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How Do You Hire Your Own Boss?

Can you hire your own boss?

The short answer is yes.

If you’ve read this far, you’ve probably also seen the LinkedIn post where I publicly “looked for a boss” and a company willing to hire me.

It worked.

And yes — I ended up getting hired at Sydbank as a digital project manager in their marketing department.

But let’s rewind a bit.

Why take that route?

Before publishing that post, I had sent out a number of traditional job applications.

The response pattern was predictable:

  • Automated rejections.
  • Short, unhelpful responses.
  • Or the classic:
    “You have an interesting profile — you just lack a bit of experience.”

Fair enough.

But when you’re newly graduated, that’s a difficult loop to break.

Sometimes it took companies up to two months to respond. In other cases, there were more than 200 applicants for a single position.

So I asked myself: what if I flipped the process?

Activating the network — properly

We always hear: “Use your network.”

But as a new graduate, your professional network isn’t exactly massive.

So instead of passively “using” it, I tried to design something that would make it work on my behalf.

Social platforms have algorithms. If you structure content correctly, it spreads.

Turning the job search upside down

I sat down and asked myself:

  • What kind of company do I want?
  • What kind of leader do I want to work for?
  • What kind of culture matters to me?

Then I wrote a job posting — not applying for a role, but describing the company and boss I was looking for.

I made it just as demanding as many company job postings are.

If companies can define exactly what they want, why shouldn’t candidates?

Publishing strategically

I published it on LinkedIn’s blogging platform (Pulse at the time).

That ensured my network received notifications.

I also shared it on Twitter using relevant hashtags like #digidk and #jobdk.

Then I did something simple but important: I responded to comments.

That matters for two reasons:

  1. It pushes the post further into networks.
  2. It shows appreciation to people investing time in engaging.

And any one of them could be your future manager.

Letting it compound

Instead of manually scanning job boards every day, I let the post work.

In the span of two weeks, I received multiple inbound opportunities — either invitations to apply or direct requests to come in for interviews.

One of those conversations led to my role at Sydbank.

Some numbers

At the time, my LinkedIn network had around 457 connections.

The post reached over 2,400 views and generated close to 100 reactions and a dozen comments.

More importantly, it reached the right people.

What I learned

The traditional application route still works. But it’s crowded.

If you can clearly articulate what you’re looking for — and distribute it in a smart way — you create pull instead of push.

It doesn’t guarantee a job.

But it shifts the dynamic.

Final note

If you’re currently job hunting:

Stay persistent.
Stay creative.
And don’t be afraid to experiment with the format.

The right opportunity exists.

Sometimes you just have to approach it differently.

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