How To Growth Hack Your Job Search To Increase Exposure

You’ve probably heard the term “growth hacking” thrown around your marketing team or startup. Growth hacking is often used to describe a method of rapidly growing and scaling a business by being growth-oriented.

While growth hacking strategies are often used to build business exposure, the principles can be effective in other areas too -- like your career.  

What do growth hackers do?

Growth hackers are curious professionals that want to explore and learn every avenue possible to drive results for their business. Growth hackers will often use creative and low-cost strategies to acquire and retain customers. 

What is growth hacking when it comes to your job search?

Modern job seekers can feel that it is hard to stand out, especially as we move to a more global and distributed workforce. Growth hacking your job search can help professionals stand out amongst other candidates. Here are some tips on how to approach your job search and career growth, the same way professional growth hackers approach their marketing.

Set S.M.A.R.T. goals.

The best place to start is with your goals. What are you trying to accomplish by growth hacking your career? Are you hoping to attract a recruiter from a specific company or industry? Are you aiming to get a better role at your company or get a pay increase? Once you identify what your goal is, break it down into subgoals that follow the S.M.A.R.T. method. The SMART goals framework recommends that you set goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. You can learn more about this framework in our ebook here.

Hang out where your audience is.

Community marketing is on the rise. Slack groups, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn Groups, and other platforms are being leveraged to connect and create community. While these channels are often intended for individuals to connect with like-minded people, they can sometimes lead to job opportunities too. Find communities that are used for discussions around your core job function - marketing, MarTech, design, tech, etc. Once you join the community, stay active, share tips, and promote yourself too! 

Promote Yourself

Promoting yourself is a great way to get attention for the work you are doing. For some, it might feel like self-promotion is just another way of bragging but that does not have to be the case. Sharing the work you are doing can also inspire others to do the work they’ve always wanted to do or it can lead to collaboration opportunities that you didn’t know were possible. 

When you promote yourself, do so in a way that is authentic and isn’t just self-congratulatory. When sharing a project that you worked on, for example, give a shout-out to other members of the team and use words like “we” rather than “I” when referring to what was accomplished. 

Want more tips on how to grow your career or find your next hire? Follow me on LinkedIn.