You Only Have to Matter to One

Photo by Matthew Bennett on Unsplash

It's About Who You Know

When you’re looking for a new role it can be a discouraging process. You apply and apply to all of these roles you think you’re a perfect fit.

Then it’s crickets. Nothing.

The reality is you only need to matter to one company- and a lot of times just one person. The person that will be your manager or that person’s manager.

Of course, it can vary. Larger companies have more layers, so naturally, their hiring process does as well.

This is why building relationships with people over time is your best strategy for finding your next role. The old adage says it’s all about who you know when you’re looking for a job - and it’s the truth.

But it’s not just who you know. It’s about who knows you.

Minimal Viable Audience

The principle of the minimal viable audience holds up in marketing, it does when it comes to your career as well. You don’t have to “network” with hundreds of people. You don’t need to try to meet as many people as possible.

You just need to be specific about a few things: the role you want, the companies, and the people you want to work for.

Once you have these things nailed down - along with the reasons why you want each of them -  then you can go out to places like LinkedIn, do some research and seek the people you wish to get to know professionally- and that you want to get to know you.

When you’re specific, when you realize you only need to focus on the minimum viable audience - in this case, the companies you want to work at - good things will start to happen.

There's No Better Time Than Now

The key: start now. Even if you’re not looking or don’t plan to be in the next year. Start now. Relationships take time to build and grow. It doesn’t happen overnight. But you have time.

Have a question about this topic or something else? Email me at travis.scott@gmail.com or hit me up on Twitter at @509Marketer