Step 1:
- Search on LinkedIn for the company + role you wish to apply for.
- Find the names of employees working in the same/similar roles, who are senior enough to be responsible for hiring.
Pro tip: Do not look for HR in these companies - they get a LOT of these emails which they cannot respond to.
Step 2:
- Send them an email, expressing interest to work with them.
- The email NEEDS TO BE personalised.
A good test is - can the email you’re drafting be sent to someone else?. If not, you’re on the right track.
- Send the email.
Pro tip: if you cannot figure out their email address - send it to a couple of email combinations such as:
First name.last name (ankur.warikoo),
Initials (aw),
First initial.last name (awarikoo),
First name.last initial (ankurw),
First name (ankur),
Last name (warikoo)
Except the first one, keep all in BCC.
Step 3: (Hardest step)
- Send 3 cold emails to 3 different people, EVERY SINGLE DAY.
These emails should be personalised. Which means, the email could NOT have been sent to anyone else except them.
Here is why:
- Cold emails have a response rate of 1-2%.
- Through this personalised approach, you will increase it to 8-10% (5 times better).
- But that still means sending 100 emails before you get 8-10 responses, of which 3-5 will convert to an interview, and 1-2 into an offer!
I have hired the majority of my team through cold emails, got most of my podcast guests through cold emails, worked with terrific partners because they sent me cold emails.
I can tell you one thing with conviction: it works, if you stay committed to it!
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