Job Search Networking for Introverts & Extroverts: There’s hope for all of us!
Introverts may think they cannot do networking. Yes, they can. And in a way that works for them.
Extroverts may not recognize just how many networking skills they have—and how to best leverage them.
Introverts: Your Unique Strengths
• You are sensitive to what’s happening around you and can pick up and relate to other people’s needs and feelings, resulting in others sensing you are empathetic.
• You come across as thoughtful and focused because you take the time to think before you speak. You are often able to quickly develop rapport and trust.
• You are skilled at sensing how to respond to people most effectively.
• You don’t always feel as though you need to be talking, making you are an excellent listener.
If you’re introverted:
• Realize that you have great information, and other people want and can use what you know.
• Give yourself permission to network in ways that make you comfortable. Remember that some of the most effective networking is done in a venue in which introverts shine – one-on-one.
Extroverts: Your Unique Strengths
• You are at ease with small talk and can easily engage others in conversation.
• You think things through by talking, so people know what’s going on with you.
• Because you ask easily for what you would like from the other person, you tend to get more of what you want.
• You are an excellent brainstorming partner because don’t force yourself to think things through before speaking.
If you’re extroverted:
• Because you are self-confident and can easily talk to people, be on the lookout for those times when you will want to ask other people a question. Find out what they want to talk about and get a sense of how they are feeling.
• Remember to switch gears beyond the social aspects where you clearly shine to take advantage of making connections and leveraging the job search networking possibilities.
Job Search Networking: Two Essentials—and Neither is Your Resume
The hidden job market really isn’t all that hidden.
It’s actually right in front of you, and all you need to do is network your way in. You’ll be surprised at how willing people are to assist. You can accelerate getting into the hidden job market when you are prepared for networking.
So if you’re going to a networking meeting—coffee with someone, an association meeting or conference where you will meet people who can hire you, an informational interview phone call—please have these things in place first.
First create your search strategy.
I’m amazed at how many people ask to talk to me about their job search without having defined who they want to meet, companies they would like to work in, etc.
I was talking to one job seeker and told her that I was really unfamiliar with her job function. But I might know people in her target companies so could perhaps help by introducing her. I asked if she had a list of companies where she wanted to work. What was her strategy?
Her response was that she was hoping she could just network and not have to create a strategy. When you have a strategy defined, you know exactly what to ask for. One way to guarantee they won’t be able to help you is to say, “Well if you hear of anything I might be interested in, let me know.”
Creating a strategy takes some time and perhaps some introspection and honesty. It’s time well spent.
The second essential is your career brand.
This is how you become memorable. By having your brand statement, you help people talk about you! You stand out and capture their attention.
Sadly and surprisingly, most job seekers today cannot tell a recruiter, hiring manager or networking connection what is compelling about them—what makes them the candidate to hire. In today’s economic climate, it may feel as though experience and skills are just commodities. What can put you in the lead, make you memorable to your networking contacts and irresistible to the hiring manager is all built around your brand.
If you are struggling to create your brand, please get my free report available on my blog.
It shows you how to have others help you uncover your brand–easier and you get some networking in at the same time! Please try it.
Job search networking: Why you must meet people outside your function!
It goes without saying that as a job seeker you must create a networking opportunities with those at the right level and in the right position to hire you. At the same time, you can significantly accelerate your search by networking with people who might not initially seem to fit that criteria.
Consider networking with people who are outside your function and at least one level above you.
Here are some of the advantages of this strategy:
- You will learn the language of a different function and how to translate all the great things you did and can do for a hiring company into terms that will resonate with senior management. The language of most executives is financial, yet it may not be easy to translate what you’ve done into financial terms. You may not have previously been able to identify the financial impact of things like improving employee satisfaction, developing new training programs, bringing projects in on time, etc., or even things like doing layoffs without any employee suing the company.
- You will get to hear some of the issues of a company from a senior perspective. You might not hear about these issues from people at lower levels. And best of all? You have information other job seekers don’t have!
- When you’re networking with these executives or interviewing with them, you’ll be able to explain how what you can do to help the company solve their issues. It’s a great way to position yourself as someone unique. I’ve seen these conversations lead to the creation of a position just for that person. It can happen.
These conversations are great ways to make connections and build relationships of credibility. These people will be more likely to open their network to you and introduce you to more great networking partners. You’ll be networking with the in-crowd!
You will have some great networking conversations while you’re learning how to translate what you do into a language that will make you stand out from other candidates.
This strategy pays off even if you are already working.
When I worked at the software development company, I didn’t know any better and spend a lot of time asking a lot of questions of the executives. Every time they had a new issue, I would propose some solutions. I got several promotions (and raises—remember raises?) to implement those solutions.
Expanding your networking strategy to include people you might not otherwise connect with and watch the number of opportunities that come to you expand as well.
Job Search networking like crazy and wondering why still no job leads?
When I first started networking in my first job search, I was disappointed when I realized that most people wouldn’t have great job leads for me. Even after I got specific about the kind of position I wanted and had a reasonably good career brand statement, it seemed that almost no one knew about any job leads I should follow up on.
I had thought the process was: you tell people about yourself, tell them what kind of job you wanted and bang! You’ll start hearing about all those jobs in the hidden job market. That was what the books said would happen!
I started to assume people just didn’t want to share leads with me. As I spent more time interviewing those people I had found who were so fabulously successful with networking, I realized that it wasn’t personal.
The reality is that when we are working in a company, we’re probably not aware of all the open positions even if it’s a small company or we’re in Human Resources. We may know of a few, but if they aren’t in our department or vicinity, we probably don’t pay much attention or have any way to hear about them. When I worked in large companies that communicated all their openings to their employees, I paid very little attention.
So often people simply don’t have a lot of leads to share, or may only have leads in their particular function such as accounting or IT help desk. Good for you if you’re looking for those kinds of jobs. Not so good if you’re a VP Finance.
So a Sales Manager is probably pretty tuned in to all the sales openings, but probably not as aware of opportunities in finance or marketing.
The solution: network for the connections, not just job leads. Unless I was talking to someone in my exact field, I would ask for introductions to specific people I wanted to meet. This is an important strategy for networking online as well as offline. Don’t just ask for job leads; ask for connections. Ask for information about the company and for names of other people you should be talking to.
By following those introductions and then asking them for other people to whom I could talk, my job opportunities arose. And it’s how I got my last four jobs by networking my way into the hidden job market.
Job search networking: They never got back to me!
It can be difficult to know what to do when people who offer some kind of help for your job search and then don’t follow through.
I’ve found that if people offer to help you, they almost always intend to do it. And then there is that big thing that can get in the way of those good intentions–life.
When people offer to do something, be sure to thank them. Then ask some questions so you know what they really intend to do. This also gets them to start thinking about really doing it. Often I’ve found that people say they will follow up with a colleague to introduce you but don’t really think about what or when specifically they will do it. So they just honestly forget.
And of course sometimes these offers are a lot like those promises to “call you for lunch—really soon.” So get specific to find out if this is a real offer or just an air kiss.
A few easy questions will help. Maybe questions like “are you sure you have time to do that?” or “I’ll want to follow up with them right after you’ve contacted them. Will you let me know when you’ve connected with them? Or do you recommend I just plan to call them on Wednesday? Should I call you later this week to follow up?” You get the idea.
Many times (most times, actually) I’ve seen job seekers say something like “OK, thanks.” It’s almost as though the job seeker is afraid if they keep talking the person will change their mind. Or they are thinking “OK, got one. Now need to move on to someone else to talk to.”
You just need to ask some questions to make this work for you. You might feel that asking for specifics is being pushy or might sound ungrateful. As long as you don’t grill them under hot lights, I have found that some follow up questions from you makes the other person feel you are excited about what they have promised to do.
When you just say “thank you” and then just change the subject or move on to the next person at the meeting, it might give the person an impression that their offer wasn’t all that attractive to you.
Think of it like getting a present. When you just say thank you and that’s all, I might think you aren’t all that crazy about the sweater I knit for you. When you try it on, ask me how I fit the sleeves so well, I feel you really like what I’ve done. Help me feel you like the idea I’m going to do something that will help your job search.
If these questions about the specifics don’t you get specifics in return, I would assume the other person is making an offer they aren’t going to follow through on, and just lower my expectations. Then if they actually do follow through, it’s like an extra present. One that really fits.
A Backward Secret to Job Search Networking Into The Hidden Job Market
Job seekers often tell me “I’m worried if I am too specific when I’m asking for assistance, I’ll miss out on hearing about all available opportunities.”
I can certainly relate to people who are concerned that if they are too specific when they ask for assistance in their job search, they will miss out on hearing about other things that might be of interest to them. They tell me, “if I’m vague, then people will just tell me about a lot of things. If I’m specific, they will just tell me about that specific thing.”
Interestingly, a specific request actually just opens the door to so much more. It’s as if you need that specific request to get people thinking about you. Then they may be able to introduce you to the exact person you want to meet or tell you about the exact job you want, though that’s not always the result. If they don’t have that information, however, because you were specific they are able to think of other things that you might be interested in hearing about.
For example, one job seeker usually asked people to let her know if they heard of any recruiting manager positions she might be interested in. She’s a fabulous recruiter, but that request wasn’t getting her any leads to openings or other people to network with. We worked on creating a job search networking strategy wherein she listed the industries she wanted to explore.
Then she started telling people what industries and even the specific companies where she wanted to meet people. All of a sudden she was getting introduced to the right people! It’s as if that specific request just primed the pump to get them thinking. A vague request doesn’t seem to have that impact. And the worst request of all is “let me know if you hear about something…..”
Think about how you might respond to these requests. The first request is “let me know if you hear about something that might be a fit for me.” That request usually gets you a polite “you bet.” But it just won’t get you much more. Even worse, it makes you sound like nearly every other job seeker. What’s the benefit of that?
The second request is “I’ve targeted company XYA as a place I would love to work. Who do you know who works there?” This request can get you a variety of answers, all of them likely to be more useful than “you bet.”
Perhaps the person does know someone there, and would introduce you. Perhaps they know someone at a competitor to company XYA. Or maybe they know of an opportunity at a similar company.
Because you were specific, you made it easier for them to start thinking about specifics for you. Just try it and see what happens.
Launch your job search networking into the hidden job market with this song (even if you can’t sing)
You may find it easier to develop an overall strategy after using this list that lets you get started right now. A body in motion tends to stay in motion—it’s a beautiful thing.
I originally drafted this to be sung to the 12 days of Xmas (with apologies to…well, just about everyone). The good news it works for any other holiday of your choice.
So here we go. Sing along…
12 days of (insert holiday here) networking for job seekers
On the first day of networking I decided to: Make 1 call to someone who never heard of me
Job Search Networking: Are You Making these 10 Mistakes?
I will admit it took me a long time to really get this. I couldn’t understand why networking felt so weird to me—at least when I did what the experts and career coaches told me to do. I finally realized that it felt like something was missing from all the techniques I read about.
Turns out that what is missing is the concept of relationship. Networking, at least the way I initially learned it, was all about me and asking for help in my search. If we don’t focus on relationship first, most of networking then just becomes about our agenda—usually to find a job or at least a link to a job lead.
We don’t always take time to get to know someone a bit. We are pretty focused on what is causing us pain—trying to find a job. If you’re sensing or worrying that people are feeling used, you may be right.
I learned it is easier and more comfortable for people to assist you when it’s done in the context of a relationship. Think about how you feel when someone you barely know just wants you to do something for them. It just as true in networking as it is in the rest of life: when people know you care about them, they can care about you.
Here are 10 mistakes you may not realize you’re making. I know because I’ve made them all. Hopefully this list will help you avoid them.
- Forget it’s about the relationship first.
- Don’t ask how you can help the other person.
- Be vague about what you want from the other person—which means they have to figure it out for you.
- Don’t bother to follow up on leads you are given or names of people they suggested you contact.
- Not taking time to connect other people to each other for their mutual benefit.
- Launching into a discussion about what you want without asking: “is now is a good time?”
- Not staying in touch with people you want to have a relationship with.
- Don’t get back to people to let them know the results of doing what they suggested.
- Not going out of your way every so often to let them know they still matter to you.
- Not staying connected with people until you need them again.
- Not having statements (brief!) to succinctly explain what is unique about you so they a) remember you and b) have something interesting to tell other people about you.
Job Search Networking: Let’s Celebrate those Lemons
Before you go networking, asking for connections to hiring managers, and even interviewing, do this critical and worth-the-effort step. It will make you a stand-out candidate. How cool would that be?
A critical action in developing your job search stategy is to be honest about what might not be quite what the hiring manager is looking for–the lemons. If you can turn what might be considered a job search liability into an asset, you’ll get much further in your job search networking and interviewing. Here’s how you “line up the lemons” so even those things that other people would consider liabilities can be converted into assets.
We all have them–maybe not enough years of experience. Or we want to think about a new kind of career or industry. Maybe you’ve been in several industries rather than focusing in just one. Or maybe you’ve had several job changes in the last few years. Or maybe you’ve had one job for the last 15 years.
It’s critical to develop a clear compelling statement that explains how whatever it is on your resume that could be considered a lemon is actually an advantage to the company who hires you. As a recruiter and frequent (!) job seeker, I know that if you don’t do this, the other person won’t be able to do it either. And it’s just that much easier to take a pass on you as a candidate. Harsh, I know, but probably true most of the time.
Let me give you an example. When I was interviewing for the Director of Recruiting for Deloitte & Touche, I had only about six months of recruiting experience. My previous experience was in software marketing. I learned from the recruiter that everyone else who interviewed had 10+ years of recruiting experience.
I had been recommended to her through networking, so she was willing to take a chance by presenting me. Plus she and I had developed a really nice relationship during the course of her interviewing me. (More later on how to create relationships with recruiters that put you at the head of the line.)
So I knew my own “lemon” was my huge lack of experience as a recruiter. I needed to make sure the Hiring Manager saw that lack of experience as a real asset to him.
During the interview I asked him to share his vision for the group and how he had been so successful so quickly. It was an amazing thing he had accomplished, and his enthusiasm for going even further was clear.
Also clear to me was that he needed creative recruiting strategies that went beyond same-old-same-old if he was going to recruit the large number of people he needed to be successful.
So that’s exactly what I told him. I said that if he hired someone with several years of experience, they would do what they had already learned how to do. That would be, in my estimation, the kiss of death for his vision.
With my marketing background and no perceived notions of what could or could not be accomplished in recruiting (because after all I had almost no experience!), I would be strategic and creative. That would be what he would need.
Happy ending: he agreed!
So this isn’t about calling anything about you a liability. It’s about being strategic when you prepare. If there is something in the list of requirements you’re missing, figure out what you have instead that more than makes up for that missing piece. Or, as I did above, explain why the fact you DON’T have that part of the requirements could be a benefit to the hiring manager.
In working with great executives in transition, I’ve found they are often quick to point out where they may have a liability in terms of getting the job. The next step can be more difficult.
Translating that to an asset that GETS you the job is the next step. it’s really in your best interest for you to do that translation. If you don’t, the hiring manager and/recruiter either won’t do it or will do it in a way that doesn’t help you as a candidate.
Also in my experience very few candidates have taken the time to do this “positioning” of themselves as a candidate. If you do, you will really differentiate yourself from the crowd.
P.S. Sign up for the free report in the column on the right to get started on developing a standout brand statement. Become the candidate they cannot resist!
Hidden job market networking: Do you need to hire the millionaire matchmaker?
The millionaire matchmaker helps people who are successful in every area of their lives but one—meeting the right person. In a similar style if not quite the same purpose, you could hire someone to introduce you to the “right people” for your job search.
When you’re in job search, it can be confusing about which services to use. It drives me crazy for anyone to say they know THE way to find a job. There are many ways to make that connection that leads you straight to a great job. How do you choose?
What worked for me when trying to decide what to do while in job search, and what I always encourage my clients to do, is decide what makes sense to you. I violated a lot of the “rules” in job search and still ended up with fabulous jobs I found through the hidden job market.
So I’m just going to share some thoughts on using the introduction services some consultants offer. I hope this will help you decide what’s right for you. My only goal is to help you decide; I don’t have a bias for or against these kinds of services.
I often think things through by asking myself questions. Weird I know, but it seems to work for me. So here are the questions I would ask if I were wondering about whether contracting with someone (and paying them) for introductions made sense for me.
1. Who does this person know that I cannot or should not call on my own?
2. What leads me to believe the people I would like to meet would not want to hear from me directly?
3. What does this person say that will get the person I want to meet to agree that I cannot or should not say?
4. Am I going to be introduced to people I really want to meet or people who happen to be on a list.
5. What about people I want to meet who aren’t on this person’s list of known contacts? How do I get to meet them?
6. Am I buying this service to avoid: a) deciding who specifically I want to meet and/or b) having to pick up the phone myself? Or am I buying this service because I believe it will expedite my job search?
7. If I were on the receiving end of the introduction, would I feel honored to be asked or would I be confused about why the person didn’t call me themselves?
8. What specifically are the people to whom I will be introduced going to be told about me? Asked to do?
9. What message do I send to the person on the receiving end about me? Does using this service say I’m willing to delegate important things to those who may be “experts? Does it say I don’t dare make contact myself?
10. If I were on the receiving end, would I be more or less eager to talk to someone who called me themselves without a go-between?
11. Does having someone else contact these people make them feel honored or a little insulted that I didn’t make the contact directly? What is the message: that I really cared about doing this the right way or that I couldn’t take the time to do it myself.
If you ask yourself some good questions, you will know what to do.
Let me know how it goes?
