4. Networking
‘Everything that happens in your career always starts with someone you know. You don’t need to surf the net. Your next big break will not come from some mysterious technology or discovery of new information. Your next break will come from someone you know.’
—Derek Sivers, founder and former president of CD Baby
So many people hate the thought of networking, and avoid it. Sometimes we need to challenge our fears, especially if, as in the case of networking, they involve an important part of our job search strategy. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but I do believe it is helpful to step a little way outside your comfort zone. It can help to reframe the situation – you are not trying to sell yourself but seeking to connect with others.
Networking is not about hassling people but about letting other people know what you are looking for. Often it’s about reconnecting with people you already know, or being put in touch with someone through a mutual acquaintance. It is very important to make it quite clear that what you are seeking is advice and ideas, and that you are not asking for a job.
In Mark Granovetter’s study Getting a Job: A Study of Contacts and Careers (University of Chicago Press, 1995), 56 per cent of people found jobs through personal contacts. Most of these jobs were found through weak ties: loose acquaintances rather than the strong ties of close friends.
The people we see on a regular basis are people with whom we share a lot in common – we have similar interests, and enjoy similar activities. When looking for new ideas it can be more helpful to get in touch with people with whom we have a more casual relationship. Through them we can be introduced to new people and they can take a different view on our situation.
Thinking of who to contact, we can choose family and close friends, people we have worked with, but also the weaker ties of people we know from school and university and those we have met through our local church, the tennis club, our neighbours and so on. Each of these people also has a network of people they know.
We can expand our network of people by talking to people outside our normal circle of friends, or through voluntary work. We can also get involved with a professional body, so for example if you are seeking a job in HR, join and attend local meetings of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Start by making a list of everyone you know. You could use categories such as family, friends, current work colleagues, clients and suppliers, previous bosses and colleagues, neighbours, people you know through clubs and organizations, friends from university and school, friends of your children or parents.
Now review your list. You can’t contact everyone on it, so prioritize your top ones.
Your top contacts are anyone who:
- Is knowledgeable about the industries in which you are interested and may have key contacts who can help you with advice or information (it can be really helpful to connect with someone at the same organizational level as you but who works in a different function, so they can refer you to a peer)
- Can tell you about real opportunities and refer you to someone who can arrange a meeting and read your CV
- May be unlikely to have immediate contacts, but may be a source of useful ideas.
Alongside talking with people you know, you can specifically seek out people who may be able to help you get the job you want. You can find people to contact through a number of methods, including:
- Attending professional meetings and conferences
- Working as a volunteer or serving on a committee
- Contacting alumni of your university.
Networking is not only done face to face – online can be very powerful. In particular, participating in discussions on LinkedIn can be very helpful (see Chapter 9).
Keeping track
It’s all too easy to lose track of the people you are in touch with, so use Excel or similar to set up a spreadsheet of the following:
- Name and title of person
- Name of assistant who answers the phone and any other useful numbers
- Who referred you
- Date of each phone call and/or meeting
- Topics discussed
- Personal insights
- Referrals, if any
- Follow up action required.
You are now ready to network.
Being specific about the help you want – the type of job, and type of organization that interests you – will make it easier for the other person to think of possible jobs. When you get in touch, remind people of your background and experience – even our friends may be unsure of the detail of our jobs.
The meeting – first contact
You can now choose the first ten people to get in touch with. Decide whether your initial contact will be by phone, email or letter. A phone call will work well with someone you know but with busy people, you may not be able to get through. Email is easy, but can easily be deleted; a letter is more likely to be opened. Always include a link to (or at least give the address of) your LinkedIn page. I suggest sending out a short letter, and following up with a phone call. That way, the person will be expecting your call and may have left a message with their assistant if unavailable.
When you phone or write, include a short review of what you have been doing. Say that you are seeking advice and suggestions to help with your job search. (Chapter 5, on fact-finding interviews, will provide details of how to do this.)
With emails, create a signature line so that all job emails can go out with your contact details automatically included at the end of each mailing.
If you choose to write, the letter below should provide a good start, ready for you to adapt to your situation.
Dear Charles,
I am taking the opportunity to write to you, as I would welcome some input regarding the next phase of my career.
Having developed my skills and experience as a marketing executive in the telecommunications industry, I am considering transferring my skills to the not-for-profit sector.
You know a lot about the charity sector and I should be glad of your advice and to hear about current conditions. I have enclosed my CV to bring you up to date with what I have been doing over the last few years and would appreciate meeting up with you soon.
I will phone you next week to find out when you are free.
Yours sincerely,
Kris Jameson
When you phone, the other person will probably think you are looking for a job, so you need to emphasize that you are in a research phase and are checking to be sure that your skills will be needed in, for example, the charity sector. You then ask for the meeting. A phone call could go something like this:
‘Hello, agreed Simon Jones suggested I call you – do you know Simon?’
‘Yes I do.’
‘Simon said that you would be a good person to talk with to help with my job search research. Did you get my letter?’
‘Yes, I did.’
‘Is now a good time to talk?’
‘Yes it’s fine.’
‘I’m doing research into [name the organization’s business, e.g. charity marketing] and my research suggested your organization has a strong reputation [or is a market leader]. Could you spare 20 minutes at the end of the day to answer some questions?’
‘What specifically would you like to find out?’
‘The challenges facing the sector and the types of charity that are likely to appreciate someone with my background in the telecommunications industry. An introduction to some charities would be brilliant. I’ve identified about six charities I’d like to approach, plus I have a list of questions.’
‘Why not email me your list so I can see who I know there and I’ll answer your questions by email.’
‘Thank you, I’ll get the list emailed over later today and could we then meet up in a couple of weeks?’
‘Yes, that’s fine.’
Then set up a meeting.
We can feel a little embarrassed at asking for help, but if someone were to phone you requesting ideas and advice, you are likely to want to help. Other people will want to help you too! Start with the people you know.
Schedule a face-to-face meeting
Make an appointment and perhaps meet them for a coffee close to their place of work. Some people can be hard to contact, but do persevere; relationships build much quicker when you can meet face to face. The second choice is to meet via Skype so you still have a visual connection.
Do keep to the time scheduled – a maximum of 20–30 minutes – and make it clear that you don’t expect a job offer. Make it clear you seek advice.
In the meeting you can summarize your own background, show them your CV and ask if you should make any changes. Outline your job search strategy, ask for comments on its viability within the sector and listen to their answer. They may be prepared to evaluate a target list of companies if you have one, or may know some senior people to whom they can provide an introduction.
As you talk you may like to find out:
- General advice about business opportunities
- Information about any possible leads or information in the area, or industries in which you are interested. Your contact may know, for instance, that a company is expanding or moving into the area, etc.
- Information about specific requirements
- Names, addresses and phone numbers of any contacts who can give further help along the lines of the above, and the best means for contacting them.
You could also ask someone who knows you well if you could include them as a referee or if they would write you an open letter of recommendation, or a recommendation on LinkedIn.
Effective communication
Listening shows your interest. You will learn useful facts about the present state of the industry and should be ready to move away from your prepared list of questions. If appropriate, you could ask if any consultancy work is needed. Whether paid or initially unpaid, this might lead to a permanent job, full- or part-time. At the end, ask for referrals. These could be for future fact-finding interviews or job leads.
People are more likely to help when we have rapport. You can demonstrate this through mirroring posture and voice tone. If you are in rapport you will probably find yourself leaning forward as they do, or notice that you both have your left hand cupping your chin. You mustn’t be seen to be mimicking but as you concentrate on developing a good relationship with someone, you may do this naturally.
People’s voice tone can be high or low, loud or soft; it really helps if you speak with a similar tone. If you have a very deep voice and you are speaking to someone with a much higher-pitched voice, you may want to make subtle adjustments to your voice tone.
Think about your body language and facial expression, your posture and gestures; again, they should be similar to those of the person you are talking with. And don’t forget eye contact – you must look at the other person.
You can adjust your language depending on how someone best perceives a situation. Some of us are visual: we remember images; other people are tonal and remember words; still others are kinaesthetic and remember a feeling.
You can find out which mode someone is most likely to use by asking a question and noticing which way they look. If they look up, they are remembering a picture: visual. If they look to the side, they are auditory, and if they are looking down, they are remembering a feeling. You can enhance your rapport with someone by using the right language to reinforce what you say.
Visual: ‘I see what you mean’, ‘I get the picture’, ‘My perspective on this’
Auditory: ‘That rings a bell’, ‘I hear you’, ‘That sounds like’
Kinaesthetic: ‘Can’t get a grip on’, ‘I feel’, ‘It boils down to’
Follow up
Always thank the person for their help. We all want to help others, and when we do, we want to know that we made a difference. It could be a phone call, an email, a postcard – anything that says ‘thank you for going out of your way to help me’. So send a timely thank you note. Don’t miss this opportunity to be in front of your contacts again.
Keep your contacts informed of your progress with the companies and people to whom you have been introduced. This will maintain their interest and keep you in their mind, so that they will continue to pass on useful names and/or information. As your networking progresses, you are moving into active job search (more on this in Chapter 12).
I recently worked with Henry. He has identified what he wants to do: to use his acting skills within a murder mystery company. He has found out details on different companies, identified their requirements (complete a form; send a CV by post, not email, etc.) and will follow up accordingly. He was then unsure what else to do. So we talked about where he can meet people who work in this area – through online forums and by arranging in-person meetings.
It’s unlikely that the people he meets are directly working in this area – it would be a bonus if they did – but they might know someone who does.
Henry won’t start by asking them this directly, but will show interest and get to know them. He will then ask the question. Probably the person doesn’t know anyone, but he won’t stop there!
He should have some business cards ready to hand out. These can be done very cheaply but some of the low-cost suppliers will print their own marketing details on the reverse, so you may want to opt for professionally printed cards. Henry can then end the conversation by asking them to get in touch if they think of anyone he could contact and handing over his card, getting their card or contact details in exchange. He can then follow up a few days later with something relevant to their needs, perhaps an article.
A networking plan
If you are unemployed you should be spending at least three to four hours a day in active job searching, and most of this should be meeting people or being active through online discussions. If, for example, you have seen a job advertised as a buyer with the ABC Company, seek to find someone who can give you the inside story on what is happening in the company – information that is only available to employees. You can also search on LinkedIn (see Chapter 9).
You can also find out the name of the HR manager and the head buyer, then Google their names to identify their interests and activities, so if the head buyer is going to be at an event, you can attend and thus bump into them in a less formal setting.
Sometimes we may not be sure what to say to new people. At a more formal networking event you could ask questions such as:
- I’ve only just joined, is there a good way to get more involved?
- Have you come across the speaker’s work before?
- He brought a book out last year, have you read it?
- This session is about social media, have you found it helpful with your career?
- What do you know about this topic?
- What do you do?
- What’s the biggest challenge that your organization is facing at the moment?
They will then ask you questions, so be ready with your pitch. Let them know the type of person or organization you want to meet and then follow up later to keep your ‘name in the frame’.
Social psychologists study impression management, a theory which states that the impressions people gain of us are congruent with the impression we want to convey. We can use this in our search for a new job. If we want to move into a new work area, we can increase our chances of success by demonstrating that we share the same values as the people currently working in that area. If you find that the managers working at the company you want to join all belong to a particular organization such as the Rotary Club, you could choose to join so as to meet them on a social basis. In discussion you could demonstrate similar views rather than challenge the group view on social topics such as government initiatives.
Other ways to network (networking for introverts)
Networking is quite a sociable activity; you are getting out there and meeting people. Not everyone finds this easy, and we may not want to put ourselves in this situation too often.
If you are more introverted by nature, not someone who gains their energy from being with other people, and find being with many new people a stressful experience, you may prefer to choose online networking through discussion forums and LinkedIn and getting yourself known through a personal blog or by writing an article.
There are many discussion groups out there but I would recommend starting with LinkedIn. With 500,000 groups, there must be many that are relevant to you. You can also find groups through Google and Yahoo. The groups you may like to join will vary immensely, so use a search facility for e.g. forums and marketing. When I did this, one of the links was to http://www.marketingmixers.com. The site says:
On these sites, you won’t want to go straight in and ask for a job. It’s more about increasing the people you know and being helpful. You need to get a feel for these sites before you comment (known as ‘lurking’), but do look for where you can add helpful comments, thus enhancing your reputation. Many sites will allow you to add a signature line where you can add some personal details of yourself, with your contact details clearly stated.