Richman: Networking should be your main job
Richman: Networking should be your main job
Networking is key to your job search. Up to 75 percent of open positions are discovered in the hidden job market where employers and their trusted employees discretely identify potential candidates with whom they directly or indirectly have acquaintance.
They look for individuals with the skills and strengths they need who have personality styles that fit with where they work. Most of these employers don’t advertise because they don’t want to be flooded with applications when they haven’t the time or personnel to do the screening. Instead they put the word out to their employees who understand what it takes to do get the job done. And so they look ... and you want to be the one they find.
They’ll find you if you network with people you know, with whom you have something in common, who in turn know people who hire people. It sounds easy enough, but there are right and wrong ways to network.
So what do you say when you network?
You state that you are in the middle of a job search. You describe the job you’re looking for and how you can benefit the company where you work. You also say what you hope to get from the networking conversation: a chance to brainstorm about possibilities and people who might know of opportunities you could pursue. That’s it — no heavy lifting.
What’s your tone, attitude and viewpoint?
Positive, constructive and future-focused. Open, optimistic and appreciative.
Networking doesn’t work when you talk to people with whom you have no shared interest or commonality or who don’t know you and have no reason to trust you with information about job opportunities and places where you might use their names and reputations as access. And access to people who hire is exactly what you need.
Networking doesn’t work when you’re negative, pessimistic and focused on the past. It doesn’t work if you expect someone other than you to find you a job. It doesn’t work when you haven’t a clue what you’re looking for or how you make a difference to an employer. It doesn’t work when you play the victim or the villain.
That’s not to say that you don’t harbor those feelings and ruminate on those thoughts. Just don’t take them into a networking conversation, an interview or even a passing conversation with someone you think doesn’t care or won’t remember. When you’re looking for a job, it all counts: how you look, what you say and how you say it.
Use but don’t abuse your social network and extended family as your job-searching network. Be careful that you don’t turn them into a “Did you find me a job yet?” outlet. If you do, you will drive away the very people who can help you the most. Network with them by seeking advice without making requests or assuming that they will find you a job. They won’t. And that’s not what networking is. Rather, it’s working through your network of contacts to find where the jobs are. And it’s your job to do it, not theirs.
Joyce Richman is a speaker and career coach conducting seminars and workshops throughout the United States, and the author of “Roads, Routes & Ruts: A Guidebook for Career Success.” You can reach her at 288-1799 or JERichman@aol.com. Watch Richman’s latest career advice Wednesdays at 6:35 a.m. during “The Good Morning Show” on WFMY News 2. You can find this column online by visiting www.TriadCareers.com and clicking on “News & Tips.”
