How to Submit a Great “Intro Request” on Fractional Jobs

Fractional Jobs works directly with companies that are looking to hire fractional leaders. When you “request an intro” for one of our Featured Jobs on our website, the client will review your profile and opt in to the intro if they think it might be a good fit.

Our Featured Jobs are typically competitive. For the client to opt into the introduction, you’ll need to be 1) a genuinely good match for the role, and 2) make it clear to the client that you are indeed a good match for the role.

This article focuses on #2 - communicating in your intro request that you’re a great match (assuming you already have the right background).

The basic steps are easy. Read the full job description and write a concise, relevant intro note. This immediately puts you in the top 50%. But we’ll walk through all the steps to take to maximize your chances of getting an introduction.

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Read the Job Description

The job description serves two purposes:

1. It helps you quickly determine if your background is a potential good match for what the client is looking for
2. It tells you exactly what the client is looking to learn about you in your intro request

If your intro request directly addresses the key points of the job description, the chances of you getting an introduction increase dramatically. Said differently, if your intro request does NOT explicitly address what is described in the JD, your chances of getting an introduction are extremely low.

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Your Intro Note

Assuming your work experience is indeed a good match for the role, then your intro note is the “make or break” of you getting an introduction.

You should spend 5 - 10 minutes writing your intro note.

Your goal is to tell the client why you’re a good match for what they are looking for. And remember, they told you exactly what they’re looking for in the job description. You read the job description, right?

A great, simple format for an intro note looks like this:

1. A couple sentences introducing yourself, your work experience in broad terms (e.g. key companies), and the fractional work you do (e.g. Marketing leadership for healthtech startups)
2. Several bullets that directly address the key points in the job description. Pay special attention to the “How to Get in Touch” section. This is literally the information the client wants to read in your intro note.

That’s it! Your intro note should be short, written like you’d write an email, and be easy for the client to say “yes! They’ve done what I need done!”

Let’s look at an example: We recently worked with a health & wellness CPG brand looking for a Fractional Marketing Director. You can read the full JD here, but the summary is they needed someone with CPG experience specifically in the health/wellness category, for retail only, and with brand turnaround experience.

One candidate, Tania M., writes:

Notice how Tania started with a brief background on her career, and then quickly dove directly into the specific points the client cares about (from the job description), and showed how her experience matches directly with the client’s needs.

Tania was one of 3 candidates that the client chose to take an introduction to.

Tip: If you’re finding yourself really struggling to write an intro note that tells the client about your relevant experience, this is perhaps a sign that you’re not a great fit for the role after all.

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Your Linkedin Profile

Share your Linkedin profile URL. Make sure the URL is the correct URL.

If you don’t have a Linkedin profile, it’s exceptionally difficult to get an introduction. We get it, Linkedin can suck, but the reality is the client has zero context on who you are, and a Linkedin profile introduces humanity and personality.

Keep in mind that Fractional Jobs and hirers are increasingly dealing with entirely fake profiles. A Linkedin profile helps reduce this risk.

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Your Resume

This is strictly optional on Fractional Jobs. It can be a helpful supplement, especially when your Linkedin profile is sparse on information.

If you don’t have an updated one, it is not necessary to create one for an intro request.

It also does not need to be a “fractional-specific” resume.

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A Loom (or other) Video

This is also optional on Fractional Jobs. But it can be really helpful!

A video brings so much life to your intro request, and gives you another touch point to help the client understand that you’d be a great match for them.

How important is a Loom video?

• If your background is not a good match given the job description, unfortunately a video is unlikely to change that
• If your background is an absolutely slam dunk 10/10 match, then a Loom video is also unlikely to change much, you’ll probably get an introduction regardless
• A Loom video is most helpful to push clients from “maybe” to “yes!”, or from “probably” to “hell yes!”

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What Happens Behind the Scenes

After you submit your intro request, it first gets reviewed by the Fractional Jobs team. We check for:

• Completeness
• Accuracy
• Possible improvements

Fractional Jobs very much wants you to get an introduction, and we do a lot of work behind the scenes to present your profile in the best possible light to the client. If we notice an opportunity for improvement that we think will improve your chances, we’ll follow up with you to get more information.

We want our clients to have a good experience reviewing candidate intro requests, so we’ll also filter out intro requests that are fake, clearly written by ChatGPT, or otherwise wildly off base.

Once reviewed, we’ll then present your profile to the client, and wait for their feedback. We have a strict no-ghosting policy, so you’ll always receive updates from us about your intro request.

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