(This story may seem a bit random, but it's actually the perfect analogy.)
A few weeks back, I was in New York State for my bachelor weekend (I'm getting married next Sunday!) and we were in a bar, playing pool.
Most of the guys were happy about a good night's sleep away from the kids.
One of my friends, a younger guy who's single, kept looking over toward a woman who was sitting a few tables away. He thought she looked really nice, and he wanted to meet her, but was afraid about "bothering" her.
I told him: "Just walk over to her, ask her if she knows the time, and then make some comment about the band that's playing."
"She's a woman, which means she can practically read your mind! She's not stupid, and she'll know what's going on right away."
"If she's interested and if she's available, she'll play along and throw you a line. And if she's not, she'll drop you a hint and make it obvious, without 'rejecting' you or embarrassing you. You'll just know."
This is how it works when you reach out to hiring managers too.
Although the "side door" is new to many folks (especially if they've been out the of job market for a while), for hiring managers it's nothing new.
Remember, approximately 85% of job positions are filled this way.
Hiring managers are completely comfortable with skilled professionals reaching out to them and making inroads, and (just like women at a bar) they're smart enough to know what you intentions are pretty quickly.
But, one big difference from the situation above:
If you do it right, then even if hiring managers aren't interested in bringing you on board, they're often willing to make you an introduction to someone else.
Especially if you're using the scripts we provide in Dream Job Formula.
These scripts are designed to be professional and non-threatening -- while making your intention clear, without coming across as desperate.
It still might take ten conversations like this to get a job, but those numbers are MUCH better than the "traditional" way with a resume.