Network for Jobs

The following is an excerpt from the book Cut the Crap, Get a Job! a New Job Search Process for a New Era. I will be running a series of excerpts from this book over the next several weeks.

I've written a lot about networking and have even detailed my personal networking plan. As they say, the time to develop a network is BEFORE you need it, so let this piece serve as a reminder of the importance of networking.

Elizabeth worked with Brad over 10 years ago and they have not kept in contact. Until last week. Brad is recently unemployed and contacted Elizabeth via Facebook with the following message:

Hey, Elizabeth, how are ya? I was just let go from my company and would like to pick your brain about job opportunities out there. Let’s do coffee. What time works for you? Regards, Brad

Pamela and Sharon, both job seekers, went to an evening networking event hosted by the local Chamber of Commerce. The event started at 6:00 p.m., but they got there at about 7:00 p.m. Together, they got a drink, found an empty table to stand at, and talked about “life.” Sharon met one interesting person in the drink line and Pamela bumped into an ex-peer from a prior company as she was getting her coat to leave. On the way home, they both agreed it was a terrible waste of their time and they would have much more luck applying to jobs online at home.

Charles is 52 years old, new to Chicago, and doesn’t know anybody. But he loves the city and is seeking a role as an architect. He’s spending all day either on his computer or calling the largest architecture firms in Chicago, trying to reach a senior person who will talk to him. After six months, he is frustrated and insecure about his ability to get a job. His money is running out.

Ryan, fresh out of MBA School, is blasting his LinkedIn contacts with: “I am looking for a job. It will be great if you can advise me on my job research. Regards, Ryan.”

All of the above have one thing in common. They have not learned how to network for career success. They don’t appreciate the need for preparation, professionalism, and a process. I have been told I am maniacal in my networking process, but I am also labeled the “queen of networking.” So here is the Cut the Crap solution for networking for a job:

Solution

#1: Have a Networking Plan

Your mission: to identify people who can help you learn, help point you to resources, or introduce you to someone else. As a result of your work in Chapter 3, Setting a Goal, you now have a clear bulls eye for your job search. This plan will focus your networking efforts on the right people or events based on your goal.

Steps for building a great Networking Plan:

A. List People You Know. Look at your Outlook Contacts, your stacks of business cards, recent email communications, and put them in the following categories:

• Current and Past Peers
• Current and Past Managers or Mentors
• Peers or Friends in Other Organizations
• Contacts from Industry Organizations
• Customers, Partners, and Competitors

B. Now, you want to list New People to Contact. These people should help fill in the gaps of your prior list or those with complementary competencies and experiences. If you don’t
know their specific name, put the title or position type (venture capitalist, industry spokesperson, etc.). Take your Cut the Crap (CTC) Search Profile work from Chapter 3 and be sure to add a blank row for people inside the companies you want to work for. You need to meet people who work in the organization you’re interested in. Meeting them does not mean that they will hand you jobs. Hopefully, they will give you some insight and advice and possibly offer to meet with you.

C. Finally, and since networking is a two-way connection, list what you can offer in return. How can you show appreciation—make introductions to others, give recommendations or feedback, volunteer help, etc.?

D. How to find and connect with your new network

1. Face-to-Face Networking:

People need to get to know you, trust you, like you, and believe that you do what you say you are going to do. It is not always easy, comfortable, or interesting to meet total strangers. You will make some mistakes and feel awkward or silly at times. Dive in. We all do. With practice, you may even get to enjoy it!

• Industry, charity, service associations, and events. Seek out industry events that tie to your career goals and participate in the following:

• Special Interest Groups, or SIGs—committees to accomplish the association’s objectives on a variety of levels
• Annual or quarterly industry awards
• Live monthly or quarterly events
• Dinner meetings and presentations
• Online Community Forums—virtual communities focused on specific topics where members can post and respond to questions, share insights, and communicate and collaborate with other members beyond face-to-face events.

• Volunteer. Local organizations have great community leaders involved on their boards, and there is no better way to meet them and spend time giving back to your community. If you are unemployed and have time to give back, then you can also meet influential mentors simultaneously.
• Create your own mentor group. Bring people together once a month with the goal of helping one another.
• Job search, employment, and job Fairs. Look in your newspaper or online for the local events hosted in your area.
• Business Journals. You can find multiple opportunities by searching in your city’s Business Journal (abcj.com for the Journal in or near your city), local newspaper, or online.

2 Online Networking—Social Media Networking

This form of networking with total strangers is more difficult, takes longer, and the type of advice you receive will be different. But definitely add it to your networking plan. It’s harder for someone to get to know you and there is a lot of “noise” from other job seekers. Use social media strategically and professionally. Just because you are networking online
does not give you permission to use slang, text-speak, have typos, poor grammar, or just a plain old poorly written communication.

Some of my preferred methods are:

• Join Discussions within Groups on LinkedIn that are relevant to your Job Search Goals. There are many groups for job seekers, in general, down to industry-specific job seekers, and so much more. You can join groups of the companies you are targeting. LinkedIn Groups are a great place to do research too, but some top contributors and thought leaders will also stand out. You can contribute to discussions or ask a thoughtful question and get help. If some professionals appear eager to help, it is appropriate to ask if you can have a 15 minute phone conversation with them.
• Assure your LinkedIn profile is at 100%. There are many articles and tutorials about how to maximize LinkedIn, overall, and there are many ways to job search even if you are still with a company. If you are unemployed, make it very clear on your profile that you are searching for your next career move AND “here is what I am searching for.”
• TweetChat helps put your blinders onto the Twitter-sphere while you monitor and chat about one topic. By using hash tags, you can identify specific topics and TweetChat will connect you with people talking about similar things.
• Some of your Facebook contacts are probably good advisors for your job search. Send them a personal note, giving them as much information as possible so they can help you.

#2: Ask for help with a purpose

Get over the guilt, the shyness, and the embarrassment of asking for help in your job search. Change the way you ask for help as well. Once you have a clear purpose, you will use your wellrehearsed “pitch” when at group networking events, meeting strangers, reaching out to friends and family, and in more formal networking meetings.

Be proud of your job search goal you completed in Chapter 3. On the other hand, your embarrassment and guilt comes across as lacking confidence. Diana secured a meeting with Frank for help on her job search, needing help with introduction to some executives. She came to Frank’s office door and didn’t knock or let him know she was there. They lost 5 minutes since Frank just kept working, unaware Diana was on time. Then, Diana’s very first words were, “I’m so sorry, Frank, I know you are very busy and don’t have time to meet with me.” Diana continued with, “I won’t take much of your time and if you can’t help me I understand.”

What is Frank’s first impression? “Hmm…she might be afraid of collaborating in a business environment, she is lacking confidence, and we just lost 5 minutes of our 30 minutes for her apologies.” Harsh, eh? Well, Frank will never tell Diana any of that, and he’ll be cordial. However, he won’t become a raving fan of Diana’s going forward.

Have a clear job search goal and be excited about it! The meeting continued and Frank asked, “So, Diana, what are you looking for?” (Frank is implying, “How can I help?”) Diana responded, “Well, I’m not sure, which is why I’m here.” Not good. Your network is ideally suited to help you reach a goal, not a career counselor. Yes, there are a few who may enjoy this level of discussion, but during my 30+ years in Fortune 500 companies, I learned that most networking is best when the job seeker has narrowed this down herself. There are many resources, both online and in books, to help you assess what types of jobs are right for you. Do your research before you network!

#3: Rehearse and prepare yourself for great networking

In front of a mirror or in your mind, practice what you will do and say from the minute you enter through your closing summary of the meeting—from the strong handshake and eye contact, the first words out of your mouth, all the way to the closing handshake and smile. If Diana had done this, her valuable 30 minutes with Frank would have resulted in an entirely different set of “help.”

Are you prepared to network? Here is a short checklist:

• Pad and pen for note-taking…don’t EVER go to a meeting without it…and use it!
• Copies of your résumé, samples of your work.
• Business cards—yes, even a personal business card with your contact information and social media links.
• A list of your target companies, target positions, target industries, etc.
• The right attire. When in doubt, err on the formal side. No perfume, cologne, cigarette smoke, bad breath, or body odor.
• If via phone, do you have a quiet environment, battery power for your cell, etc.?
• A watch. If you asked for 30 minutes, it’s your duty to watch the clock and end on time.

#4: Follow up immediately with every network contact

This is where bad form gets ugly. Networking or “connecting” is the process of building up two-way relationships for the long term. When a job seeker either doesn’t follow up multiple times or disappears, it’s called “using.”

Rules for following up on networking contacts:

• At the end of every day or beginning of the next day, thank everyone who helped you. If you had a network meeting, thank that person and thank whoever introduced you to them.
• A thank you email should be done within 24 hours OR send a handwritten note. Include some insight about the meeting (from the notes you took!) and have a next step, such as, “I will keep you posted about my progress,” or, “I will ask for more time with you as soon as I have…”
• All people who have helped you want to know how your job search is going. Consider them part of your advisory board or team and keep them updated at least once per month. They will be more inclined to continue helping you.
• When you meet an interesting, relevant, and helpful person during your networking journey, here are some recommendations on how to follow up. NOTE: Use your best judgment so you are not perceived as annoying.

1) Bing or search their name—you can find additional information to help you with reasons to connect.

2) Write a formal email within 48 hours, indicating that you enjoyed meeting them, and suggest a 15-minute phone call or meeting, providing your purpose. If they prefer a face-to-face meeting, you would be happy to come to their office or a convenient location. Always show interest in who they are and what they do.

3) Send a LinkedIn invitation, including a note that you enjoyed meeting at the event where you met.

4) Follow the person on Twitter. This can provide real time data to improve the content of your communication.

5) Enter the information into your Outlook Contacts or other contact management system. In the notes section of the contact, write the date and location you met, as well as any notes of what you discussed.

#5: Mingle at Networking Events

First, set a goal for how many quality people you want to meet at the event. By quality I mean that you identified and had a conversation with individuals who are connected to the space you want to be in, professionally. Are they working in your industry, your field or function, or in one of your target companies? Quality also means that you had a conversation with them, captured their contact information (business card or you wrote it down on the notepad you are carrying), AND you asked them if you could follow up with them after the event.

Second, get to the event ridiculously early. Traffic happens every day, work or family issues crop up, etc. So aim to be in the parking lot 15 minutes before the start time and be one of the first, if not the first, to check in. Talk to the hosts of the event, too. Association staff often know a lot of people in the community, and they can give you advice about other networking events that are coming up.

Third, separate from any friends you know at the event. Simply be honest. “I don’t mean to be rude and would love to talk to you, but I’m here to meet total strangers who can help me win my dream job.”

Fourth, walk up to total strangers. They may be there by themselves, too, or standing among a group of people. Either way, smile, say, “Hello, my name is Harry, what is yours?” There are many good ice-breakers, such as, “What brings you to this event?” or, “What company do you work for?”

Here are some networking “starters” to help you avoid, “How about that rain out there, eh?”

a. “How did you get your current position?”

i What was the key to success?

ii How would you change your search process next time? Why do you think you won the position over multiple candidates?

iii One key piece of advice you have for me is…?

B. “How are you maintaining your network?”

i Do you keep them all organized? How?

ii Are you good at following up and staying in touch with people?

iii What will you change as a result of this conference/ meeting?

C. “Why did you attend this <subject> conference or meeting?”

i Do you have a personal goal you can share with me?

ii Can I share mine with you?

iii How can we help each other reach our goals?

D. “Do you love what you are doing?”

i What do you do?

ii What is the best part about it?

iii How did (or will) you match your passion with your day-to-day job? Any advice for me?

Tricks

1 Get into a rhythm or pattern every time you meet someone new, either face-to-face, via phone, or online.

• Capture their information in a contact.
• Put a date in your calendar (or task for those advanced Microsoft Outlook users!) to follow up with them.
• Put another date in your calendar to follow up with them again.
• Send them a thank you note within 48 hours.
• Send other thank you notes if someone else connected you to this person (or an association event director, letting them know that their event was fruitful for you).

2 Color-code your Outlook contacts by event or type of contact. You may even just have a “green” category labeled “Job Search Network.” Then, when you land in a job, you have
a high-quality database to send out a thank you note to and announce your good news. Most importantly, you get to offer any help back to them at any time.

Mistakes

Mistake #1: Dominating the conversation with your agenda. You are there to listen and learn and make an initial first impression so you can follow up with some key individuals the next day. Naturally, if they ask, “What kind of position are you looking for?” then you have your well-prepared, short version all ready. Say 3 short things then stop talking.

Mistake #2: Don’t ask them to email you. You are the product that you are selling and you need to drive the job search process, even when networking. Take accountability and use phrases like, “May I send you an email proposing some times for us to talk again?”

Mistake #3: Not reading body language. Non-verbal cues are critical for you to observe and understand. If three people are at a networking event, looking like they are in a heated debate, they are. Do not walk up and say, “Hi, I’m Sally.” Additionally, if someone is not engaging with you, then politely say, “It was a pleasure meeting you and enjoy your evening.” Or ask them if you can follow up with them at another time after the event.

Mistake #4: Not moving around to various people at a networking event. Although one person may seem to be the ultimate network “catch” and they are being very helpful right there, try to move around the room during the event as much as possible. Find that fine balance between having a good conversation to open up a new relationship versus actually having that job search conversation right there. Maximize the networking event opportunity.

Mistake #5: Not dressed the part. Some networking events are business attire or business casual. However, since you are the job seeker, you need to be sure you are on the formal side. When in doubt, dress formally. OR call the association or event coordinator and ask them what would be appropriate. First impressions do count, so I prefer you look like a great candidate than be underdressed.

Mistake #6: Bugging or annoying your network contact after meeting them. Use your best judgment by putting yourself in their shoes. At an event, don’t follow someone around or dominate their time. When contacting someone via email or phone, use the “Law of 3s:” If you contact someone 3 times and they do not respond, then you should stop. Wait a few weeks and try one more alternative approach.

Mistake #7: Giving your special network contact’s name out to friends or other job seekers. If you make a connection and that contact is helpful, that is not permission to give their name out to others. Protect your black book. If you want to make an introduction, contact your network and ask for permission. Wait for an answer. If there is no answer, assume “no.”

Comments

[Laura]

This is interesting. FMF (or readers), are there any networking-related books you recommend? Or online sources with more information? I am a total networking novice.

[FMF]

Laura --

There are lots of books on the subject, but I think they can be overkill. I'd suggest you google around a bit and find some decent articles on the subject. All you'll need are a few basics to make you successful.