to panic-sell investments, and also to lean on community during these times. Let’s also hope that we’re all wrong and the administration is right, and this helps kick start even more job creation. I am unsure of how this will happen, but just hopeful to be wrong in this case.

🙋Answering Your Questions🙋

Each week, I’ll answer one (or more!) of your questions in this section. You can submit your questions here.

The demographic questions on US-based applications are for EEOC purposes, and are only reported in aggregate to recruiting teams. They are not attached to the individual application. As an administrator on my company’s applicant tracking system, I still have no way of accessing this info! So no need to feel pressured to respond, but also know that your response won’t impact your hiring process.

It is SO frustrating that they put out this narrative! My suggestion would be to get ahead of it with data and evidence of impact on the resume. In an interview, they don’t actually need to know that your friend was laid off or the circumstances of her departure. They could simply share that they had a strong run at Meta, received a strong review, but ultimately felt it wasn’t the right fit, or that they got swept up in the layoffs as their entire team was downsized, or that it was just time to move on and focus on their next play. Having a reference from their time at Meta would be helpful as well.

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