The best way to beat the line for a job is to get there before it forms.
Talking with an employer before the company ever posts a job — and not after — could help you land a role there, said veteran career coach Laura Labovich.
She recommends that job seekers identify where they want to work, examine their network for any ties to the organization, and start building relationships inside well before a job post goes up.
“The way to win is to not apply. Get in before they have the opening. Make connections. Become an insider,” Labovich said.
If you wait until you see a job post before reaching out to an employer, you might already be too late, she said. That’s because once a role is posted, recruiters or HR will often feel compelled to tell you to apply online — even if they already know you — to ensure that every candidate gets equal consideration, Labovich said.
Getting in line with everybody else can make the process seem “more like a cattle call,” she said.
‘Worth its weight in gold’
Aside from the stress it can bring, the take-a-number approach is also rarely the best path to landing a role, as almost anyone looking for a desk job in the AI era can attest.
The average job posting received 244 applications in 2025, according to an analysis by the hiring software company Greenhouse of more than 640 million applications from 6,000-plus companies. That was up from 116 applications per job in 2022.
Having someone who can pass your résumé to a recruiter or hiring manager and help you stand out is “worth its weight in gold” when there are so many people looking for jobs, said Rick Wargo, managing partner of the global technology practice at the recruitment firm Boyden.
“A warm introduction is always the best way to go about a job search,” he said.
Don’t fix the roof when it’s raining
Naturally, if a job has yet to be posted, you can’t make a pitch for it. Still, that doesn’t mean you’re powerless. What you can do is consider whether the employer has hired for the kinds of jobs you might want — and use that to guide early outreach.
That’s why, Wargo said, it’s smart to start networking and making connections inside key companies well before you need a job.
“You don’t go to fix the roof when it’s raining,” he said.
To beat the rush that often occurs when an employer lists an opening, you can contact people at your level within an organization and ask questions such as “How do you like your job?” “How do you like the organization?” and “How did you get to where you did?” said Labovich, who runs Career Strategy Group, an outplacement firm in the Washington, DC, area.
If it’s someone higher up the food chain — potentially someone who might be the hiring manager for a future job — the ask should be smaller, she said.
“You don’t want to say, ‘I want a job,’ because if you’re getting to them early, there’s no job yet,” Labovich said. Instead, she recommends that job seekers seek advice, insight, recommendations, and referrals.
That contact can pay off: Messaging a hiring manager nearly triples your chance of getting hired, LinkedIn has reported.
Ultimately, Labovich said, making connections inside an organization is one of the best ways to navigate a hiring process that often feels broken.
The challenge of standing out — and the ease of using AI tools to blast out your résumé — has led many job seekers to apply to as many roles as possible, even though many career coaches, including Labovich, urge people to prioritize networking instead.
“The way to apply for a job these days is to not apply for a job,” she said.
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An earlier version of this story appeared on October 2, 2025.
