Steve Dalton, author of The 2-Hour Job Search, has a data-driven approach for job-seekers who want to lock-down an internal referral for a new job.
“Hiring managers are not incentivized to find a perfect candidate slowly; they’re incentivized to find a good enough candidate quickly,” he explains. That means most companies rely on internal hires—or internal referrals. “They’re going to ask people they know and trust, ‘Who do you like for this position?’,” he says.
Dalton’s secret for internal referrals is what he calls a LAMP list, a simple spreadsheet that denotes:
L – a list of desirable employers
A – whether relevant alumni work at the given companies
M – how motivated the job seeker is to get hired at each company
P – whether any of the companies have posted job opportunities
By creating a LAMP list, a job-seeker can organize his or her ideal career opportunities and prioritize his or her target employers. For prospective employees from abroad, the methodology can also help determine which companies might be more likely to sponsor an international employee’s H-1B visa.
For everyone looking to secure a new role, this strategy clarifies which organizations merit the applicant’s time and energy—and which ones might not be worth the time investment.
