Often a conversation between a job search coach and a frustrated job hunter goes like this:
“Hi! I’ve applied to zillions of jobs online and I’m not getting good results. I need a new job right away. What should I do?”
“Well, what else have you been doing to get a job?”
“Nothing. I’m doing what you do today to get a job. They advertise it. You respond to tell them you want it and you are supposed to get it. Right?”
You can’t order up a job like fries at a fast-food restaurant, just because you see that one is advertised.
[See: Don’t Be That Guy (or Gal): 8 Networking Turn-Offs.]
There are all kinds of reasons that the odds favor an employer seeking to hire rather than a person seeking to be hired. Maybe your resume isn’t formatted just the right way to get through the applicant tracking system. Maybe there are way more qualified candidates than you might imagine. Maybe the job isn’t even real and it is just being posted to garner a pipeline of potential candidates for future openings. And there are lots more potential maybes.
The conversation continues:
“What about networking?”
“I don’t have time to network. I just want someone to give me a job.”
“What about LinkedIn?”
“It’s a waste of time. I reach out to people I don’t know telling them I want them to help me get a job in their company, and they never respond back. So much for networking!”
You can’t necessarily expect all your LinkedIn connections to go out of their way to help you unless you’ve paved the way and understand their limits and abilities.
[See: The 8 Stages of a Winning Job Search.]
Networking your way into a job takes time and effort. It requires you to slow down. But in the end, it can often be the shortest route to getting hired.
Networking is key to job search success. It is impossible to know precisely how many people are hired through networking, but, by all accounts, it is a sizable percentage. It takes patience, but you will be successful at it if you keep a few key things in mind:
No matter who you are, you already have a network! Family members, friends, former co-workers, fellow members of clubs and professional organizations, neighbors, LinkedIn and Facebook connections and more — all these are networks of which you are a part.
Networking isn’t about begging, demanding or feeling entitled. Just because someone is a part of your network doesn’t mean that he or she can or will come to your aid. Nor should you feel disheartened, hurt or angry when they don’t. Instead, networking is about building relationships and drawing people closer to you. This is especially true when it comes to building business partnerships.
Networking is always about paying it forward. It is about remembering your responsibility to listen to the needs of others as much as or more than you want them to learn about yours. It is about sincerely offering to be of help to your networking partners now or in the future, whenever it is in your power to appropriately do so. Especially when you are first meeting someone, take pains to listen to their story: How did they get to where they are? What do they do, what are their accomplishments and successes, what are their challenges and needs? When you learn their story, you will be in a much better position to help them make connections or direct others to them when it would be beneficial to both parties.
Networking is about making reasonable asks that are doable. Even when someone in your network wants to be helpful to you, recognize that what you can ask depends on the depth of your relationship. The closer you are to someone, the more you might be able to expect.
It is your job to help your networking partners help you. When you are looking for a job, don’t thrust the whole burden onto others by asking, “What can you do to help?” Instead, take the trouble to first understand what they might do, and suggest different alternatives for them to consider. Instead of asking, “Whom do you know who can hire me?” instead say, “I understand that you know X, and her company is hiring people like me. Can you help make an introduction for me?” That way, you don’t overwhelm people and make them want to shy away from you.
[See: 10 Tech Jobs That Make the Most Money.]
Build your network through informational interviews. Instead of asking strangers to hire you, ask to meet for a defined short period of time, maybe 20 or 30 minutes. Use that time to learn about their company, the competitive challenges it faces, the business environment and culture and more. Share your strengths and accomplishments. And ask for introductions to a few people they think would be advantageous for you to meet.
Networking is always slow going. It is playing the long game instead of asking for the “instant hit,” but in the long run, your job search is likely to be much shorter when you take the time to meet people in your target companies and expand your overall industry connections. And one day, you’ll likely have someone say, “You know, my company is looking for someone just like you. Would you be interested in talking to the hiring manager?”
Happy hunting!
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6 Tips for Networking Success originally appeared on usnews.com
