Revised: 07/13/2017
 Without question, networking is one of the most powerful tools for the Job Seeker yet
so often the most challenging, least used
and least understood by many job seekers.
Often this is a fear of meeting new people.
Solution: Starting meeting with new people, face-to-face, and transform this fear into
a great personal strength you "own". Consider joining social groups that
sponsor face-to-face gatherings in public faces to build your confidence in
meeting new people. Often these are free to attend and can be found in
many cities on LinkedIn. Always use good judgment before freely handing
out personal information or traveling with people you do not know well.
The CT Groups provides members access to Help-CT for on-line help and
other career transition-related matters but nothing beats face-to-face visits.
Contacts and Networking is powerful because it helps you to ...
- build support for your job search in key areas for your success
- get access that you otherwise are unlikely to achieve
- gain insight into opportunities that are not well known that can help you
- better communicate your goals, interests, and objectives in a professional manner
- expand your reach into companies and opportunities
- establish credibility and respect with those having influence and insight
Steps to a successful request:
Create an e-mail to Help-CT Group and include the following:
- Do your homework; create your Job Search Plan
- State your name and list all your contact information
- State what you are asking The CT Groups membership for help with
- forcing people to guess guarantees little success - State what industry/industries and job areas are you focusing on
- State your targeted companies
- State your qualifications for this role/company
Those you contact will be interested in:
- what qualifies you with your skills, experience, etc.
- having comfort in taking a risk on you with their high-value contacts - State what Groups do you actively attend
Allow a minimum of two (2) days for responses to begin.
This requires planning on your part. Plan well; execute with focus and speed.
Can you skip some of these and slide by? Certainly, especially if success is not one of your preferred outcomes.
Presenting yourself professionally in a quality manner will serve your objectives
well. Cutting corners or skipping steps initially saves time but often at a high cost
including a longer period of unemployment and missed opportunities you would
have loved.
Why do I need these 6 things? I just want a job now.
Make a request vague and you get nothing or you get less than what you need.
Being unemployed makes you one of many millions. Show yourself to be special.
Companies control the timeline; insisting they "speed it up" will backfire on you.
Provide a reason to be helped and you often get more support. Here is why:
- Job Search Plan
Nothing is real until it is carefully thought out and written on paper.
While it can be a pain to create it will save time and energy by providing focus to you and those offering their assistance plus it enhances your image. This is time well spent and brings benefits and credibility you may never know about.
- Name and Contact Information
If someone will help you do, you want to be difficult to contact?
Time is often important; make yourself easy to reach. You want help right?
Your name and e-mail address is only a starting point for communications.
Interviews help a manager assess a person in multiple areas. Those who may help you will want to have an informal interview to see if they can or should help you. How you present yourself in written and verbal communications are significant in determining whether they can or are willing to help you.
- What are you seeking/needing
There is risk in referring an unknown person to a valued connection. Once once you "burn" a valued connection that connection is often lost. A person considering helping you MUST be confident that your skills and background are:
(a) appropriate for the contact's level within the company,
(b) appropriate for their work group area, and
(c) you potentially can gain from their involvement professionally,
personally or as someone helping one of their friends.
There MUST to be a fit between the parties ... you must always sell yourself.
Provide information that helps reduce their perceived risks in helping you.
- Industry and Job Focus
Knowing what you want do and where you want to work at are essential to be helped plus whether your desires are realistic are critical to help you.
To help someone, a person needs to know these answers to be helped.
Your failing in a job they helped you get reflects badly on you AND them.
Hiring managers face their job being at risk for making bad hires.
You never know who a person knows until you win their support and they share that with you. It may be a dead end. Yet they may know your next manager or potentially be your next manager.
- Qualifications
This is part of the "fit" to be put in contact with someone's connection. An expert gardener may be of great value to many but not if the current work for a remote office is contracted out by corporate headquarters to a national contracting firm where local influence will be limited at best. Unfortunately there can be more to your needed qualifications than "can you do this job"
In this example, go contact the people doing the work locally.
- Groups Attended
People are more likely to help people they know or are like themselves.
Helping others to associate your name and face to a group they also attend will increase the potential of their support. This ties to the importance of networking in each group you attend to build relationships and thus building stronger channels to help each other.
The unemployed can help the unemployed become employed. Everyone knows many someones ... you may accidentally discover you find the right person to connect you with the someone who can open opportunities for you.
NOTICE: This outlined process will not work for those who ARE NOT members of The CT Groups
due to the processes and checks within our systems. |
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