Transforming My Job Search Strategy

What I Changed in My Job Search Strategy

I decided to shift my career focus to becoming a creator and compiled a list of 60 employer branding agencies in London. Now I have a list of desired employers to reach out to, but no direct job openings to apply for.

💚 LinkedIn vs. Gmail. I made the decision to stop using LinkedIn as a primary communication tool—I won’t be reaching out to people there anymore. Despite sending around 20 messages over time, I only received one response. Instead, I’ve gone back to good old email. It makes sense; work emails are monitored, and people pay close attention to incoming messages. While no one openly shares their addresses, in many cases, you can either Google them or make educated guesses!

💚 Email Tracker. I set up an email tracking service in my Gmail. I used to have something similar during my first job, and it was incredibly helpful! I’m using Mailsuite, which for €11.99 a month allows me to check whether my emails were opened, if links within them were clicked, and provides detailed reports. It also allows me to create campaigns, though I don’t need that feature.

💚 Internal Rebranding. This was the most essential yet mentally challenging step—repositioning myself in my CV, portfolio, and LinkedIn. I’ve labeled myself as a Junior Creator, rewritten my responsibilities, and changed the titles of some positions. I remembered that for the past year, I actually worked as a manager for creative marketing partnerships.

💚 Referrals. I realized that my very first workplace, an employer branding agency, is still participating in London awards. That means the founder has valuable contacts! While we haven’t kept in close touch, I simply asked for the LinkedIn profiles of familiar agency people (and then found their emails) and requested permission to mention the founder's name from my agency. I worked there six years ago; you never know which contacts will come in handy!

💚 Outreach. I meticulously personalized each email. I made it a point to congratulate recipients on receiving an award or being shortlisted for an award. Since it's the end of the year, I know of at least three major awards happening, so all my initial recipients were among the winners or nominees.

💚 Coaching. I’ve wanted to explore coaching for a long time, and my favorite former boss just graduated and is continuing her education in coaching! Even though Dasha and I only had one introductory session, I’m sure it’s already reaped some benefits. Big accomplishments are made up of small steps.

*Stay tuned for results in my next post!