Most veterans, indeed most job seekers, will acknowledge that networking is the most important job search tactic. Unfortunately, too many veteran job seekers pay only lip service to this fact. In practice, stubborn veterans will rationalize all sorts of reasons to avoid networking. Some excuses are familiar, like not wanting to be a “suck up” or even admitting to an introvert’s fear of social events or phone calls.
[See: 10 Ways Social Media Can Help You Land a Job.]
Of all the self-defeating reasons why veterans resist or avoid networking, the most pernicious is that they “don’t know anyone.” By insisting that they are socially isolated, veterans disarm themselves of the most potent weapon in their job-search arsenal. The fact is that all job seekers know and can leverage far more human contacts than they initially assume.
The process begins with a contacts inventory. Start with a pad of paper or open computer document and your current source of contact management. For most people, this will be a smartphone or email system. List everyone in your contact file no matter how obscure. Even names for which you can’t recall faces go on the list.
[See: 16 Things You’re Doing All Wrong on LinkedIn.]
Then, think through your life chronology. Who do you know from middle school? High school? Boot camp? College or MOS training schools? Keep writing page after page of names. Then, start using other tools to remind youself of people who are not in your contact file. Use yearbooks, family members’ address books, church and school directories or guest lists from parties. Social media sites like Facebook and LinkedIn are great sources for names of people you know. Go quickly and treat this like a brainstorming exercise. Don’t slow down to contact people or research them further at this initial stage.
By now you probably have a list of hundreds of names. Go back through the list and append for each name, how you know them (e.g., “high school” or “summer job junior year”), what they do (“accountant downtown” or “car salesman at Jones Ford” or “not sure but used to work in sales”) and how they might help you. Finally, note how you might be able to assist them. This last point will help you come up with a justification for meeting with them. If unsure, review and practice the philosophy and techniques of networking. Remember you are asking for information and access and not directly for jobs.
[See: 10 Ways to Perfect Your Personal Brand.]
The final step is to prioritize this list according to how they can help you most. Start contacting people immediately after you have refined your elevator pitch and know how they might be able to help you. Remember, most people will want to help you but only if you are sincere and focused about what you seek. Anyone who possesses a soul will meet with a military veteran who knows what they seek to do professionally but just needs advice, access and insight to make it happen.
Connected to the hundreds of people you know are other people who are looking to solve their talent needs with someone like you. If you make the effort to find them, you will be rewarded with opportunity and success.
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Veterans: You Know More People Than You Think originally appeared on usnews.com
