7
Effective Networking
The term networking is defined as the process of “cultivat[ing] people who can be helpful to one professionally, especially in finding employment or moving to a higher position” (dictionary.com), as well as “the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business” (Merriam-Webster). Not surprisingly, these are the very definitions that are the most unnatural and harmful for those who seek to engage in networking as a practice for their job search. Cultivating is for crops, not for people.
But networking is a necessary part of doing business, and when done correctly there’s nothing manipulative about it. Effective networking is not about business; it is simply part of the human experience. We all seek to be better professionals and better people, but we cannot do that alone.
Dorie Clark, author of Stand Out Networking, writes that we should think of networking as “an opportunity to meet people you’ll want to talk to and learn from professionally.” We can all learn something from others, and learning, not advancement, is networking’s ultimate goal. Even the most outgoing people dislike networking when the objective is getting something from others, or focusing on what they can do for you.
But the “instrumental” view that some hold—seeing people as a means to an end—is damaging. This distorted image stops the best people from networking because they don’t want to treat others that way, and it encourages the worst to act in an obnoxious manner because they think that’s what they’re supposed to be doing. (Clark 2015)
Networking is not something you do only when you need a favor or a job. It is about curiosity—curiosity is to networking as water is to a plant: It enables true relationships to bloom with ease. Asking questions and listening carefully to the answers is the best way to launch a networking conversation and grow a relationship. Inquiring first about the other person, and not about what’s in it for you (with the sincere goal of looking for ways to help) is the key.
Networking is also about appreciation and gratitude. Do you know the fastest way to be written off as a networking contact? Forget to thank someone for his time, or take her for granted. Alternatively, the greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of genuine appreciation and gratitude.
The Hidden Job Market
What is this “hidden job market” we hear so much about today? Where are the jobs hiding, and how can we find them? Like the party last Saturday you didn’t get invited to, but you know happened because you saw the pictures on Facebook, others are reaping the rewards of these opportunities. It may seem like a lot is happening elsewhere that you can’t see.
Some hidden jobs are advertised, but they aren’t really open because they are earmarked for someone else. But how can you get around this seemingly unfair recruitment and sourcing strategy? Let’s first take a look at why applying for advertised jobs—engaging in a reactive job search and entering into an experience similar to waiting for your lottery number to be called—yields so few results.
If you learn about an opening at a company you’d like to work for, it’s often already too late. Companies post job openings because, in theory, posting seems like a good idea and they’ve always done it this way. But the application process is broken. Advertising for help is no longer a help wanted sign in a window, a flyer tacked to a bulletin board, or an ad in the local paper. Today, you can sit at your computer and search and apply for jobs in any city or town in any country on any continent. And this is good, right? More opportunities for job seekers! More candidates for hiring managers! Theoretically, yes. But in practice, no.
Just as candidates have an endless list of opportunities at their fingertips, hiring managers often have as many as 300 candidates for each open position. When they receive so many qualified applications for each job posting, the uncertainty for HR constantly hangs in the air. For recruiters, the greatest fear is hiring the wrong person, so that fear is often avoided by hiring someone they already know.
Hiring managers are already predisposed to select someone they know, or have met before, because it makes the decision easier. This means that becoming the known candidate—the one who gets to the company contact person or hiring manager before the position is open—is the holy grail for job seekers.
Designing Your Ideal Target Job
A crucial first step to take before making these connections is defining your goal. If you completed the exercises in chapter 4, you should have defined an immediate career goal. If not, to get help from your network you must clarify:
• Title: What kind of job do you want?
• Geographic location: Where do you want to work?
• Company size or industry: What kind of company do you want to work for?
You might think that narrowing your search will pigeonhole you, but being too broad does more harm than good. Don’t be so narrow that you wall yourself out of an opportunity (“I want to be assistant claims benefit control chief of the health policy development and program administration”), but being specific will help others help you more effectively.
During this preliminary investigation phase, or if you are exploring a career or industry change, it is absolutely acceptable to be unclear in your target, title, goals, and objectives. That’s one of the benefits of this discovery phase! But to have the greatest impact on your job search networking success, once you start reaching out to people, clarity—about who you are and what you want—is crucial. If you can answer the question, “What job are you looking for?” with some level of detail, you are ready to begin networking in the hidden job market. This kind of direction helps you know where to go, but more important, it enables others to help you.
Using your resume to solicit help from your friends, neighbors, and former colleagues is not the most effective way to network, despite what many think. Sending your resume to your friends and asking them to “circulate it around” is often met with well-intentioned efforts that fall short of getting you to the right person. It’s not because your contacts don’t want to help you; it’s because they don’t know how to help you.
Your Personal Marketing Plan
There’s a better way to get these high-quality leads: Create a personal marketing plan (PMP). This is a critical document in your arsenal; it has your target title, level, geographic areas of interest, a snapshot of your resume’s career summary, and a list of target companies that you began to identify in chapter 4. A PMP will help your network better help you, and will enable them to do it with greater clarity than if they were relying on your resume alone. Before you start to network, complete a sample PMP and have it ready for your networking efforts (see the sample in Appendix G).
The purpose of the PMP is to help you find people with whom you can network and become a known candidate. By asking your contacts for help in getting meetings at your target companies, instead of asking them to do you a favor and pass your resume around, you can get high-quality leads, such as phone numbers, email addresses, and information to act on. This helps you bypass the waiting game.
Your Speed Networking Pitch
When you’re in the thick of a networking opportunity, such as a conference or a professional association event, preparation is your friend. You want to be quick and memorable—like speed dating, only faster. If you rely on complicated, jargon-heavy pitches that exceed a minute in length, you risk losing your audience to the roving eye, and you may never get them back. You need a more nimble, crisp pitch that is tailored to these sorts of events—a speed networking pitch—that will enable you to be memorable and share your character and competence with ease.
It all starts with the accomplishment story. Sit down, grab a comfy pillow, and pull up a blank computer screen (or, old school, a notebook). If you haven’t done this already (see chapter 2), consider your career successes and list seven to 10 accomplishment stories (things you did well and also enjoyed). This should stir up some pride because they’re proof that you’re good at what you do.
If you find this exercise challenging, you’re not alone. Try to recall a time when you had to complete a task for your job that wasn’t easy, and you had to come up with a creative way to get it done. Maybe your department had been remiss in implementing a diversity-training program since the head trainer left the company, leaving the program specifics and curriculum in shambles. You volunteered (initiative!) to step in, revise the curriculum, and get the program out the door.
Once you have your list, organize it in a way that’s easy to understand, remember, and pitch. Use the CAR format you learned about in chapter 5. For example:
• Challenge: Producing a new employee handbook for a Fortune 500 company with more than 2,000 employees.
• Action: Revamped existing handbook and reorganized it into specific sections for employee classes. Instituted a policy of careful legal review and rolled out its implementation, requiring all employees to sign upon receiving and reading it.
• Result: Streamlined, better-organized product promoting greater understanding and clearer expectations, resulting in fewer disciplinary actions and lawsuits.
Now, pull it all together. Here is the formula for an effective speed networking pitch:
As a [job title], I work with [share target audience] to [share a problem you solve]. And here’s the proof: [tell a memorable, specific, client-related story].
Here are a few examples:
I work with healthcare research and development companies looking for new products to bring to the home care market. For example, I helped develop a tracksuit for elders with mobility issues. The suits have Velcro closures to aid bending and dressing. I was excited when that product took off and netted my company millions in the process.
I am an HR consultant who enjoys building HR departments from scratch. I work with large companies to produce employee handbooks that are concise and easy to understand. After simplifying a client’s company handbook and holding informational meetings for the staff, their employee relations issues decreased 25 percent and retention improved dramatically.
In-Person Networking
Once your pitch is finely crafted, start using it frequently to perfect it and make its delivery natural. Attend conferences and enroll in industry or professional affiliations, which often hold chapter meetings or annual or biannual meetings or conferences. An affiliation is an organization—such as religious groups, social clubs, volunteer groups, honor societies, or industry groups—you are a member of through your personal, academic, or professional life.
Attending a conference as a job seeker is a different ball game than attending as a company representative or industry honcho—to a job seeker, conferences are like Willy Wonka’s golden ticket. But remember: Give 100 percent of your attention to the conference; don’t get sidetracked by your son’s academic woes, your dog’s tendency to wreak havoc when he’s uncrated, or anything else that might be going on outside the convention center.
Contact the organizers ahead of time to see if they can use volunteers. Volunteering is a great experience because it gives you an insider’s view into what’s happening and where. In addition, it gives you the opportunity to meet and talk with experienced professionals. Working alongside others gives you a natural inroad to conversation that doesn’t shout networking! (This technique is brilliant for introverts or others who get cold sweats when they think of networking.) Volunteering can also save you money. Discounted tickets are frequently reserved for volunteers or committee chairs.
Professional Associations
Being a member of your profession’s association helps you get better at what you love to do. There is no substitute for a professional association: You could be in the room with many professionals from your industry, which will enable you to learn best practices, find peers, or secure a mentor. Industry groups and professional associations are invaluable sources of insider information. You’ll be a more complete package if you stay abreast of changes occurring within your industry, and more attractive to employers.
Attend local chapter meetings, read their literature, and time permitting, get involved with the organization in a leadership capacity (such as joining a committee or volunteering). You can also attend webinars and read trade journals, blog posts, and articles to refine what you want to do or learn how to do it better. This will help raise your professional cachet, make you more qualified for delivering your services, and enable you to uncover best-in-class processes and strategies. When it comes to deciding whether to join a professional association or an industry association, don’t choose; join both: one for people who do what you do and one for people who need what you offer. If your budget is an issue because you are between positions, be sure to ask if they have a discount for those in transition.
Industry Associations
The National Marine Manufacturers Association is a group that advocates for and promotes marine manufacturing products, such as boats and yachts. If you are a digital marketing professional who has always worked with luxury boat liners, either out of passion or convenience, this industry association would be an incredibly good fit for you. You may be one of the only marketing people in the room, which would put you in an enviable networking position and enable you to become the go-to person in your field for marine manufacturers. This is where you’d go to be in the room with people who need what you do.
Email or call the president of the association to share your excitement about becoming a member and ask for the three best action items to take to get involved quickly. You likely won’t have trouble finding associations to join if you know where to look, but IndustryWeek (www.industryweek.com/associations) and Directory of Associations (www.directoryofassociations.com) are two good places to start.
Online Networking
In chapter 4 you started a list of target companies you’d like to work for. Now is the time to reach out to them. Most online networking conversations originate with LinkedIn. Twitter and Facebook may have tremendous value for your search, but LinkedIn is far superior in its ability to provide data around jobs, people, industries, and companies.
To Whom Do You Reach Out?
Finding contacts at companies on LinkedIn can be overwhelming, but it all boils down to one question: If you landed your target job at your target company, who would be your boss?
Ideally, you should be seeking out people who are one to two levels above you. If you are an organizational consultant, you want to find the director of OD. If you are a human resources director, it’s the vice president or senior vice president of HR that you’re looking for. If you want to be a marketing manager, the director of marketing would make the decisions. This isn’t a perfect science, however. If you can’t find the right person at the right company, level, and position who can hire you or recommend that you be hired, you can still gain value from meeting with someone in a different role at your target company.
For example: Your dream job is to be the marketing manager of the Discovery Channel. If your neighbor, Joe, introduces you to his cousin, Mark, who works for the Discovery Channel in the engineering department, it’s not a wash! Take that lead and have a meeting with Mark. You still have a lot to learn about the company culture and challenges facing the Discovery Channel, and Mark can help you understand what it might be like to work there. This is extremely valuable insider information.
How Do You Reach Out?
To get names of people within your target companies, make a list of everyone you know and start grouping them by categories: friends from college, bowling buddies, people who join you for art class on Friday nights, your book club, friends from your church, and so forth.
Instead of focusing on who’s hiring, look at your target company list. Do you know anyone who works at any of these companies? Do you know anyone who might know people at your target companies? Make a list. You’ll be tapping into them as a resource for advice and introductions. Then, in short emails (or when you see them in person), ask them for help.
You: “As you know, I’m in a job search right now. Would you mind taking a peek at my personal marketing plan and telling me if you know anyone on my target company list?”
Your bowling buddy: “Sure! No problem. Anything for you! I do know someone at company X. Would you like me to give her your resume?”
You: “Thank you! Actually, if you could give me her name and contact info, I’d love an opportunity to set up a brief call or in-person conversation, you know, to learn more about her company and what she does. Will that work?”
Once you get the names of people who are within your target companies, it’s time to start initiating meetings. If you are working the hidden job market correctly, you are getting to these companies before there is a posted open position. This is the magic hour!
Go into these meetings asking for support or counsel in the form of advice, insight, recommendations, referrals—but do not ask for a job. These types of meeting are often called informational interviews because their purpose is to gather information about companies, industries, contacts, or new career directions. You can ask about the industry: What are the current trends, competitive landscape, or industry challenges? But don’t ask for a job. Or, you can ask about the person in general: How did she get there? What is the best advice she got along the way? How does she stay on top of industry trends? What conferences does she frequent? What trade journals does she read? But do not ask for a job.
The goal of these meetings is to foster rapport, establish a relationship, and make a connection. As we discussed, networking is all about mindset. If you go into it with the goal of “getting something,” you have missed the boat.
The adage “it’s who you know!” is only partially correct. Landing a job is about whom you know, and about who knows, likes, and trusts you in return. When a recruiter has a job to fill, employee referrals and recommendations from those he knows, likes, and trusts will be in short supply and high demand. You want to be one of those. These meetings will help you get in the door, before the position opens.
Focus on People, Not Openings
Sleuthing out people to contact on LinkedIn with the LinkedIn Advanced Search function is easy: Type in the company name, title, and location, and voilà! You can easily see who you know and who they know. Your second-degree connections (your connections’ connections) are statistically the most powerful ones. In addition, LinkedIn Company Pages will enable you to view anyone in your network who currently works for, or used to work for, your target company.
When it’s time to reach out, either by email or phone, your goal is to get an informational interview or a meeting with someone at your target company. Once you have a few names, your initial email could be as simple as:
Dear Dr. Smith:
Samantha Barrows suggested we talk! I’ve known Samantha since our kids’ Little League days, and she shared with me your success in my target industry, hospitality. As a former event planner in the manufacturing industry, I am now looking to learn more about switching industries to hospitality, still in a project management role, and Samantha believed you’d be a great resource. Would you be willing to speak with me briefly about your experience at the company, and any industry challenges or trends you see on the horizon? I will call you at 10 a.m. on Tuesday to see if we can arrange a time to meet.
You’ll want to send a lot of these emails! The more you send, the greater your chances are of gathering insider information that will make you a strong fit for a position, when it opens.
During the meeting, you may wonder what should be discussed. Here are a few things you could say:
• May I tell you a bit about my background? (If you don’t know the person well.)
• How did you land your position at the company?
• What do you love about this industry?
• Would you be willing to review my personal marketing plan and give feedback?
• Would you be willing to put me in touch with someone in my target function in your company?
• Is there anything I can do to help you?
If this person is at one of your target companies and you plan to stay in touch, send an immediate thank you (by email is fine). Keep this person in the loop with occasional updates as your candidacy progresses.
Ambassadors: An Essential Job Search Contact
During these first meetings, your goal is to forge relationships with ambassadors. Ambassadors are successful professionals in your target industry who have the power to hire you or the ability to influence others to hire you. When you start hearing them say “you would be great here!” you know you have turned them from an acquaintance to an ambassador. These ambassadors are game changers to your job search because they can introduce you to people within their own organization, or help you meet decision makers in your other target companies or industries. With these meetings, your goal is to recognize when you have met an ambassador. Because they can help shepherd you through the process, you must make sure to stay in touch with them throughout your search.
It’s not always easy to remember to stay in touch with key contacts, especially in the digital age, but LinkedIn’s Mentions feature can help. Within LinkedIn, simply begin typing the name of the person you wish to mention in the status field, select the correct person from the drop-down menu, and that person or company will receive a notification. Use mentions to congratulate a connection on a new job or celebrate achievements in your network. This is a useful way to stay in touch between longer conversations.
Networking Over the Phone
People don’t talk on the phone as often as they used to. They text. They email. They IM. So it may feel strange to you to pick up the phone and call someone—especially someone you don’t even know. But eschewing this avenue in your job search is neglecting an important and powerful networking tool.
When you’re networking over the phone, there are three kinds of calls you can make. You can call someone you know, someone who knows someone you know, or someone you don’t know.
According to Katherine Moody, author of How to Have a Great Networking Conversation on the Phone, having a script makes these phone conversations a thousand times easier than winging it. In fact, in your job search alone, the people with whom you interact at various stages can be vast and unique, including hiring managers, receptionists, recruiters, headhunters, friends, family members, neighbors, or salespeople at your target company. In her informative and entertaining e-publication, Moody shares various scripts that are invaluable to job seekers. (Not to be missed: Her “hiring manager: slightly gutsier script,” which is great for those days when confidence is not in short supply.)
The bottom line is that having a script takes the guesswork out of the conversation for you. You never know who will pick up the phone when you call, or if you’ll get an answering machine instead, and it’s refreshing to be able to leave a message rather than abruptly hang up for fear of saying the wrong thing.
Once you have crafted a script for people you could encounter in your search, design ideal outcomes for each situation. For the purposes of this chapter, the kind of networking we’re focused on is for the purpose of accessing the hidden job market. Therefore, it’s important to remember that there is no job. You are simply aiming to get meetings with people within your target companies who are one to two levels above you and ideally in a position to hire you or to recommend that you be hired. And there is only one goal: Get them to believe you have a place at the organization in the future. During these calls, your goal is to get in the door, or get on the phone, with a decision maker.
When you have a face-to-face meeting, or a successful phone conversation, ask for help with the next steps. If you are feeling bold and believe that the conversation has been productive, ask for names of others with whom you could meet. Ask if you may stay in touch with them. (And then do!) Make a note in your calendar of the date you met, what was promised, and any advice given. If this is a person at your target company with whom you wish to stay in touch (and this is important because it’s not essential to stay in touch with everyone in your search), you’ll want to follow up with them three times after this initial call to:
• Within 24 hours: Thank them for their time.
• In two to three weeks: Provide something of value to them that has nothing to do with you (for example, information about a conference, upcoming event, or something they would value).
• Within six weeks: Share successes and provide a status update on advice they offered that you took.
Summary
If you are finding that your job search efforts are getting you nowhere and your feverish attempts to apply for jobs online are coming up short, take a step back and concentrate instead on formulating your personal marketing plan. Identify your target companies and vow to infiltrate them, learning what you can and ensuring your name and face are known among the decision makers, so that when a position opens up you’re the first person they think of.
Don’t sit home frantically scanning the want ads, LinkedIn, and Indeed.com. Shift your focus to networking, whether it’s online, over the phone, or in person. Get out of the house and meet people. Join clubs and associations, go to industry events, and spend time each week trying to schedule meetings with people in your industry and at your target companies. Practice your speed networking pitch.
Putting yourself out there can be daunting, even downright scary. But it’s the only way to reach your goal, and as you practice, it will get easier. Your efforts will inevitably pay off, opening doors for you that may have previously been closed.