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Fast track your job search through leveraging your circle of influence
Your résumé is up to date; you’ve polished your résumé and are set to go with your job search, however unfortunately the number of job advertisements on the internet and newspapers are few and far between. Or worse yet, the role you are looking for is not advertised anywhere. Has that happened to you? If so, it’s not surprising, as it is a widely known fact that only between 20-30% of job opportunities are actually ever advertised and that around 70-80% of opportunities never make it to the advertisement stage. So how on earth do you position yourself in front of these 70-80% of hidden jobs? Through networking.
What is networking?
Networking is about establishing and forging strong relationships that are centred on trust and integrity. Ivan R. Misner (founder of BNI – the world’s largest networking group) sums up networking as: ‘…the process of developing contacts and relationships to enhance your knowledge, expand your sphere of influence or serve the community’. Networking is about relationship building, and can play a pivotal role not only in a job seeker’s job search, but also within their overall career management plan.
What networking is not?
Networking is not about ringing anyone and everyone you know to ask for a job. Nor is it about ‘jobs for the boys’. That old saying ‘it’s not what you know, but who you know’, should be expanded to rather ‘it’s not who you know but rather who knows what you know and how you can continue to add value to an organisation’s success’.
I don’t know that many people – help?
This is often the comment that I hear; however before you discredit the amount of people in your list of contacts, try this exercise.
Step One: Develop three columns with the following headings:
Social |
Professional |
Other |
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Step Two: Without questioning how well you know a person, write down the names of people you have an association with, even if you don’t know them particularly well.
While these people may not be aware of the information you are looking for or know of any opportunities that may be relevant to your industry, the people and contacts that they have within their extended network certainly may.
Putting it all together.
It’s important to remember that you are not contacting these people to ask for a job, but rather establishing communications to uncover any information that would be beneficial in your job search.
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Understand exactly what type of information you are seeking, as being too vague could confuse and irritate your contact;
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Be able to speak about what it is you do, professionally and succinctly;
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Have a clear plan to follow from opening introductions (to establish rapport), and during your meeting (so as not to forget which crucial pieces of information you are seeking).
Three network-building questions: Of most importance prior to asking the questions is to have established rapport with the person to whom you are speaking.
Give them an idea of your current situation and what you are looking for, and ask the following questions:
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Do you know of any opportunities for a person with my skills? If the answer is no (which it usually is) then you ask:
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Do you know of someone else who might know of such an opportunity? If your contact does, get the name and confirm whether or not they may know of anyone else? If he/she is not able to provide any names, then ask:
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Do you know of anyone who might know who knows a lot of people (or Can you think of someone who I may be able to speak with?).
It’s easy to ask the first questions and if the response is ‘no’, it’s also easy to become disillusioned and therefore not bother to ask the other questions. Just ask –most people would be more than willing to help you, particularly if you have supported them at one time or another!! If the answer is still no, don’t let this dishearten you. If the answer is yes, ensure you get the correct spelling of the lead’s name and contact numbers.
Remember to send a thank you card or email to your contact to show your appreciation for their support.
Nurturing your circle of influence:
Now that you have developed a key list of your contacts, you should start thinking about this list as your gold mine and continue nurturing your circle of influence as part of your overall career management plan. Consider some of these steps:
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Become known as the ‘go-to’ person in your network; the problem solver and person who is willing to lend a hand when needed.
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Share useful information that you know is relevant and pertinent to people in your network. For instance, if you know someone in your network has an interest in sailing and you learn about an upcoming expo and are able to gain some free tickets, sending these to your contact would certainly be appreciated.
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Send them a birthday card or congratulations if you know of an upcoming special event.
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Invite them out for a coffee, just for a catch up to say ‘hi’ and remain in contact with what’s going on in their lives.
By maintaining active contact, sharing relevant information and giving back to the people within your network they will become far more responsive when you need to approach them for further information or support.
Till next fortnight!
To your success!
Annemarie
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