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“We need more talent.”“I know.”“How do we find more candidates?”“We brought on two more recruiters. We posted on every major employment website. We just raised the referral bonus for employees to $1,000. We’re running some targeted ads for positions in our largest offices. Not sure what else we can do.”“Are we paying enough?”“We’re paying above market. We haven’t had one candidate turn us down over money.”“Is our job posting too specific? Is it scaring people away?”“We looked at that. It is wide open. We’re not requiring a college degree and haven’t made any technical skills mandatory.”This conversation played over and over throughout my career. In two decades as a hiring manager for large corporations, the number one business challenge was always finding talent.I wasn’t alone.Companies Desperately Want Talent to Contact ThemAccording to a McKinsey&Company study, only 18% of CEO’s of Fortune 500 companies believe strongly that their companies effectively recruit highly talented people.In 20 years, I can only recall a handful of times when someone approached me directly for any one of hundreds of job postings I was responsible for.I have a LinkedIn profile like every other hiring manager. If you were interested in my company and targeting one of our positions, it was relatively easy to figure out where I stood in the decision making hierarchy.Start by Doing Your HomeworkMake a list of companies you want to work with. Make sure you post your resume along with a compelling letter on their website and various employment websites.Next, write down all of the reasons why a company should hire you. Think objectively. What have you accomplished? What have you delivered for other companies? Come up with several bullet points that you could hit in 10 seconds or less.Research your list of companies. If small enough, find out who the owner is and dig until you find their email or at least a LinkedIn profile. If they are a large company, find someone on LinkedIn with the same title you are applying for.Let’s say you have a construction background, live in Miami and want to work for Lennar, the largest home builder in America. Type “President Lennar Miami” into the search bar and scroll through the results. Here is what my search pulled up.I spent time in this industry so I have shared connections with three of the top four names that pull up. The first thing I should do is pick up the phone and call all of those shared connections.How well do they know the person I want to connect with? Is it a strong connection or weak? If relatively strong, would they be willing to make a call on my behalf? If not, would they send an email?Next, I will study every name that pops up and look at their profile. Let’s take the top name, who happens to have a decision maker’s title. Chris Marlin, I apologize for creeping on you, but its for a good cause.Some senior executives have a LinkedIn profile only because their daughter told them to do it in 2007 and haven’t been on since they created a profile.Chris isn’t in that camp. Chris has 5,103 followers and I can look at his activity without being a connection. Chris is active on LinkedIn, having posted several times in the last week.This is helpful information. If Chris does not reply to a direct message, it is not because he isn’t active on LinkedIn. If he does not respond, it is only because I was not compelling enough. I know he will see my message.Most executives on LinkedIn signed up years ago and used their work email address to sign in. Even if they don’t have the app on their phone or ever log in to LinkedIn, they will still get an email if you send them a direct message.Here is where it helps to have a paid membership with LinkedIn so you can direct message anyone and gain more access to potential contacts. If you wish to land a great job, pony up with LinkedIn for better access.I can also see where Chris went to college, his career path leading up to this impressive role, his interests through what he posts/likes and any organizations he is currently in.This is important as I plan to find something we have in common when I message him.Your Subject Line is Everything if You Want a ResponseIf you have a shared connection that is relatively strong, put that person’s name in the subject line. The subject line will get his attention as a familiar name will tell him this is not SPAM, even though I am a complete stranger.Subject: John Francis recommended I contact youIf you went to the same college, use this. Who doesn’t want to help someone who went to their school? I literally find it impossible to ignore a message saying “Fellow Purdue Boilermaker seeking help”.Subject 2: Former Emory alumni looking for helpIf you are in the same organization, mention this. People join organizations to be a part of a community and will actively help others who made the same decision.Subject 3: New YPO member seeking your adviceKeep the Message Short and DirectThe body of the message is short and to the point. Executives don’t have time to read long emails from strangers so get to the point quickly. Three sentences is all it should take. Your “ask” is simply trying to get the name of the person who would interview you.“I follow Lennar closely and have always wanted to work for your company. My background is ideally suited for the “Project Manager” position posted on your website as I have 7 years of experience in the construction business and have personally built over 200 homes. Could you direct me to the person directly responsible for hiring this position?”This note tells him that you admire his company. Flattery never hurts. It positions you as someone who can make his company stronger. Finally, it is direct in asking for him to take a specific action.Here is what is more likely to happen. Chris will forward your message to the person who is looking to place that role. He might also forward it to another President who is directly responsible for that business, if Chris is the wrong person.In either case, it is highly unlikely that you won’t hear from the person who gets this message. When a front line manager gets an email from a President, they don’t ignore it. Chris might not even say anything in his forward but by sending it, he gives the impression that someone should call you.Stop thinking you are not important enough to reach out to a senior executive or owner. We were all in your spot at one point in our career.You don’t need to go through a gate keeper.I loved it when I got a message like this or even if someone forwarded one to me. It was like finding a $20 bill in a pair of jeans.What Senior Managers and Owners WantCompanies are looking for people with initiative. What shows initiative more than skipping the hierarchy and process? What owner or executive wouldn’t like to work with someone who isn’t afraid to go right to the top?Companies are looking for someone with courage. How many people quit after posting a resume? Most are afraid of what a decision maker might say if they do get them on the phone.Companies want someone with self confidence. What shows self confidence better than going straight to the top and selling yourself?Very few will blow you off precisely because it is rare for someone to even attempt this. HR folks get all of these requests. They are overwhelmed with job posters reaching out to them. It is safe to reach out to HR. It feels like the appropriate channel.How many successful people do you know that always take the safe and appropriate channel?Exactly.Don’t Stop With Current ExecutivesWhen you run this search, you will also see contacts who have worked for your target company in the past. These are great people to contact, especially if they have retired.These folks have plenty of free time and are always looking to help and add value. Reach out to one, tell them what you are hoping to accomplish and ask if you can talk with them shortly about what it was like working for that company. Strike up a relationship and then ask if they will make a call on your behalf.Retired executives have more time on their hands then they know what to do with. They are still respected within their previous organization. This small interruption would be a welcome break in another boring day. It will give them a feeling like they are back in the exciting mix.They will help.Owners Are Nice PeopleIf the company is small enough, you won’t have much trouble getting a response from the owner. Their email address might even be on the website. Take a shot and reach out.Owners know what it is like to be ignored. They spent their early years doing exactly what I am proposing. Instead of trying to get jobs, they were researching who makes decisions and trying to hack their way into their schedule.Taking this approach with an owner will garner mad respect. The worst that will happen is you get ignored or he/she politely says they are not hiring right now.This Approach Works if You Are Ready for a ChangeDo you work for a company where growth is limited? Are you aware of a competitor that pays much better or treats their employees with more respect? Follow this blueprint.Do your homework and get to a decision maker. Make your case for why they should steal a competitor’s top talent. That’s you.“Hi, I’m Ian. I am the top design engineer for your closest competitor. I have incredible respect for your company and believe I can take you to another level. Can we grab coffee?”Don’t be scared of founders, owners and executives. Most of the time, you will find that we need you as much as you need us.You can’t expect to get what you want by posting online and waiting. Your resume is buried with hundreds of others in some software that companies may or may not be looking closely at.Stop assuming no one will hire you. Successful people find ways to stick out and there is no better way than going straight to the decision maker.

I could probably write a book about my experiences and some that I know of from others. One of the most blatant attempted rip-offs happened when I took my pickup in for new tires and alignment. I had been buying tires at this shop for a few years so I had reasonable confidence in them.On one occasion of buying tires, this same shop and mechanic had advised that my front brake pads were “credit card thin.” That was a bit of an exaggeration but they were due for replacement. It would not have been long before the wear indicators would have been squealing when the brakes were applied. I changed the brake pads myself.After the new tires were installed, on the current occasion, I was advised that I would need a new bearing hub on the right front wheel before alignment could be done. I instructed them to back it out of the stall. I would bring it back for alignment after I changed the bearing hub myself.On my way home, I stopped at an auto parts store and bought a new bearing hub. At home in my garage, I could not find a problem with my bearing hub after I had removed the brake caliper and rotor. It spun freely and quietly. There was no excess side-to-side play.I removed the left side brake parts on the possibility that I had misunderstood. That bearing hub was also fine. I called the shop to talk to the mechanic. He insisted that there “was play” in the right bearing hub that prevented him from aligning the pickup. Of course, being the busy man that he was, he did not want to talk long at all. He refused to answer my clarifying questions.I returned the new bearing hub to the auto parts store for refund. The next day I took the pickup to another tire dealership that I was familiar with through my job. I did not give them any back story on the experience of the day before until the alignment was completed. They only smiled when I told what had happened and where it had happened.I went back to the first shop on the next day to confront the scam with the owner. I asked for a private conversation. He insisted on talking at the service counter in earshot of other customers. One loyal customer cut me off as started my complaint.“You will never get treated more fairly than they treat here.” He was adamant.“You listen to my story and then tell me that I was not set up to be taken advantage of.”He listened patiently as I rolled out my beef to the owner, complete with story of alignment at another shop. The customer agreed that I had been set up. The shop owner seemed genuinely humble and apologetic. He convinced me to keep my tire business there.It was big mistake, on my part, for believing that future business with him would be okay. The mechanic was the wild card. He must have been one those people who does not get mad but he gets even.I bought that pickup new and kept it for thirteen years before selling it with excess of 200,000 miles on it. The only time that I needed to change that bearing hub that was in question was about a year before the mechanic tried to lie to me. That same bearing hub ran for years.A year or two later I took the pickup back to the same shop to get a tire patched that had picked up nail. The next day the tire on the opposite side of the axle was half flat. I found a divot in that tire that looked to have been made by twisting a knife point into the tread. The leak was at that divot.Needless to say I was livid when confronted shop owner this time. Of course, he did not remember me or the previous experience. For the mechanic, however, it was obviously personal. He kept a distance while I ranted.Right away the shop owner wanted to take the tire off of the wheel to examine and repair it. I eventually calmed down enough to allow it. He did not try to charge me for the repair but he also refused to believe that any of his people could be so mean-spirited as to purposely sabotage someone’s tire. Yet, he had no explanation for a tiny hole, divot and lack of the puncturing object being lodged in the tire as a nail or screw might do.I never went back to that shop again. They went out of business a year or so later. Karma must have caught up.***************************************************A tire shop once tried to take advantage of my granddaughter. I had taught her to do maintenance and repairs on cars when she was a teenager. While running from a tropical storm, in a forced evacuation, she suffered a broken rear shock absorber and blown rear tire. She had the car towed to the nearest tire shop.Her three young children were in the car with her. This tire shop tried to charge her $250 for one new shock. She laughed at them. Not only could she have changed the shock absorber herself, if she were at home with her tools, she worked in an auto parts store. A complete matching pair of new high-end shocks could have been purchased for around $100.My granddaughter’s husband was along in the other family car with the family Saint Bernard dogs in his car. She used that car to go to an auto parts store to buy the one needed shock absorber for less than $50. The scammers changed out the shock, as a courtesy, after they had been called out on their failed ripoff.Most auto repair shops buy parts cheaper than the average person can. It is customary to mark them up a bit higher than counter retail price but tire shops are the worst. 500% mark-up is standard practice for too many of them.