Optimizing Connections for Maximum ResultsBy Debra FeldmanAre you changing jobs this year? Whether you are entering the job market by choice or have been forced to look for work, be prepared for an intense, volatile journey. The executive job market is not like you remember. It’s unpredictable. Among employers, there’s a very high degree of selectivity and extreme caution. Recruiting proceeds at an unusually slow pace from both parties’ perspectives. It’s discouraging for candidates and frustrating for employers, too.
If you thought a few confidential calls to eager headhunters, several strategically placed online profiles, and a finely–tuned resume would book your calendar with interview appointments – today’s reality is going to be disappointing. Job hunting has literally become a contact sport. Be prepared for some rough and tumble times and come with the mindset that you may be in this for a while until you land a good offer.
The Advantage of Employee ReferralsTo overcome their innate resistance to external candidates, nowadays employers are especially keen on employee referrals. According to CareerXroads, a recruiting consultancy, these are becoming a proportionately bigger source of hires. Historically, between 70% and 80% of new hires are based on a personal connection or a networking referral. This means that job seekers across all industries and functional disciplines should allocate their time and resources to promote existing connections and establish new relationships. This includes relationships with current and former employees not just where they have worked, but where they want to work. Such inside relationships are proving to be a competitive advantage in today’s environment.
This recommended proactive networking strategy puts prospective candidates in touch with appropriate inside leads before positions are advertised to outsiders. This offers a distinct advantage in the modern world of mass resume submissions and voluminous applications for each available opening.
Personal connections are clearly good to have for a variety of reasons. Active contacts enable candidates to monitor the recruiting process more closely through internal channels. Having an association with a current employee increases the level of shared trust and mutual commitment to hiring managers. Often hiring managers are seeking a new employee with a genuine interest for joining the team and meeting the company’s needs, beyond the attached salary and relevant perks.
Network PurposefullyAs you would embark on any high stakes project, allocate your resources to produce optimal results. For a job search, that’s networking. A smoother, swifter landing is most likely to come from dedicated efforts put towards establishing relationships. Strategically choose individuals who have access to unadvertised job leads. As you build them, your networks will become “career insurance.” Plus there are other benefits if you Network Purposefully™ : intellectual stimulation, service to others, and achieving interim job search project milestones (e.g., completing 20 telephone calls daily, scheduling five face to face meetings weekly, etc.).
To simplify your project and get things moving forward, approach your campaign as a gap analysis. Assess where you are today and where you want to be and implement activities moving across that space. Here’s how to begin.
1. Where would you like to work? Describe the geographic location, corporate culture, industry sector, company size, ownership type, competitive ranking, etc. Specify employers that match these selection criteria. Don’t know what you want yet? Then ask yourself what you don’t want and work in reverse until you have a picture that makes sense. Focus on specific employers or divisions as your job search goals.
2. How has each of your target companies been affected by industry challenges, and how have they responded? Rank their performance and their desirability as a prospective employer. Allocate your efforts accordingly. Start tracking current events so you can speak intelligently about your field. Assess each of your target companies and describe why you are interested in working there. Why are they a good fit? Are there any potential deal breakers?
3. Identify your distinguishing skills and talents. Illustrate experiences that persuasively demonstrate your qualifications to confront challenges, lead others through them, and find solutions. Summarize success stories that unequivocally illustrate your outstanding abilities. Quantify outcomes. Why should an employer be attracted to you? What do you offer that’s desirable and unique? What differentiates you from others with similar credentials? Anticipate pushback. Prepare to erase all doubts, promote your credibility, and engender a high degree of trust.
4. Find current or former employees of each target company and connect with these insiders. Mine your personal network for people with a connection to your target employer’s decision makers. Do this even before reaching to their HR team. Emphasize your desire to gather information or have a one–on–one “industry talk.” Never say that you are looking for position openings or need help getting a new job. No openings now? No problem, request referrals to more decision makers with contacts at additional business units. Collect more ideas and make more connections that will keep your campaign moving forward. You’ll have to generate leads exponentially until one of them evolves into an accepted job offer.
5. Continue networking forever. Concentrate on relationships not transactions. If you don’t want to repeat this job search process from scratch ever again, personal relationships are essential. If you keep in touch with well–connected, well–placed individuals on a regular basis, you will naturally become aware of potential future opportunities through your interactions and exchanges. You will be invited to join a new venture and offer your expertise rather than having to go fish into unknown territory. Save yourself angst, money and time by maintaining a vibrant network and continually building your connections. Especially offering to help others often before being asked. Generosity pays. What goes around comes back.
Your objective is to connect directly to hiring decision makers at your target companies through personal referrals. Work with these insiders to secure multiple leads to unadvertised opportunities. Through meaningful interactions, show hiring decision makers that you are their go–to expert. Be enthusiastic about working together on their challenges. If you develop a vibrant, interactive network, contacts will come to you looking for solutions saving you time while achieving your goal. This puts you in the driver’s seat for negotiating more favorable terms of engagement and further increases your desirability beyond your obvious credentials.
Debra Feldman is the JobWhiz™, a nationally–recognized expert who designs and personally implements swift, strategic, and customized senior level executive job search campaigns. Her gift for cold calling, executed with high energy and savvy panache, connects candidates directly to decision makers, not HR. Network Purposefully™ with the JobWhiz, and compress your job search into mere weeks, using groundbreaking techniques profiled in Forbes magazine.
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