Think the only way to get a job is to send your resume to positions posted online? Not even close.

Instead of sending your resume into the black abyss of the Internet, you’re far more likely to get a job by spending your energies creating and cultivating a network.

Take Justin Krieger.

Unlike most other millennials, he didn’t bother sitting in a coffee shop emailing out dozens of “Dear Hiring Manager” cover letters. Rather, he used coffee shops to facilitate a much more direct and targeted approach to job hunting.

Over six months, he drank coffee with some 110 people in his industry, eventually landing his dream job as a product and investment management analyst.

“I got a job through networking. I knew one person who connected me with someone else, who connected me with someone else,” he says. “I love it. I couldn’t be happier where I’m at.”

But to get there, like most millennials, he took a few detours.

“To be very honest I didn't know what I wanted to do when I graduated undergrad. I had a degree in sociology. And with a degree in sociology I said, ‘I can get a Masters in Sociology or go to law school.’ So I decided to go to law school,” he says. “And I did that and I really hated law.”

But, taking that path had at least one good outcome: It led him to his passion for finance.

“The reason I got into finance is because I got an OSAP grant and I didn’t really, necessarily, really need the money, so I decided to invest my OSAP. But I didn’t really know anything about investments, so I just learned as much as I possibly could and I just invested it,” he says. “I really just liked about everything about it and learning about it.”

But it’s a big leap from taking an interest in something to getting paid to do it. Krieger wasn’t sure where to start, so he started asking around, and meeting with some of his friends’ parents who were in the industry.

“Eventually I met one person at an investment firm and he basically told me exactly what to do,” he says. “And what he told me to do, was to speak to one person and at the end of the conversation, not specifically ask for a job, but ask them if you can connect with them on LinkedIn. And from there, go through their LinkedIn account and pick one to three people. And with those one to three people, hopefully that person that you’re connecting with will be able to connect you with someone else and so on and so forth.”

Krieger followed his advice. It didn’t matter that at the end of the meetings no one offered him a job, because they all at least offered him a few tidbits of advice and information, along with, most importantly, the opportunity to grow his network.

“It’s the law of large numbers,” he says. "The more people you meet, the more hopeful you’ll meet someone who knows someone.

Krieger would first research the person along with the company. Then he would send them an email explaining who he was, and what he was interested in, which was less about specifically getting a job, but more about learning what people do.

“I’m interested in learning more about the individual people,” he says. “What interests me is them — how they got to where they are; everyone has a different story.”

Each coffee date would range from 15 minutes to an hour, and Krieger would just try to listen. Because he had no formal background in the industry, it was especially important to him that he soak up as much information as possible.

“People don’t really want to hear about other people,” he says. “A lot of people want to talk about themselves, and it’s good for someone like me who is learning and wants to know what they did. Basically, you’re creating your own community of people.”

Justin’s networking tips:

  • Applying online is a waste of time: “It doesn’t really work to go on the websites and apply for jobs endlessly. Because it’s such a tight job market, there’s always someone who has way more experience, way more credentials than you, that it’s hard to get a job that way and it’s way more stressful.”
  • Use LinkedIn as a first source: “I find it to be more advantageous to go on LinkedIn, find someone, and learn about other people. And through that process you’ll learn so much more about yourself.”
  • Don’t get discouraged: “I had a couple people tell me that I wasn’t going to amount to anything in finance because I have a law degree. I had a couple people tell me that because I didn’t study finance in undergrad that I would never get into to the small-knit community that it is. At the end of it, you’re looking for a job and everyone is going to get discouraged because that’s what it’s about. Learn from the discouragement and learn from the challenge.”
  • Always offer to pay: “I always offer. I think I paid for maybe one coffee.”
  • Always attach a specific cover letter and resume to an introduction email: “If someone does have a job they might throw it into the mix, but if they don’t, then they know a little bit about you” and might hold on to it for a future opportunity, he says.
  • “Nos” are no big deal: I got tons of ‘Nos.’ Most people say ‘No.’ That’s okay though. …. Even if someone says ‘No,’ you’re kind of reading between the lines and you might be able to see some information there.”