How to apply for jobs you see on social media and WhatsApp

A lot of good jobs never reach a job board. They're posted as a tweet, shared on an Instagram job page, dropped in a Facebook group, forwarded into a WhatsApp group, or posted on LinkedIn with a line like "Interested candidates should send their CV to [email protected]."

These posts can be great opportunities: fewer people see them, and you're often writing straight to the person hiring. But they also attract hundreds of rushed, copy-paste applications. Here's how to make yours one of the few that gets a reply.

1. Read the whole post before you do anything

Most rejected applications fail at this step. Before you write a word, find:

• The exact role title. "Product Designer" and "Senior Product Designer" are different jobs.
• How to apply. Email, a form link, or a DM? Use the method they asked for — nothing else.
• Who posted it. Is it the company, a recruiter, or someone reposting? On Instagram and Facebook especially, check the account is genuine before sending personal details.
• What to include. CV only? CV and portfolio? A cover letter? Expected salary?
• The subject line they want. Many posts say "Use the job title as the subject". If they do, follow it exactly.
• The deadline. If there isn't one, assume it's soon. Posts like these often close within days.

If the post asks for a specific subject line or format, that's partly a test. People who ignore it are easy to filter out.

2. Tailor your CV to this job

Sending the same CV to every job is the fastest way to be ignored. You don't need to rewrite everything — focus on three things:

• Put the role title (or your closest one) at the top of your CV.
• Move your most relevant experience to the top of each section.
• Use the words from the post. If they say "stakeholder management", say "stakeholder management", not "working with teams".

We cover this in detail in how to tailor your CV for a job.

Save it as a PDF with a clear file name: Firstname-Lastname-CV-Product-Designer.pdf, not CV final (3).pdf.

3. Write a subject line that gets opened

If the post tells you what to use, use exactly that. If not, make it scannable:

Application: Product Designer — Tolu Adeyemi

Avoid empty subjects, "Job application" on its own, or "Hello". Recruiters search their inbox by role title — make sure yours is in the subject.

4. Keep the email short

Your CV does the heavy lifting. The email only needs to say who you are, what you're applying for, and why you fit. Five to seven sentences is enough:

Hello Harmattan Labs team,

I'm applying for the Product Designer role you shared on LinkedIn.

I'm a product designer with 4 years' experience designing fintech
products. Most recently I redesigned merchant onboarding at Kestrel
Finance, cutting drop-off from 38% to 21%.

I've attached my CV and portfolio link below. I'd love to talk about
how I can help your team.

Best regards,
Tolu Adeyemi
0800 000 0000 · portfolio.example.com

A few rules that make a real difference:

• Name the role and where you saw it. Recruiters often post several roles at once.
• Include one specific achievement, ideally with a number.
• Attach your CV. It's surprisingly common to forget — check before you hit send.
• Put your phone number in the signature so they can call you.

5. Mistakes that get you ignored

• Replying publicly with "Interested" or your email address in the comments, when the post asked you to email.
• DMing the person who shared the post when they asked for email applications.
• Applying for roles you're clearly not qualified for. It wastes your time and theirs.
• Sending a link to your CV (like a Google Drive link) instead of attaching it, unless they asked for a link.
• Bulk-sending one email to many companies with everyone in the "To" field.
• Paying to apply. Genuine employers don't charge application or "processing" fees. Treat any post that asks for money as a scam.

6. Follow up once — politely

If you haven't heard back after five to seven working days, one short follow-up is fine:

Hello, I applied for the Product Designer role last week and wanted
to check whether you've had a chance to review applications.
I'm still very interested. Thank you!

Send one follow-up, not several. If there's still no reply, move on to the next opportunity.

Do it faster with Litjob on WhatsApp

Tailoring a CV and writing a new email for every post takes time — which is why most people don't do it. That's exactly what Litjob on WhatsApp is for:

1. Send Litjob the link to the job post. If the link won't open — common with Instagram, Facebook and some Twitter/X posts — paste the post text instead.
2. Litjob finds the role, the company and any email address in the post.
3. Reply 1 for a CV tailored to that job, 2 for an intro message, or "1, 2" for both.

You still review everything and send the application yourself — Litjob just does the slow part in a minute instead of an hour.