Hate Job search Networking? 10 Tips to Help You Hate It Just a Little Less

1. Look at networking as a way to increase your knowledge about your industry and function. You’ll learn things that will differentiate you from the competition who aren’t bothering to create a network.

2. Network to create relationships. Network with people even if you don’t think there is a job available right now. This is the way you’ll find your next job. Plus it can bring you every job after that. You may never need to be in job search mode again.

3. Be willing to help other people. And make that clear by always asking “How can I be of assistance to you?”

4. Play to your strengths. Use the skills that make you successful in a job to help make you successful in networking. Do what you do best: if you’re detail oriented, do lots of research. If you’re marketing professional, create sound bites about what makes you a great candidate.

5. When people offer to help (and more than you might think will be very willing to lend assistance), let them. Protests like “Oh, no, I couldn’t ask you to do that” aren’t necessary nor flattering to either of you.

6. Be willing to ask specifically for what you want. I know that can be hard. However, if you don’t, the other person has to do the work to try to figure out how to help you.

7. Be willing to be yourself. You don’t have to embellish or fabricate; you’re great just the way you are, even if you haven’t had much confirmation of that recently.

8. Treat any networking encounter like a business meeting even if it’s a phone call, email exchange, on line or in person. Don’t forget to bring your personality and unique style.

9. Listen, listen, listen. ‘nuf said.

10. Thank them, write to them, keep them informed, stay in touch, remember them.

And an extra:
Create good career karma by connecting people to each other for their benefit even if there isn’t anything in it for you at the time.

Job Search Networking: Our Special Song

Hate small talk? Darn, because it’s essential to create networking relationships! I (the original reluctant networker who sucked at small talk) want to share with you an amazingly simple techniques you can use.

Not only will you start to build relationships quickly, no one will know that you may not be a natural born schmoozer! This technique is one of my favorite, guaranteed to make you seem like an old friend even if the two of you just met.

Job Search Networking: How to Get a Wonderful Picture for Your Social Networking Profiles.

Fast—easy—free! Here is how you can get a warm, engaging picture for your profile. If you are thinking of adding or changing a picture on your profile, I’m delighted to share something I’ve recently discovered.

The next time you are doing something fun with someone you love have them take your picture. Cell phone pictures seem to work just fine. Our faces convey feelings and expressions when we’re with people we love that I find nearly impossible to duplicate in other perhaps more formal settings. So much for my aspirations to be a big star!

Obviously you’ll leave out the balloon animals or the Margarita glasses and wear business oriented attire, but that’s all you have to pay attention to.

Crop appropriately and you’ll have a picture that makes people feel you are someone they would like to get to know.

In working with my clients to create their personal high-velocity formula for finding a job in the hidden job market, I noticed that some pictures make the person seem to be approachable, friendly and warm. Other pictures don’t have the same impact.

So I started to ask people about the circumstances in which their picture was taken. Turns out the great pictures shared something the less engaging pictures lacked. Great pictures were taken under the circumstances described above.

If you go the professional photo route, which can result in great pictures, consider taking a loved one with you. Even if they have four legs and fur.

Meetings, Meetings, I'm Drowning in Job Search Networking Meetings!

When you first start to network in your job search, you’ll hear about a lot of meetings that sound as though they would be useful for you. However, you probably won’t be able to attend all of them—or benefit from attending all of them. Often job seekers are encouraged to go where every other job seeker is going. That may not be the best strategy for you. Being very selective and strategic about where you spend your time can accelerate your job search.

I’ve had job seekers tell me they are spending many hours a week in meetings. But they don’t feel they are getting much value

The first step is to understand why you are considering attending ANY meeting. Is it to meet other people in job search? Is it to learn more about job search tactics? Sometimes meetings in these categories can be helpful, and if you’re benefiting, that’s great.

However, if you’re not feeling excited and energized about your job search after these meetings, consider skipping them. Or at least cutting down on the time you spend in them.

The following might be more useful questions to decide which meetings are worth your time. Is it to meet influential people in your field? Are you looking for people who just seem to know everyone in your industry/career so you can expand your networking contacts? Do you want to have an opportunity to meet people at the right level to hire you?

How to find out if a meeting is right for you:
• Be really honest in deciding what you want from a meeting.
• Ask about the people who typically attend.
• Talk to the organizer and people who have been to this event before.
• Check out the speaker, not just to see if you are interested in the topic but also to see if it might be someone you would like to meet.

Then you can determine:• If this is the place where you will find the appropriate people for to network with,
• If there will be the kinds of people who would be able to hire you,
• If these other people attending might know the other people you’d like to meet,
• If you might meet people at this meeting you will want to call for information and/or advice, etc.

Then you’ll know there is a high probability you’re going to a meeting where you will meet the best people for your networking efforts.

Essential Job Search Networking Skill — Sorry, Mom!

Probably your mom, like mine, told you not to talk to strangers.

But in certain situations when you’re networking, you may want to think about ignoring mom. Just for a moment. You may also want to ignore Linkedin’s scary (did the Linkedin mom write this?) rule: don’t connect with people you don’t know. Yikes, isn’t connecting with people I don’t yet know one of the huge advantages of this fabulous networking site?

Networking in all its flavors is the key to getting into the hidden job market.

Today’s social networking makes it possible and relatively easy for you to find the people you want to network with. It doesn’t matter that today you are total strangers. Take the opportunity to connect with them to begin building a relationship. As the two of you get to know each other, it is likely that both of you will benefit.

On many social networking sites, and Linkedin is a great example, you may already know someone who knows the person you’d like to meet. So you and they can feel more comfortable because of that mutual connection. Because you can see information about the person you want to meet, you will know other things you may share with them.

Building a relationship is really the place to start.

In the list below, you will notice I did not say to start out by sending a resume to someone who is connected to the hiring manager or recruiter for a position you’re interested in. While they may not say it, many people will simply feel used.

Social networking sheds light on the contacts you never knew you had as well as those you would like to create. Of course, you must take action. As long as we’re breaking mom’s rule, here are some ways to leverage your expanded community of “contacts” to assist in your job search.

• Search for old connections to reconnect and catch up
• Find people with whom you’ve only had a brief connection and strengthen that relationship
• Build business relationships with hiring managers as well as other people you should know in your industry/function/geographic area
• Identify and meet (on line and off line) recruiters, people in your target companies, prominent people in your industry or function
• Follow, learn from and connect with thought leaders
• Increase your web visibility and credibility which makes it easier for recruiters and hiring managers to find you
• Find out what your target companies are doing, their business issues, competitors, etc.
• Be better prepared for all your networking calls, calls for informational interviews, etc.

You can buy mom flowers to celebrate your new job!

Hidden Job Market: How Tim Got In!

Tim Collins is founder and President of Toronto-based Stafflink Solutions, a full service permanent and contract IT recruiting firm. I’m delighted to have had a chance to talk to Tim Collins recently about how he got 4 jobs through the hidden job market mechanism. And how networking has helped his company, Stafflink Solutions, have its best year ever!

Please listen to Tim’s great tips and ideas. They are fabulous. Start implementing the ones you like right away–no reason to delay. Enjoy!

Click for a transcript of this interview so you can refer back to all his techniques!

I highly recommend his blog for job seekers: http://www.stafflink.blogspot.com/

Job search networking: How to get really good at getting past the gatekeepers

It can be very frustrating and/or intimidating to want to talk to someone in the course of job search networking, only to have the gatekeeper shut you down. Most advice is to try to get around the gatekeeper or get past them as quickly as possible.  This article is about doing the exact opposite, and the tremendous rewards you can get when you try it this way. 

I’d like to encourage you to stop trying to get past a gatekeeper. In reality, these people are not a fierce negative force. They can be your best ally in getting what you want—a meeting with the boss. 

 Make the receptionist a friend. Make the assistant a friend. Remember and use their name. Have some sympathy for their job and busy day and tell them so. It doesn’t take long. You can benefit from the fact the people who are typically thought of as “gatekeepers” are actually real people. You can also benefit from the fact that most job seekers calling for a meeting don’t bother to make the gatekeeper a friend. 

Be ready with a brief and truthful statement about why you want to talk to their boss. Let them know you just need a few minutes. You’ll be amazed at how helpful some of them will be. 

Will everyone try to help you? Probably not, but see how high a success rate you can get. If they don’t, then you can network in other ways to meet the executive. But don’t say anything negative to either of them. If you underestimate the power of the assistant, you could just end up as toast.

I typically call very senior executives during the course of my recruiting. I write down the assistant’s name as soon as I hear it (my brain cells seem to be dying at an alarming rate these days!). By taking time to remember the assistant’s name and being truthful (and brief) about why I was calling, I found a lot of them went out of their way to get me some time on the boss’s calendar.

Whenever possible I compliment the executive on their assistant, and email the assistant my sincere thanks. I’ve never regretted taking a few minutes to make them a friend.

In one case I called an executive three times. The assistant and I had fun brief conversations each time. The first two times, the assistant told me she would give her boss the message, but he didn’t call. The third time she went in to his office and told him he had to take my call! How much better than that does it get?

Everyone you talk to is a networking contact. Instead of rushing to “get past” take a few moments to create a relationship.

I hope this helps in your job search networking into the hidden job market.