Don’t just network to find a job… think about the career long-game!
I have decided that I love networking coffees. As an introvert the one-on-one mode is easier for me than conferences and seminars. In these discussions I am curious about what others are doing and what maybe I could offer to them. In the past I was highly focused at my corporate job, slaving my way to get ahead by focusing internally. I probably missed out on a lot of career advancement advice and job opportunities because I didn’t actively network externally. Today networking has become way more common and is a strategic way to get ahead.
Now that I am doing more of my own networking I get more requests to have coffee than ever. Last week I met with a late-forties friend of a friend who is an executive out job hunting for the first time in years. We talked about what he will ask for during a networking discussion scheduled for the next day. “I want to know if he knows of an organization that has a job opening”, was his response. Funny thing is it made me cringe.
The problem is that asking for a job or for a connection to someone who has a job puts the other person on the spot. I have finally learned that networking is about building relationships and connections. Yes, it is a substantially better route to finding a job than internet websites which filter you out, not in. But it is not usually an immediate results activity. Instead, you want to create awareness about you and establish relationships which will stick in people’s minds for when the next business or job opportunity arises. “Hey I met a guy who would be good for that last month!” Networking discussions are plays in the career long-game not just the short game.
Networking is your key to learning about industries, learning about organizations and building more connections to further your research for the long-game. It is both a means to a means and a means to the end. Thus as you reach out to a new connection, request to have a conversation about an industry, an organization and /or an introduction with which to have further exploratory conversations.
Even after you have starting interviewing for a job opening don’t forget to network with others outside of the hiring department or who have left the company to find out more about the job, the department and the company culturally. This adds perspective for your decision-making which HR or hiring leader will not provide when selling you the job, and support you in making a good job match for yourself.
Two mandatory etiquette pieces about networking are reciprocity and appreciation. As you are asking for a conversation or introduction from your new contact, think about what you could provide to them. That might be advice, information, a source to find information or an introduction into your network. If you cannot think of something on the spot during the conversation be sure to follow up with a contribution shortly thereafter. Finally, do not to forget to thank them for their time in writing. Make your follow-up e-mail a personal message and relevant to your conversation.
No doubt for the urgent job hunter the idea that networking is not a quick search technique is disappointing. Nonetheless, your efforts in networking while you are job hunting now will both help you find the right role within the right organization in the short term and also become a new way of life for you in the career long-game.