I was referred by someone I know and was interviewed by a handful of senior people in NY. I ran a sizeable account at my old position and made it clear that per my non-compete agreement and my excellent relationship with and respect for my former boss and account team, I could not try to take the account. I was assured repeatedly, once by Richard Edelman himself, that they were not interested in that business. In fact, the GM told me it was a conflict with one of their key clients. Thus assured, I accepted the offer. Big mistake. I was pressured morning, noon, and night to set up a meeting with my former client. I ended up leaving after a little more than a year. This was a few years ago, so perhaps things have changed, but it was a backstabbling, every-man-for-himself type of culture, and the ethics were highly questionable. Existing clients do not matter nearly as much as getting new ones. This would be understandable, but during my tenure, Edelman lost a very large client because the Corporate Communications Director discovered the same group was handling a large competitive client. Ridiculous. That happened in another group, but it taught me the values of the company, which are not mine.

I applied for the job through LinkedIn and followed up through networking. Not sure if Edelman flagged my application because of my background or because I was introduced to the hiring manager through a mutual connection. Either way, a couple of very short initial phone calls led to a 1 on 1 with the hiring manager. Networking through LinkedIn about open positions does work.