Part 5 (2/2)

As more and more people recognized there was a backdoor job market, as well as the more public job market represented by the help wanted ads, people developed a new job-search approach. Answering ads was no longer enough. You had to network.

The Age of Networking The principle behind networking is that the best jobs are filled, not by answering ads, but by making business connections. The idea is to develop a mutually supporting network of individuals with whom you have business relations.h.i.+ps. These could be people you worked with, worked for, competed against, partnered with, sold to, or bought from. You meet these people informally, let's say for lunch, and talk about what you are doing and what they are doing. The idea is to create sources of information about those private job openings. The more you network, the more of an insider you become. The quid pro quo is that you too are ready, willing, and able to help others find those private jobs.

Along with their own contacts, ambitious networkers go to events, meetings, conventions, and trade shows, and meet people who might know about some private job openings, or meet people who know other people who know about some private job openings. Even if no immediate private job opening appears, they press the flesh, hand out their business cards, and subtly make it clear that they are in the market for any such openings that might one day appear. Sometimes these networks revolve around industries, other times around professions. Perhaps all the dental hygienists in a city gather regularly for a meeting at which they hear a manufacturer's representative talk about a new piece of equipment, have dinner, complain about dentists, and share inside information on private job openings.

Renatta Kahn was one of my clients who actually turned networking from a job-search technique into a lifestyle. I helped Renatta when, as a young attorney specializing in entertainment law, she negotiated her contract as an in-house counsel for a large, multifaceted media corporation. Renatta was a single, attractive woman in her midthirties with an incredible drive to succeed. Renatta had breakfast with the same three other entertainment lawyers every morning at a cafe in a small boutique hotel. Over coffee and juice in this discreet location they traded inside information and gossip. After work, Renatta's schedule was filled with meetings of a bar a.s.sociation committee on Mondays, drinks at a television industry gathering on Tuesdays, a publis.h.i.+ng industry roundtable and dinner on Wednesdays, and a standing dinner date with her boss on Thursdays. She spent almost every weekend with a handful of business guests at a house she owned on the eastern end of Long Island. The only time Renatta didn't seem to be networking was when she jogged, which she did religiously first thing every morning - though I'm sure if she could have found an entertainment industry runners' group, she would have joined.

As networking became more widespread, and as people began to look to move beyond their own industry or profession, a variation developed. This is what I called Rolodex renting, and it involves the use of informational interviews.

You may want to s.h.i.+ft to a job in the widget industry. Unfortunately, you know only one person in widgets. Rather than relying on social gatherings and your own limited set of contacts, you ask your contacts for help in finding people who might be able help you ”learn if the widget industry is right for you.” In effect, you rent other people's Rolodexes, asking them to introduce you to any of their own contacts in the widget business. In this way you exponentially increase the reach of an existing network.

Once you get a name, you call, write, or e-mail the individual, asking for an informational interview, dropping the name of the person who referred you. Outwardly you are simply asking to pick the interviewer's brains about the widget business, since it's something you find interesting. Actually you are trying to get him or her to hire you, but saying so would limit the number of people willing to speak with you.

At these informational interviews you do everything you can to impress the heck out of the interviewer and get him or her to give you a job. If that doesn't happen, you simply ask for the names of other people who might be helpful in your fascinating voyage of discovery in the land of widgets. You then call these new names and repeat the process, dropping the name of the person who made the referral.

The interviewers are not necessarily motivated by your being able to help them get a job, since they are probably much higher on the corporate ladder than you; instead, they want to be able to refer their own contacts to the person who referred you. Instead of it being a direct quid pro quo - ”I'll help you if you help me” - it is second-degree quid pro quo - ”I'll help the person you send me if you help the person I send you.”

This process of working your own network, renting other people's Rolodexes, and then going on a series of informational interviews is the method of choice for most people looking for good-paying, mid- to upper-level, white-collar work. Sure, the want ads are still there and actually got a boost from the Internet, but they aren't seen as being either as effective or as sophisticated as the informational interview circuit.

HOW TO ATTRACT HEADHUNTERSBecause corporate executives are pretty much obsessed with filling upper-level jobs only by employee-jacking, and human resources departments have effectively put an end to informational interviews, headhunters will remain the only route to the upper levels of a company. How do you show up on their radar screens?Make sure you're still working. No matter what they may say, headhunters are hired in order to poach employees from compet.i.tors.Forget about contacting them and presenting yourself as a potential candidate. The headhunter motto is ”Don't call us, we'll call you.” Remember, they're not looking to find jobs for people, they're looking to find people for jobs.Instead, become an informant for them. Tell them you're interested in developing a relations.h.i.+p and then offer up everything you know about your company. Give them enough names, t.i.tles, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses to compile an organizational chart and directory of your company. Headhunters believe in a quid pro quo, but want their quid up front.

But in the past couple of years this circuit has run out of power. Since the bursting of the Internet bubble, the terrorist attacks of September 11, and the subsequent recession, it has been getting more and more difficult for people to find anyone willing to give them an informational interview. I have to admit I've stopped giving them myself. That's because it's obvious to everyone now that these are nothing more than job interviews in disguise. With so many people requesting informational interviews, and with so few actual job openings, it has become time-consuming and ultimately fruitless to give these interviews.

Human resources departments have successfully fought against filling positions through networking. All those behind-the-scenes interviews and meetings threatened their existence. Why have a personnel department if you weren't going to use it to find and screen candidates? In order to provide the secrecy many executives sought, the HR people took to hiring headhunters (often former HR people themselves) to do the screening of potential candidates. (See the box on page 133: How to Attract Headhunters.) Make It Personal One of the themes I keep coming back to in this book is that merit isn't enough to succeed at work anymore. It's also not enough to get a foot in the door these days. I hate to say it, but in today's job market it's not what you know, but who you know. To get the multiple job offers you're looking for in your job-fis.h.i.+ng efforts, you'll need to draw on personal relations.h.i.+ps.

Let's say there's a job opening in your department. Your sister has been out of work for about six months, relying on her husband's income and help from your parents to make ends meet. She's qualified for the job...but so are the two dozen people represented by the file folder of resumes sitting on your desk. Do you tell your sister about the job and also do everything you can to help her get it, or do you simply treat her like every other candidate? Of course you bend over backward to help your sister get the job.

It's human nature to give preference to those closest to you. That's just accentuated when times are hard, as they are in the job market today. The people making the decisions on whom to meet with, whom to interview, and whom to hire naturally give preference to individuals with whom they have personal relations.h.i.+ps. For example, during one of the last major economic downturns in New York a good friend of mine who was a part-time professor and actor was having a hard time making ends meet. I needed help in my office with general office ch.o.r.es and deliveries. Rather than hiring someone with experience, I offered the job to my out-of-work friend. I chose to hire based on personal connection rather than competence. I don't think that's unusual. That's why I think the key to getting jobs in today's work environment is to expand your personal network rather than your business network, and use the former not the latter to generate job leads.

”That's Terribly Cynical”

Some of my clients balk when I first tell them to expand their personal network and use it to generate job leads. ”That's terribly cynical,” they say. ”At least when you do business networking the quid pro quo is overt. Developing friends.h.i.+ps just for business reasons seems dishonest.” They're partly right. Developing friends.h.i.+ps for business reasons is amoral, if not immoral. But that's not what I'm suggesting at all.

I don't think you should choose your personal relations.h.i.+ps with an eye toward their business potential. In fact, I'd suggest you avoid that. Instead, I think you should pursue your true interests. (See the box on page 136: Inventory Your Interests.) Join clubs focusing on a pastime you enjoy, not one that has lots of CEOs as members. Pursue hobbies that will bring you joy, not those you think will bring you affluent chums. Become friendly with people whose company you enjoy, who share your values, who make you laugh. If your efforts at expanding your personal networks are phony you'll get neither personal satisfaction nor job leads. That's because you'll never actually make the kind of personal ties you need. If you're just showing up at the chess club simply because you think you'll get job leads there, your ploy will soon be obvious to everyone. Join the chess club because you love chess, and let the job leads develop naturally.

INVENTORY YOUR INTERESTSIf you're at a loss for how to develop or expand a personal network, do an inventory of your interests.What do you like to read? Check with your local bookstores and libraries to see if there's a reading group that caters to that type of book. Do an online search for your favorite authors or genres and see if you can find local or regional fan groups.What type of entertainment do you like? If you love the movies, check to see if there's a film forum or film society in your community. Fans of popular music should explore the local music scene for folk, rock, jazz, and blues clubs. Cla.s.sical music aficionados should check for orchestras, chamber groups, or opera companies.Do you have a talent? Singers should investigate community choirs. Dancers should look for cla.s.ses or troupes, as well as clubs that have regular events. Artists should go to nearby galleries and art-supply stores and check the bulletin boards. Photographers should go to camera stores, musicians to music stores, and crafters to craft stores. Writers should check bookstores for information on writers groups.Are you a sports fan? Look for fan clubs online or at the facility where the team plays. Like to play a sport? Look at the bulletin boards in sporting-good shops and check at facilities catering to the sport.Do you have a hobby? There are lots of hobbyist organizations which that sponsor local chapters. Check online, at hobby shops, or in special-interest magazines. If you haven't pursued a hobby for years, consider picking up one you abandoned when you were younger.Interested in a particular issue or cause? Get involved in the local political committee of a party of your choice. Volunteer at an organization or inst.i.tution whose mission you support.Attend religious services or meeting at the house of wors.h.i.+p of your choice. If you're nervous about meeting strangers, religious services are an excellent way to break the ice. People will go out of their way to be welcoming.

Believe me, leads will develop from your expanded personal network. Become active in a church. Go to the gym and take cla.s.ses or take part in a sports league. Seek out clubs for those who share your hobbies. Pick up the instrument you set aside after college. Learn a foreign language. Take cooking cla.s.ses. Form a book group. Volunteer for a local charitable organization or inst.i.tution.

By expanding your personal network you will meet and develop relations.h.i.+ps with a much wider range of people than if your only interactions are with an alumni group, a professional a.s.sociation, and a business organization. Your personal network will include people from different ethnic groups, religions, communities, economic levels, professions, and industries. Because this personal network includes a wider range of people, it offers you access to more possible job leads. And because your links with these individuals will be personal ones, the leads that do develop will be more powerful and more likely to actually result in a job offer.

David Greenstein's networking had run out of steam by the time he came to see me. A thirty - two - year - old reference librarian working at one of the larger branches of a big-city public library system, David had recently received his master's degree in information-system management. While he believed an information professional like himself was exactly what corporate IT departments needed, he had been unable to land any interviews or meetings other than with other public library systems and a couple of university libraries. I suggested he focus on expanding his personal network instead. Since one of David's interests was politics, he decided to get involved in the mayoral campaign of an independent candidate in the suburb in which he lived. One of the chief fund-raisers for the campaign was an older woman who ran a charitable foundation launched years earlier by a media entrepreneur. On election night she and David chatted and celebrated their candidate's victory. They arranged to have lunch together the next week. Within a month of that lunch David was a.s.suming the newly created position of information architect for the foundation.

”But Won't It Take Too Long?”

Another objection clients sometimes voice to my idea of expanding and using personal networks to generate job leads is that it will take too long. There's some truth to this point as well.

I readily admit that the downside to using your personal network to generate job leads is that those leads, while of a wider range and more powerful, will be slower to develop. While there are instances of love at first sight, and times when people strike up lifelong friends.h.i.+ps quickly, it usually takes time for meaningful personal bonds to form. Business networking, on the other hand, is quicker to generate leads because its sole purpose is mutual self-interest. All that's needed for a business relations.h.i.+p to develop is for the two parties to think they can be of some benefit to each other.

However, in today's job market all business networking does is generate poor leads quickly. The speed of the process doesn't matter, since so little is actually coming from most networking today. In addition, there is a way you can speed up at least part of the process.

As I wrote earlier, and will get back to in more detail in a subsequent chapter, answering cla.s.sified ads and contacting employment agencies is the single best way to get a job - any job - in the short term. (See the box above: How to Find Temporary Relief.) If you need to bring in a stream of income as soon as possible I suggest you use these traditional techniques, and continue trying to generate leads through your business network, at the same time as you expand your personal network. The idea is to get enough income coming in so you can give your personal network the time it needs to generate potentially better job leads and offers.

HOW TO FIND TEMPORARY RELIEFSigning up with a temporary employment agency is one of the best ways I know to quickly generate a stream of income. The days when temps were nothing more than replacement or emergency file clerks and administrative a.s.sistants are over. Today there are temp agencies representing every profession from attorney to xylophone player. In an effort to downsize and save cash, many larger firms have replaced full-time workers who provided support functions with either small service firms or temps. Others, trying to deal with a rapidly changing economy, respond to boosts in business by hiring temps rather than adding staff. Signing up with a temp agency offers a number of advantages. Some provide a better benefits package to their people than would be provided by many full-time employers. Temp agencies offer employees greater flexibility than full-time employers, allowing more freedom to do job fis.h.i.+ng. Being a temp is one of the quickest ways to expand knowledge of different industries. And most important, it's easier to get reemployed through a temp agency than on your own.

Don't worry about this being time-consuming. Remember, you will be doing things you enjoy to expand your personal network. These won't be ch.o.r.es, they'll be pleasures. In fact, these are just the things you've always wanted to have the time to do. Now you're making the time for them and getting both personal and professional advantages from it.

Erin Corbet knew moving from New York City to a small community upstate would complicate her work life. A pastry chef by profession, she was moving because her life partner had landed a tenure-track position at a college upstate. Erin and I worked out a job-fis.h.i.+ng plan prior to her move. A week after moving into their new home, Erin answered a cla.s.sified ad in the local newspaper and landed a job in the bakery department of an upscale supermarket. It was a far cry from the Upper East Side restaurant where she used to work, but it helped pay the bills. Slowly but surely Erin and her partner wove together a social network over the course of a year. At a potluck dinner fund-raiser for a local women's shelter, she met the former owner of a local bistro who was looking to start a new catering business. She hired Erin a week later.

”I Don't Remember How to Make Friends”

The most surprising objection I've heard from clients about my suggestion to expand their personal network was from Jeanie Murrow, a forty - three - year - old attorney who had been out of the job market for six years during which she was home caring for her daughter. ”I don't remember how to make friends,” Jeanie said to me. ”For the past six years I've focused on my daughter's social life, not my own. Before that everyone I met was an attorney, so all we talked about was the law or legal problems.” At first I thought Jeanie's fear was unique to her. But then I heard variations on the same theme from other clients. I realized many people have so compartmentalized their lives that they'd either never learned, or had forgotten, how to socialize in social rather than business situations.

Entering a social situation where you don't know anyone can be intimidating. But once you become comfortable wielding some very simple social skills you'll be able to strike up friends.h.i.+ps in almost any setting.

Make sure you have an open, inquisitive mind about meeting new people. Leave your stereotypes at home. Don't think of people in terms of their professions, or their appearance, or their ethnic group. Treat everyone as potentially interesting and a possible future friend. The thirty-something millionaire software executive could be a selfish bore who does nothing for you, while the sixty-something barber could be a fascinating individual who provides just the connection you need.

Appearance Counts While you shouldn't make judgments about the appearance of others, take some care with your own. Appropriateness is what counts in social settings, not fas.h.i.+on. You should be wearing something that is clean and that fits the occasion.

More important than your clothing is your expression and manner. There is no single better way to make friends than to smile when you say h.e.l.lo. Look people in the eye when you're introduced, give a firm but not obnoxious handshake, and repeat their first name back to them. (This is, after all, a social setting, so first names are fine.) For example, when someone says, ”h.e.l.lo, I'm Mark Levine,” you respond by saying, ”h.e.l.lo, Mark, I'm Stephen Pollan, it's nice to meet you.”

Engaging with Strangers Ask questions. Everyone has a story to tell, and most people enjoy talking about themselves. Try to frame your questions so they can't be answered with just a yes or a no. When he or she starts to answer, listen closely and don't interrupt. Look the other person in the eye and smile while he or she is talking to you. Nod every so often, and use verbal cues of support like ”I see,” ”yes,” ”oh really,” and even ”uh-huh.” When the other person stops talking, ask one further question to clarify what he or she has been saying. Any more than that and it will seem like an interrogation rather than a conversation. Don't argue or disagree. It's better to react a beat slow and make sure you're laughing with someone rather than laughing at him or her. Avoid frowning or showing any outward signs you doubt what he or she is saying. Say you can identify with what is being said, but don't turn the conversation to you. That will seem like you're trying to outdo or one-up the other person.

If you can't draw the other person out by asking about him or her, talk about something you share. That could be a mutual interest, such as what brings both to the occasion, or it could be something in the news. It's better to talk about the weather than religion or politics, even if you're in a religious or political setting.

By this point, any polite social person will return your sign of being interested in him or her by asking about you. Take your cue as to how long to talk and how much detail to reveal from his or her answers to your questions. If possible, point out similarities between you and the other person. For example, you could say, ”Like you and your wife, I'm new to town.” Again, make sure you don't one-up the other person while pointing out similarities. Talk about your current job and future job plans and goals, but don't dwell on work issues. People will want to know what you do, but they'll also want to know who you are. You want them to like you and to want to help you because of their personal connection to you, not because of the company for which you work or the profession you practice.

If the other party doesn't ask you about yourself, or if he or she doesn't look you in the eye when talking, feel free to politely excuse yourself and break off the conversation. There's no need to find an excuse with such people, since they're clearly not interested in speaking with you. Simply offer your hand and say, ”I'm glad we met.” Then move off to chat with someone else.

Cultivating Friends.h.i.+ps Having made a terrific first impression, you should do all you can to keep it up at subsequent social gatherings. Make sure you're always polite, saying ”please,” ”may I,” ”thank you,” and ”you're welcome.” It's better to appear overly polite than boorish. Pay attention to details and praise people whenever you can. People like to know that the little things they do are noticed and appreciated by others. Continue to treat everyone as being important.

Offer help whenever it appears needed and don't sulk if others fail to respond in kind immediately. But don't rush to make promises or to take on tasks that you may not be able to keep or do in an effort to ingratiate. That smacks of desperation and only leads to mutual disappointment. Instead, pick your spots and make sure you deliver on your promises. You want to be known as someone who does what he says he's going to do, not someone who tries to do everything.

Finally, make sure that while you're cultivating friends you're not also making enemies. Don't engage in backstabbing or gossip. However, you don't need to criticize it either. Simply don't get into the conversation. If forced to say something, offer up a noncommittal statement like ”I really don't know him that well” or ”I haven't really thought about it.” Remain neutral in feuds and avoid petty politics - there's enough of that at work. In a social setting you should have only friends, acquaintances, and people you don't know.

The more often you speak with someone, the more detail of your work situation you can feel free to reveal. There will be some people who will feel a kins.h.i.+p with you right away and will try to help you find job offers. There will be others for whom it takes a bit of time to feel comfortable endorsing you to third parties. Continue to be a warm, caring individual and eventually they'll come around.

There will also be some people who, while establis.h.i.+ng a friends.h.i.+p with you, never extend the offer of a.s.sistance with your work life. Some people are uncomfortable talking about money or work, or mixing their social and work lives to any extent. Getting to know them isn't a wasted effort, though. You can never have too many friends. And as long as they contribute something to your life, they're well worth having. You never know where friends.h.i.+ps will lead.

Fred Peters Expands His Social Network I received a telephone call from Fred Peters after he'd realized his networking was going nowhere and no one was eager to give him an informational interview. We met for an hour, and I told him about my concept of expanding his personal network and using it as a source of job leads. Fred, a very affable, warm individual, was perfectly suited to this strategy.

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