Be interested in them, rather than concentrating on impressing them with how interesting you are... what you've done... where you've been... how wonderful you are... and especially with "the bad breaks you've had."
Ask questions. Then listen. Agree. Acknowledge. Be interested. (Who knows? You might even learn something!)
The more branches you add to your tree, the better and stronger your network will be.
Get Referrals to Supervisors and Managers, Too
In addition to talking to people who are doing what you want to do, who are using the skills you want to use on a job, don't omit supervisors and managers.
Network your way to them, too.
Because supervisors and managers are the ones who must plan for the future of their organizations... the ones who have the headaches of "personnel problems," the problems of people who aren't doing their jobs... who quit... who became ill and are unable to do their jobs... and who, then, have big problems.
If you come along, and if you get to know those supervisors, you may turn out to be the solution to one of those problems.
If that is true, you'll be pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to get hired. In fact, you might find it difficult to "get away."
Ask For an Interview Even If There Are No Openings
Interviewing when there are no jobs is not a waste of time.
No jobs today? Maybe jobs tomorrow.
Ask for an interview. Afterward, thank the person in writing. Ask questions in the interview. Show you are interested. Read up on the company and the field before you go in, so you can ask intelligent questions about them, not stupid questions about health insurance, vacations, and fringe benefits.
Stay in touch afterward. Let them know you're interested.
How about the "sneak-in" interview, the one advocated by people who say you should try to get in for an interview by asking for "advice" or by asking someone to "evaluate my resume" when you are really looking for ajob!
Sorry, folks. Honesty really does pay.
Don't lie to get in to see someone. They're smarter than you think, and you are likely to get "permanently un-hired" by that organization when the person discovers you've "sneaked in."
This isn't networking.
Networking is something which works for everyone, not just for you.
Keep Following Up
Stay in touch with people in your network.
Send thank you notes.
Send cartoons or articles from the professional journals.
Don't be a pest. Don't be "too aggressive." Once every once - in - a-while is enough. That means once every month or so.
Find ways to stay in touch. Be creative.
Send Resumes
Just because you've sent one resume doesn't mean they still have it.
Just because they sent it to someone else, doesn't mean that person has it.
They've probably lost it.
Remind them. Send another.
Attach a note:"Thanks again for considering my resume. In case you need another, here's an extra copy."
Call!
Call again. Call to see if they need more information. Call to see if there's anything else you should be doing. Call to see if they would like you to contact references, or to get transcripts or credentials.
Call to see when you should call the next time.
If you detect a tone of annoyance in the voice of a secretary or a manager or a supervisor, say that you don't want to call too frequently, but that you are usually away from a phone and wanted to be certain you made yourself available. You may show, through an occasional phone call, just how interested you really are in the opportunity with their organization.
Send Notes
Remember send good notes short notes, classy notes, and flawless notes, without smudges, dirt.
Notes and stationery should be "in good taste." If you somehow skipped over the chapter about "Packaging and Delivering a Resume" ,go back and read it.
And always, in writing, in person, in social gatherings, be seen and heard "in good taste."
One 44 year-old university business administration graduate, retired from the armed services, and recently re-trained in his newly-chosen field of computer science, decided to be seen everywhere... to "network his way to a job" after other methods had failed him.
This is usually a good idea.
But he executed it poorly.
He wore a cheap polyester suit and a wide polyester tie, years after wide ties were pass. (Polyester ties are always pass!)
He wore long sideburns, which is fine for a costume party, bad for business.
Two years later, after hundreds of applications and interviews, and after networking his way through every organization in his city, he's still without a job in his field of computer science.
He looks like a "2" when he could look like a "10." He talks when he should listen. And he brags about his service experiences, instead of asking "I'm interested in you" questions of the people he meets.
He's a loser. But even worse: he doesn't know it.
