August 7, 2012
Unfocused networking: the hidden job-search killer
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NWjobs
It's one of the most ironic twists of the networking scene these days: While so many people (employed and unemployed alike) seem perfectly willing to lend advice, assistance and support to their fellow human beings, few job seekers go about asking for help in a specific, actionable way.
While there a few bad apples out there, I'm blown away each day by the generosity and compassion most Seattleites have in their hearts -- and how eager they seem to be to provide a leg up to those around them. (I'm serious about this.)
The problem? In the very same breath, these people tell me that most of the job hunters they encounter don't seem to really know what they want or need help with. Instead, the common complaint is that most ask for assistance in such a generalized way ("Do you know about any leads or openings in my field?") that it's impossible to provide anything but a generalized, next-to-useless response ("Gee, not off the top of my head, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open for you!")
One highly connected good Samaritan I know says that over the past few years, he's received dozens of requests each week from people seeking access to his Rolodex or to pick his brain over coffee or lunch. While he tries to help as much as he can, he has only so much time in the day and has to earn his OWN living. So he hasn't been able to keep up with the sheer number of networking requests he receives, despite the fact that he sincerely wants to be a resource to those around him.
He finally figured out an effective way to tackle this problem. When people now call him for assistance and invite him out to a meal or coffee, he responds by saying, "Gosh, I'd love to, but I'm really tied up for the next month or two and might not be able to break away. I happen to have five minutes right now, however. What can I help you with?"
The punch line? He says that 95 percent of the people who contact him can't answer this question in a meaningful way. They hem. They haw. They respond with ambiguous statements ("Well, shucks, I don't know. Can you maybe think of anybody I should talk with about potential opportunities?"). And while he always tries his best to share something useful, he says that in hindsight, he's usually glad he didn't spend a full hour or two with the person, working through a painfully half-baked agenda.
If this sounds in any way like the strategy you're following, I'd suggest that you retool your approach. Before reaching out to anybody to network, think hard about the concrete and specific things the people you're contacting might be in a unique position to assist you with. What insights can they share that someone else likely can't? What subjective information can they provide you with that you can't harvest off the Internet? What specific answers, wisdom or guidance does their background put them in an ideal position to share?
For example, if you're speaking with somebody who has done a lot of hiring, you might ask him or her to give you constructive feedback on your resume, cover letters, career direction or interviewing skills. If the person works in an industry you're trying to break into, you could ask for some insights into this new sector, the current trends/challenges it might be facing, and the groups around town that it might be most beneficial for you to join. These are all much more targeted and appropriate requests than what the majority of job hunters seem to be running with these days.
Alternatively, if your No. 1 networking goal involves trying to generate referrals, don't put the burden of proof on your networking partners or ask them to just pull some company names at random out of a hat. Instead, provide them with a list of specific companies you've researched and determined are of interest to you -- then ask if they have heard any scuttlebutt about these organizations or have any contacts who might be able to help you get a foot in the door.
You get the idea. The clearer you are about what you want from people, and about the information you need to move forward in your career, the better the odds that you'll walk away from each networking encounter with useful referrals and next steps.
Matt Youngquist is the president and founder of Career Horizons, a career counseling and corporate outplacement firm. Email him at myoungquist@nwjobs.com.
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Let me try that again. I've started a discussion on LinkedIn Seattle to challenge everyone who has a job to help just one person find a job. No success yet but lots of people are trying to help, even the ones who are looking who hear about a job they aren't qualified for - they're posting them.
The one thing I've noticed is people give a two line 'this is what I want' or 'connect with me and then get me a job'. Not a lot of thought, terrible resumes, no focus on specific employers. I shake my head in wonder. Then there were a couple of recent MBA grads who thought they were Senior- level people with little or no relevant work experience. Clearly out of touch with reality.
Anyway, thanks for the great advice even if some people don't get it!
Robin: Thanks for your comment and for launching what sounds a very compassionate attempt to get people "helping others" to a higher level out in the employment market! And you're right, as I continually point out, many people don't take the job search process as seriously as they should or show a ton of interest in improving their skills in this critical area. But for those who ARE seeking to get better at selling themselves and networking, efforts like yours are invaluable. Keep up the good work! :)
Here's the article I'd like to see:
What do to when your networking efforts results in lots of people saying "I'd love to hire you if I only had the money." Please include a rationale as to how networking increases DEMAND, magically produces the funds to hire you, or convinces a business on the margins financially to take more risk than it would like to.
ALP: When that happens (and it does a lot in an economy like this one) you take the news in stride, accept the fact that it's still a positive response to your credentials, and move on to the next person. That's all you can do, since neither you, me, nor anybody else has the power to wave a magic wand and create a massive upsurge in employment demand. So you're correct. You won't be seeing an article to that effect in the near future about how networking somehow increases the "demand" side of the equation. But consistent and effective networking, following the suggestions in my article, will definitely increase your odds of stumbling across the pockets of demand that still DO exist out there, without question.
Great article, thanks for writing it. I've been to many, many face-to-face networking events that seem unfocused, unspecific and over-generalized. These events just decay into socialization and drinking after an hour.
It seems that the more you know about your target audience, the more specific you can be in your networking efforts. For example, i teach Microsoft Powerpoint and many of my students come from a sales and marketing background. Yet, targeted and specific networking efforts can still feel very random. For example, let's say I go to a networking event and meet a lawyer, a plumber, and a chiropractor. Would any of these people be in a unique position to offer advice on the world of sales, marketing, microsoft, or training? My guess is, no. I can hear you saying, "well, then find people in sales and marketing to network with". Great idea. Where are these people? Again, you have to network to find these people and again, you have to start by asking the lawyer, plumber, and chiropractor if they know of anyone in sales and marketing. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. Suddenly, your very specific and concrete requests feel very random and what's worse, are likely to generate that unhelpful response of, "Gee, not off the top of my head, but I'll keep my eyes and ears open for you!". So, if specific networking efforts can be just as random as unspecific efforts...what are we getting specific about, again?
Nick: Thanks for chiming in -- and yes, just going to random networking events and hoping to "get lucky" can certainly produce results, intermittently -- but it sounds like you need to figure out what kinds of people you most need to meet (e.g. sales and marketing) and figure out where THESE kinds of people hang out in a large numbers. Or target them individually, using a site like LinkedIn or another social media tool. If you're looking for a larger gathering of people in any given field, however, the best tool at least in Seattle is www.iloveseattle.org -- which indexes hundreds and hundreds of groups/organization by their industry and professional focus. See if that helps at all! Should be plenty of sales and marketing organizations mentioned in there, as possibilities...