July 2006

Networking Boot Camp: Jump Start Your Job Search Before You Need To

By Debra Feldman

When do most people start looking through their contact database to review their relationships with a critical eye? All too often, it's when they need an introduction to power their job search campaign. Contrary to popular practice, the best time for leveraging connections is not when you are about to enter the job market, but rather on a continuous basis, always keeping in touch, sharing information, initiating ideas, reaching out and being generous to an increasingly larger circle of colleagues and associates.

What can you and the rest of us do to alter lazy networking habits? Pull up your bootstraps now and launch into Network Purposefully mode. Not only will developing fresh, targeted contacts and regularly renewing existing ones boost any current job search efforts, but such activities also establish a lifetime career foundation by putting you on the inside track to future opportunities that only those who are connected know about. Best piece of advice for being an effective and welcomed networker? Engineer your contacts and offer assistance before you are asked, and even when you are not looking for a new job.

A January 2006 study from CareerXRoads, authored by Gerry Crispin and Mark Mehler, shows that employee referrals is the number one external source for filling openings, eclipsing online and print ads, outside recruiters and all other means. Now more than ever, executives must hook into company rumor mills through periodic communications with their personal network of contacts to be among the first to spot leads to new career opportunities. Employee referrals are useful for sourcing both posted jobs and those that have yet to be officially sanctioned positions created in response to a quality person being in the right place at the right time, and other unadvertised openings that result from restructurings, new growth, transfers, unexpected resignations, retirements and pending projects. The hidden job market, or unadvertised job market, continues to thrive in todays environment, generating more new hires than the Internet and other posted openings.

How do these insights impact your executive career management? It's not just what you know but, who you know and who knows your potential contribution that matters most. Here are some ideas for jump starting your networks healthy development, and purposefully making more and better connections.

1. Expand beyond your comfort zone and reach out to those you dont already know. If the individuals that you keep in touch with on a regular basis are not producing enough high-quality referrals, don't wait for things to change. This is your signal that it's time to stretch your connections by finding more individuals to reach out to and get to know.
    
2. Choose your connections for their affiliations, reputations and position. Prepare an introduction that can be passed along detailing how you can resolve challenges and ask your contact to forward your request for an introduction. Brand yourself clearly as a go-to person so that whenever anyone requests a referral to talent matching your credentials, you are the first person that pops into their mind as the right solution and the ideal candidate.
    
3. Rely on third-party referrals to bypass gatekeepers, increase your credibility and build up trust. Research who you want to know and ask your contacts about using their connections to get you introduced. A personal recommendation is usually more warmly received than an unsolicited letter, e-mail or call.
    
4. Dialogue with decision-makers, not HR, at target employers to unearth unadvertised jobs and position yourself on the right persons radar for when something more appropriate becomes available. Making an outstanding first impression not only puts your name in play now, but hiring managers are also networked and can connect you to their colleagues elsewhere, further expanding your reach into other organizations via a personal recommendation.
    
5. Choose and nurture your target contacts for their potential value to your job search and your careers future. While you may tend to focus on establishing those connections that will yield the new job you need now, any new, well-placed contact is likely to eventually deliver. Often, after a dormant period, candidates will start receiving contacts out of the blue because one thing is certain: organizations and people are dynamic. Even if someone is not helpful, send a gracious and prompt "thank you"; you never know how small the world is and you want to maintain an unblemished reputation for being polite and professional. When you have a positive rapport, continue to keep in touch. You made the effort to network purposefully, dont sacrifice your investment after you happily land a new job.
    
6. Increase your online visibility. It is easer than ever before to create a Web presence. Support your positioning and get in front of recruiters and hiring managers by publishing your bio on one of the online social networks like Linked-In or zoominfo. Post your resume or profile on niche job sites where you are more likely to be viewed by those in your target audience. Niche career sites and professional associations databases are more likely than general job boards to generate interest and new connections you can leverage in the future. Invest in your own professionally designed Web site and let it demonstrate your credibility and boast about your strengths, abilities, talents, skills and accomplishments. Make sure you can be found to fill employers needs by posting yourself on the corporate databases of your target employers most company Web sites today have a careers feature where you can upload your background.
    
7. Promote yourself as an expert. Join professional associations, attend local chapter events and assume a leadership role. Volunteer to present at professional meetings or be part of a panel discussion or virtual workshop. Publish a white paper on your personal Web site or elsewhere. Submit an original manuscript to a reputable firm, or online or traditional media. Post comments selectively and routinely follow online networking group e-lists, chats, and similar to keep on top of industry happenings. Demonstrate your knowledge and invite inquiries and recognition. Write letters to editors and send comments to authors.
    
8. Keep in touch regularly and remember to give more help than you ask for. E-mail your contacts to update them on industry news or a mutual colleagues achievement. Send them your articles and announcements, share thoughts of common interest or a link, celebrate special occasions and honor their birthdays, the New Year, and so on.

Using todays inexpensive and easy communication options, any one can network purposefully and create and maintain their visibility to attract prospective new connections. Coupled with a strategic career plan that emphasizes opportunities in the hidden job market, being a sincere and champion networker is an essential component for success.

Copyright 2006 by Debra Feldman.

Debra Feldman, founder of JobWhiz, is a job search expert with more than 20 years of senior management consulting experience. She specializes in identifying unadvertised opportunities in the hidden job market. For more information and to contact her, visit www.JobWhiz.com.