Naveen Desiraju got a job – in a company that had already rejected him. How did he do that?
Some time ago, I offered a five-week intensive course (that has since evolved into this). Naveen joined the program, but left almost immediately, because he got a job within the first two weeks.
Of course, I was intrigued to learn, what helped him succeed so fast. Naveen was kind enough to allow me to share his answers with you:
Naveen Got A Job In Germany. Transcript from Chat during the LIVE Q&A with Chris Pyak on 18. April 2018:
Naveen Desiraju: “Hi all. I’m leaving these messages and sharing my experience of last week before the call starts for 2 reasons, 1. It will be long, 2. I am going partying to celebrate getting a new job.
My experience is almost exactly how Chris told us it would be. His tip on talking directly to the hiring manager and not the HR works! It happened for me so it can happen for everyone.
Last Thursday I contacted an employee of the company I wanted to work on linkedIn. The common things between me and them was that they were from my country (automatically they would trust me) and … they had worked for my previous company (even though it was in a different team and i never met them there). So i was stranger with a few important common points.”
Chris Pyak: “Naveen, did you already get a job offer?”
Naveen Desiraju: “Yes Chris, I got an offer today and accepted it. After 1 hour chat on LinkedIn they told me everything about their team and other teams in the company. I had already applied to their team through a recruiting agency in March, but didn’t even get… through step 1 of the process because on the job requirements it said one should have German C1/C2 (which i don’t have).
This team member told me that it is only on paper and in reality they will take anyone who is good enough and can maybe speak a little bit german to fit into the team. They forwarded my CV to their manager and also manager of another team for which I actually wanted to work for.
This other team didn’t even advertise any openings on thier team so it was a surprise to me that they were hiring. The manager was impressed with my CV and offered me a skype on Monday. Luckily, it turned out that the manager had also worked in my previous company and was leader of a different team. l had never met him too, but he remembered seeing me in some meetings.
So there was instant trust and my CV did the rest. By the time i had the interview i was 90% sure i had the job. After a 30 min, mostly about practical issues, i was 100% sure.
I received an offer today and said yes. The most surprising thing is it worked despite the fact I have zero experience in the job I’m gonna join, I had only have relevant academic knowledge of the field.
So, I feel I got the job coz I contacted someone in the team at the exact time when they were looking for people. The recruiters are useless.“
There are four great lessons here. Naveen had the same experience as many of my clients who are successful in finding a job in Germany.
First: The recruiter told him that German was a requirement. But when Naveen talked to the team members who did the actual work, he found out that this was not true – and that he could start working in English.
Second: Naveen was successful because he reached out to the actual team members and ignored the recruiter.
Third: Naveen could establish a connection, because he and the manager had something in common. They both worked for the same company in the past. This builds trust.
My wife Evgenia made the same experience when she moved from Moscow to Dusseldorf. Her new boss used to work for the same companies (Morgan Stanley, Deutsche Bank) as she did. So, it was easier to trust that she was a professional.
Fourth: There was a job for Naveen, but it wasn’t advertised. The job that Naveen actually got, was a position that he didn’t even know existed. Naveen only found out about this opportunity because he talked to someone in the company.
One third of all job openings in Germany are filled via a personal recommendation, shows data provided by the IAB. (A government agency.)
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The main lesson: Trust in your network. Reach out to the people around you and ask them about their biggest challenges, and why they are so important. You might be surprised how many job opportunities there are directly in front of your nose.
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But what if…
I don’t have a network in Germany?
Then get help from someone who is well connected in Germany. (I am talking about myself, here. 😉 😉 ;))
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