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For a moment, put yourself in the company's shoes. Who would you rather
hire, a complete stranger who you know nothing about, or someone that
somebody told you was a qualified candidate? When you put it in that
context, it helps to explain why we say that most jobs are filled
through networking.
Now you say, "Well fine, but I don't know that many people!".
We told you it would be work. The key is figuring out how to extend your
networking beyond the simple list of people that you currently know.
Networking is the process of finding extensions to the people you know.
The formula is pretty simple, you've got to ask people for help. That's
right, it starts with realizing that in order to build on your network,
you have to ask people if they know someone at the company you are
pursuing.
It is an amazing fact that most people will respond very favorably when
you ask for help. That is probably because they too have recently been
in your shoes. They made a promise to themselves that "from now on,
I'm going to be more sensitive to people when they need my help".
So, remember that the first rule in networking is to ask everyone that
you talk to for help. Don't hesitate! Just do it! One last thought on
this, it's an even better idea to plan ahead a little when talking to
people. Try to have a specific question in mind, so that you can ask a
question that will help get the conversation started. (example:
"Say do you know anyone at Home Depot's corporate office?" It
helps break the ice and gets a conversation started. By the way, it's a
whole lot better than, "Hey do you know anybody that you can
introduce me to?" (very lame!)
Here are a few suggestions on networking that should provide some help :
If you are actively looking for a job,
set a goal of making 20 networking calls per day, 5 days per week.
That's 100 calls per week. You should only call back every third or
fourth week, so that will mean you will have talked to over 300
different people per month. A nice goal.
Identify the companies that you want
to go after first. These may be based on geography, type of retailing,
or current company performance. Whatever your criteria, put together a
list of all the companies that you would like to work at. Hopefully,
this is more than a couple of dozen.
Recruiters should be part of your
networking. We are convinced that you ought to be using 10 to 12 search
firms to help. The reason is that although we hate to admit it,
individual recruiters don't cover that many companies. If there are 200
retail companies in the U.S., it would take 10 search firms if every one
had 20 client companies and there was no duplication.
One suggestion here, don't tell us (Recruiters) that you are working
with other firms, it makes us feel like you're cheating on us, and you
know what that does for a relationship! One last thought, don't expect a
lot of warm fuzzies from most search firms. They only care about you
when they are trying to place you. Typically, you won't get a lot of
feedback until they have an opening that you are a good candidate for.
Believe me when they have something, they will knock down walls to get
you placed. After all, that's how we get paid!
If
you want some more help on working with Search
Companies take a look at this link.
Use the phone to make an introduction.
Rather than sending your resume directly to a company, take a moment and
make a phone call to the appropriate people. Introduce yourself and make
a personal conversation out of it. Hopefully, you've done your
networking homework and can actually drop a few names of people that the
person you are talking to recognizes.
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