Determining who to network with

“Strategic Networking” step 1 - Determining who to network with

Do Not Filter! No one should be filtered out of your list! There is certainly a priority of who to engage sooner and who later but remember:

“It is not who you know, it is who they know”

Personal connections lead to profitable results more frequently because your personal connections, by nature of your friendship, are motivated to help you and they typically are much less guarded.

Who do you know?

Asses your connections and place them in buckets: Work peers, Work subordinates, Work superiors, people who work in HR, Recruiting, or the Employment fields, Relatives, Neighbors, community contacts (Religious affiliations, Children’s friends parents, Politics, Charity),Local friends, School friends, Friends living far away, People with whom you spend your money (professionals, service providers). Do not stop until you have a list with at least 40 people on it (140 is preferable).

Prioritize

Your Time is your only limited-resource. After you have met with those people you are most referable with and have refined your scripting (practiced it), it is time to prioritize your contacts.

o First reach out to those who you know are in a position to actually hire you or who can introduce you to a hiring manager.

o Second, those that you know have a contact, which you would benefit from being introduced to. (This may require doing some research and using tools like social media and membership lists.)

o Thirdly, set up meetings with people who work in a human resource department and those who are in the employment field?

o Fourth, all former superiors and work peers.

o Lastly, reach out to everyone else that you respect regardless of their employment status or profession.

It is paramount to asses every new connection that you make during this journey and decide where they should be placed in your prioritized list. Although your goal is to find connections that warrant being placed at the top of the “next to call” list, some will belong in the middle. Every new connection you earn must be contacted directly, within two business days.

This is in respect of the person that shared their contact with you and a down-payment on the “thank you” that you owe them.

Remember: make your next-opp your best-opp.

www.next-opp.com

Strategic networking is the most effective path to a getting a great job.

Effective Job Search Networking is Strategic. We at Executive Professional Marketing LLC only use the term “Strategic Networking” when discussing the art of relationship leveraging. The strategy we embrace is comprised of a few core objectives:

1) Determine who to network with

2) Establish the basis of the relationship

3) Find a need they have that you can help with

4) Tell them your plan for finding a job

5) Ask them for something specific that they can take action on, today

6) Show sincere appreciation and gratitude

7) Keep them informed of their contribution to your search

“It is not who you know, it is

who they know.”

“It is an active strategy, not

passive.”

Every successful business starts with a detailed business plan, your search should be treated the same. Take the time to develop a complete plan before you start, or stop, assess your strategy, and re-start effectively.

Remember: make your next-opp your best-opp.

www.next-opp.com

Decoding: “I’ll keep you in mind!”

When you are networking, have you heard “I’ll keep you in mind” or “Send me a copy of your resume”, from a friend or former college?

The good news is that actually means I WOULD LIKE TO HELP YOU IF I ONLY KNEW HOW. The Bad news is that not only do they not know how, but in a few short days, they will no longer have you in mind and the resume you sent will be filed away ( with all the other non-actionable things they get sent to them)

To make matters worse, this “not working” approach to networking gets repeated and repeated until your network stops taking your calls out of frustration of not knowing how to help.

If Networking is not working, you are doing it wrong! Albert Einstein’s definition of Insanity is:

“Continuing to do the same thing and actually expecting a different outcome”. Are you Insane?

Ask yourself, what can my “network” do for me today? “What can I do for my network?” After you have GREAT answers, develop concise scripting and start offering and asking. If you are not sure what you can offer or what to ask you may need the help of a professional like me or my colleges at Executive Professional Marketing. Or sit tight for future posts.

Remember, Networking done correctly is like performing and you are much better off “practicing” in front of a friendly audience while you master your new art. Your closest relationships already have a solid and positive opinion of you; they will not be adversely affected, should you fumble with your presentation.

As soon as you start offering and asking, you are strategically networking!

Remember: make your next-opp your best-opp.

www.next-opp.com

Is your networking NOT working?

Most job seekers believe networking means calling old friends and colleagues to say: “Hey, I’m unemployed and life stinks.” And then they WAIT for whoever is listening to offer up a job lead.

Is it really any wonder why “networking” is not working for those job seekers?

Networking is an art. Done correctly, it is a planned performance that inspires an audience to take action – for you!

Like acting or performing music, effective networking requires the same methodology to produce a great outcome. You have to learn how to do it. You have to practice it, repeatedly, and you have to get feedback on how well (or not) you’re doing it.

Lessons exchange knowledge between an expert and someone who needs expertise. Practice incorporates knowledge into repeated action. Feedback adjusts action to create a best possible outcome. For us, that is your next opportunity.

To get to great – the Broadway show of networking – is a skill easily learned. With only a few “lessons,” some practice, and feedback from an executive professional marketer you can learn nuances that will take your performance from not working to now working -- full-time for your new employer!

Remember: make your next-opp your best-opp.

www.next-opp.com