Michael Whitehouse on How to Get Hired

Hello, and welcome to Stand Up and Stand Out, Season Three. Here’s part two of my interview with our guest, Michael Whitehouse, The Guy Who Knows a Guy.

In 2014, he came to Groton, Connecticut, knowing no one. A year later, after diving into networking with both feet, he was a central connector in the local community. In 2020, he went global and began connecting entrepreneurs, investors, speakers, and others worldwide to people they need to know. He offers services as a networking concierge, making connections and building strategic alliances worldwide.

He’s so passionate about it because it took him 20 years of adulthood wandering around to figure out what he now knows. It didn’t take him 20 years to learn it. It just took him 20 years to figure out that he knew it.

Once upon a time, I could submit my resume and probably have it passed on to the hiring manager. Now algorithms and bots are searching through the resumes because of the sheer number they’re getting. You have another shot if you can change that equation and connect with people there.

That’s how I’ve gotten every job I’ve ever had. I knew people that knew people, and they connected with me. They referred me in, recommended me, and I got to the front of the line and then was able to showcase my skills.

Need a break from reading articles? Want just to listen instead? Below is a transcript of Episode 26 of my podcast, Stand Up & Stand Out. If you’d prefer to listen, head to our website or find us wherever the cool kids hang out that do podcasts!

There’s a sort of “good old days” fallacy that there was a time when an educated upper-middle-class white man who went to the right college could send in a resume, and someone would look at it because fewer resumes were going out.

Why are there more resumes going out? It’s democratized because things are fair. It’s not like everyone had this easy opportunity back in the day. A very small niche of people had it easy, and everyone else had it hard. Many of my readers and listeners wouldn’t have been hitting the algorithms in 1952. They would have been hitting walls and been stopped. Things aren’t worse now, they’re actually much better. It’s just a different way of doing things.

Back then, if you were a woman or a minority, good luck getting a white-collar job that wasn’t a secretary. There are so many more opportunities, but more than 50% of jobs that people get to come from networking connections.

You want a job? Don’t just send resumes. You have to contact people.

The first step is to know what you want. Begin with the end in mind: have a goal. If you want a meaningful job, they want you to work for them because you want to work for them, and you align with their mission. Have an idea of what you want to do, what industry you want to be in, and what value you wish to provide.

Once you have a clear picture, think about who can hire you for that job. You might have a specific person or just a title. Then think concentrically. If you want to be a Marine biologist at the Mystic Aquarium in Southeast Connecticut. Or, failing that, you’d be a Marine biologist at a different aquarium. You’d want to talk to one of the scientists at the Mystic Aquarium. If you can’t contact one of them, maybe someone else there.

And just think in concentric circles. Maybe you can’t get to a scientist at the aquarium and don’t know any staff there, but if you know someone who went to school in Mystic, start reaching out to the people you know. Ask them for a phone call, a virtual coffee, or a live coffee… get into a conversation with them because you want to get their advice and help.

You’re not asking for anything from them, just their advice and help. Share with them what you want to do, and share your goal. When you tell friendly people that you’ve got a goal, most will be willing to help somehow. Then you ask them, who else do you know? Who can you introduce me to that might get me closer? What tips do you have? What advice? They introduce you to some people, and you reach out to them.

Repeat, repeat, repeat. You’re going to get closer and closer to the target because the person who went to school in Mystic knows someone who works there. They know someone who’s a volunteer at the aquarium. The volunteer knows one of the scientists. And you work your way up, and eventually, you get to someone with whom you can share your story. They find it interesting. People love to solve problems.

They may ask, “How many people have you talked to get here?” Your answer at this point will probably be something like 20 or 30, whereas the average person will give up about 4. So if you’re sitting there with a manager or a hiring director and you’re telling them you’ve taken 30 meetings to get you to this conversation, they’re gonna be amazed. You’re hired. We’ll figure out the details. Welcome aboard.

They’ll find a spot for you. Maybe they know something’s coming, especially with so many economic changes.

Michael was helping a friend out recently. She didn’t have a job and was sending out resumes. One of the companies was a bit of a reach. The company required a bachelor’s, but she had an associate’s. Michael asked her if she knew who the decision maker was. You need to know who will look at the resume and decide.

This woman was somewhat older and only knew to look for a job by sending out resumes and hoping. A lot of people learn this lesson with their first job. If you apply at McDonald’s and call to follow up, they don’t want to hear it. They want you to wait your turn. If they want to hire you, they’ll call you, which is not how it works in the real world.

Someone’s going to look at your resume, and a live human being will decide, yes, we’re going to interview or no, we’re not. Figure out who that is and reach out to them. Michael went on LinkedIn and found the executive director of the agency she was applying to and told her to give them a call. Ask for the hiring manager. Maybe you’ll reach them. Perhaps you’ll talk to someone else. The critical thing is you’re asking for help. You’re not asking about what’s going on with your application. You’re saying, “Hey, I was hoping you could help.” It’s a compelling phrase.

“I was hoping you could help me. I sent an application cause I love what your company does, and I’d love to work with you. And to be honest, I have an associate’s degree. The application said bachelor’s, so I’d love your advice. Is that a strict rule? What’s your process? Are there other roles in the company that might be better for me to look at?” They pulled the resume up, looked at it, and said, “I like talking to you. You’ve got good energy. I think you might be a good fit. I’ll make sure we take a look at this.”

She didn’t get that job, but once she realized she could talk to companies at companies, she did it again. She started writing your cover letters as if they were for a human audience. Four weeks later, she was starting a job at the perfect company.

The critical thing is knowing these are just people. And when you send that follow-up email to say thank you, there’s one thing you should do (and this will blow their socks off). Say: “Thank you for the interview, and, by the way, is there anyone I could introduce you to who might be valuable to you?”

You can now go to your network. Maybe they need to redo their driveway. You might have been applying for a biotech job, but your brother-in-law’s a paving guy. If it’s something you don’t know, you can go on Facebook and make a post. Does anyone know a good paving guy in Detroit? And now, all of a sudden, you’re doing it! This interviewer is now thinking it might be worth taking a second look.

The best way to get in touch with Michael is to go to his website, The Guy Who Knows a Guy. You can find a link there for free to “Power Five Networking,” which is his book condensed into one page. There’s a link there to buy the book directly through his website (in case you are done throwing money at Amazon).

The website also has links to the Guy Who Knows a Guy podcast and Morning Motivation podcast, a daily motivational two to five-minute hit of inspiration, which can be valuable when you’re stressed or dealing with challenges as you enter the job world. It’s nice to have somebody waking you up in the morning with a blast of 11 out of 10 extrovert energy.

Lastly, you can also catch Nikki on Michael’s Power Lunch podcast via his YouTube Channel.

I hope you guys have enjoyed season three and all the blogs so far, and there are lots more thought-provoking shows to come. If you liked our shows, don’t forget to subscribe through your favorite podcast platform or our YouTube channel.

My email is Nikki@thenikkigreen.com. I am here to help.

Thank you all for your time listening. I can’t wait to chat with you next time. More fun episodes to come. Bye, everyone.