Recently having started in recruiting, I've been able to see how fast jobs are posted and filled. And it's really... scary... fast.

The sad truth is half of the time jobs are only posted online because they're required to be and that hiring managers often already have a few people in mind they'll give a head start at landing the position.

I've learned that many companies barely even look at applications through Indeed, Monster, or other job application websites for most of their open position and that chances they look usually get worse the more entry-level the jobs are.

Yeah, this sucks. But what's my point?

Connections really are everything. As sick as you may be of hearing this, it really is true. The connections you decide to make and the relationships you decide to spend time building will take your resume from a large pile of papers on someone's desk somewhere and push it directly into a hiring manager's hands.

Having a personal referral from, a personal connection to, or even just a memorable conversation with someone in the company you're trying to make your way into gives you some credibility and puts hiring managers a little more at ease with their decision to hire you as they know a little bit about you from the getgo.

So, how do you exactly go about this?

Short-term, build professional relationships by going to the company website to find the names of people who would likely be involved in the hiring process and search LinkedIn for those employee names and/or company names. Then reach out sending a LinkedIn message introducing yourself and letting them know you've applied. I'd recommend keeping this message to about three sentences.

Another way to reach out, depending on your comfortability with it, is to guess at corporate emails. Yes, it's cheating the system a bit but I've had so many people of all ages suggest this if you're desperate to get your foot in the door somewhere.

Almost every company has a standard email format such as first initial, then last name, @ the company name, then .com. If you can find one person from this company's address online, you now likely have any email of an employee from that company whose name you know.

Longterm, build these relationships with contacts at companies you know you're interested in working for. You can do this in the same way you'd build them short-term but take the time to make the interactions a bit more personal. Find a mutual friend before reaching out or arrange to meet for coffee to "get their advice" or "learn more about the company/position" after reaching out.

One last option (and a shameless self-plug) is to find yourself a friend in a recruiter! We're working every weekday to fill jobs and find qualified candidates, so we jump on new resumes and candidates who are open to exploring different professional options. Building a relationship with a recruiter gives you an extra set of eyes in your job search and ups your chances of getting to speak directly with a hiring manager since they work directly with them.

The blunt bottom line is that there are tons of people that basically have the same education and experience as you. What makes you stand out is YOU. You've got to make opportunities to show it to influential people.