Building Your Network For Future Job Prospects
By Jeff Bonnin
The majority of us will switch jobs or be looking for employment at one point or another in our careers – probably multiple times for most. Most of us have also heard that a significant number of opportunities don’t get listed or advertised, and that even for the positions that are made public, companies frequently list referrals as one of their top sources of quality candidates.
So how do you put yourself in a position to have access to these unadvertised opportunities? Ideally so you can have the inside track and possibly even a personal referral to the Hiring Manager? To give yourself that edge in the future, it’s important to start building and expanding your personal network of contacts now – contacts that will be able to make you aware of these not-so-public opportunities, and even put a good word in for you.
Building a Network Takes Time
One of the challenges of building a network that can be of value in a job search is that it takes time, which is why it’s important to start building yours now. It’s relatively easy to talk to lots of people, and amass a rolodex full of business cards - it’s much more difficult to create meaningful connections that will last and that can potentially be of value – and it takes more work still to maintain those connections over time.
Networking can really be likened to the old quality vs. quantity debate. Are you after having the biggest network, or are you actually looking to build a network of legitimate contacts that you can call on and use in your future job searches? To build legitimate relationships, it’s important to connect with whoever you’re speaking with. Often this takes more time than simply saying hello, shaking hands and asking what someone does. Connecting with another person is all about finding that common bond you share.
Oddly enough, many times that connection with another person occurs not because of a shared professional or work commonality, but over something personal – a common interest or activity you enjoy, both knowing a certain person, being from the same area, or even similarities with family or children. There are an almost infinite number of things that two people can connect on – the trick is to find whatever it is so that connection can be forged. That is why it’s important to really engage a person in conversation and find out as much about them as you can until you find ‘that thing’.
Give Before You Get
Building a network is one thing – building a network that will want to help you and think of you when job opportunities arise is entirely different. The mistake many people make with networking is they approach it with the attitude “who can I meet that can help me?”. The problem with this approach is that others can spot a person with self-serving intentions quite easily.
So how do you create that ‘want’? By providing value to others first. By looking to help others before you receive back, you build social capital for yourself – you position yourself as a person of value to others. If people view you as a valuable contact, then they’ll want to help you back and do their part to contribute to the relationship.
So how can you help? Helping or providing value can come in a variety of ways. Many of us think we don’t have much of value that we can provide to others which is entirely untrue. Often times we don’t realize we can help others until we actually start talking with people. Ideally, helping someone else means passing along job opportunities that you think are relevant or could be of interest to them. Even if they’re not interested or in a position to act on your offer, they’ll remember that you tried to help and be inclined to do the same for you when they come across opportunities they think might be a fit for you.
Giving can also be as simple as providing them with a contact of yours that could be of assistance to them. It could also be giving them a piece of information that is of value, offering feedback when they’re looking for an opinion, or basically anything else that the other person sees value in.
Relationships Require Proper Maintenance
Maintaining the relationships with the people in your network is one of the most important parts in having a network that can work for you. If you don’t work at maintaining your various relationships, over time they start to fade away and the connection dies off – and all that initial effort is for not.
The value in a network full of dwindled connections will be far less than that of one where you’ve made an effort to keep up with people and maintain regular contact. The effect of this will be most apparent when you reach out to your network in a time of need like a job search. People are usually more than happy to help others, but at the same time people don’t like to feel used or that you only come to them when you need something.
Maintaining relationships doesn’t have to be a time-consuming activity. To those you have less frequent contact with, dropping a quick email to say hello every six months can do wonders in keeping that connection alive. It shows you’re thinking of them when there’s no hidden motivation or specific reward to do so. Send happy birthday emails to your network or make note of specific dates of interest to them and remember them. Even passing along relevant news items – their company being mentioned in the press for instance, can go a long way in differentiating yourself and standing out from the rest of their network.
Do Unto Others...
The reason networking is so valuable is that people generally reach out and help people they know before they help total strangers. The other important point to remember is that people have to want to help you. If you haven’t created that desire in your network for them to want to help you, then it doesn’t really matter how many contacts you claim to have.
Develop and nurture your network properly, and it can be one of your most valuable sources of leads in a job search. Remember to reciprocate and do for those in your network as you’d hope to have done for you, and the next time you find yourself looking for a new job, you’ll probably also find you have access to many more opportunities.
-
As a Director of Recruiting, Jeff Bonnin works in partnership with some of the brightest minds in the technology industry.
[Full bio]
|
IQ
Insight is published by IQ
PARTNERS Inc.
IQ
PARTNERS helps intelligent companies hire better,
hire less and retain more. Our services include
Executive Search & Recruitment, Qualification
& Assessment, Employee Retention, Career
Management and Contract HR Services. We specialize
in Marketing, Communications, Online, Media, CPG, Sales, Technology,
Legal and Financial Services, and operate at
the mid-to-senior management level. IQ PARTNERS' head office is in Toronto with partner offices across Canada, and internationally
via the Aravati
Global Search Network.
|
