In order to appreciate the value of networking as a job-search strategy, you must understand the power of a referral. It provides two key benefits: It dramatically increases the likelihood of getting both interviews and offers, and it has the potential to produce interviews under the most desirable of circumstances—you will have no competition from other job-seekers. These benefits will be explained in detail in the discussion that follows.
Personal Contacts
Arranging interviews through personal contacts is the only strategy that's effective for all job-seekers, regardless of their level of seniority, objectives, or the circumstances under which they're conducting a search. It should therefore be the first strategy you consider using.
As stated above, approaching potential employers through personal contacts increases your chances of generating interviews as well as offers. There's a reason for this: You have immediate credibility.
Employers see you as a choice prospect and look for reasons why they should hire you instead of reasons why they should not. There isn't any of the skepticism that usually accompanies the interview situation.
In fact, no matter how impressive your resume and accomplishments might be, they won't mean as much to a prospective employer as the recommendation from an individual whose judgment he trusts. This recommendation will guarantee an interview when an opening exists. It will sometimes produce an interview even when there is no opening. And it will increase the likelihood of being selected for hire when you're one of several equally qualified candidates under consideration for a position. All this is borne out by the statistic that approximately 75% of company hiring's are the result of employee referrals.
The second benefit of meeting potential employers through personal contacts is that you can have interviews without competition from other job-seekers. This situation can occur in three different ways:
- When you meet potential employers through personal contacts, you automatically gain exposure to the positions that are not being advertised or listed with employment agencies. These are the 80% of the openings that actually exist—the hidden job market. With many of these positions, there will be no applicants under consideration. This is because the other job-hunters are focusing their efforts elsewhere, on the openings that they know about: the other 20% of the job market.
- A manager is always interested in improving his department by hiring additional talent. Once he meets you, he can then decide to create a position for you. Here, there is no competition because the position did not even exist; the manager had no reason to be conducting interviews
Further benefits also accrue from this situation. While being interviewed, you aren't evaluated against an existing job description or profile of "the ideal candidate." In addition, there are no predetermined limits on the scope of your responsibilities or your salary. The position is being created around your capability and is being tailored to meet your needs. - A manager often has future plans to hire additional staff members. If you have the type of background he'll be looking for, he may decide to move up his schedule and hire you at this time. It's advantageous for the manager to do so; Not only is he assured of finding the right individual, but he avoids the time-consuming task of conducting interviews and thus eliminates the steep recruiting costs that would come from his budget.
Now that you understand the value of a referral and the power of networking, let's discuss who your contacts can be and how to manage the networking process.
Your contacts can include a wide variety of people; fellow employees; former co-workers; business associates employed by customers, suppliers, and competitors; and fellow members of professional organizations and trade associations, as well as friends, family members, neighbors, club members, accountants, bankers, stockbrokers, insurance agents, lawyers, doctors, clergy men, civic and community leaders, and college and high school alumni. The possibilities are almost endless.
In order to network effectively, you must have a well-prepared and highly organized plan for advising your contacts of your availability, the type of work you want to do, and your qualifications for this position. An integral part of this plan will also be to cultivate new contacts along the way. If all you do is tell a dozen or so people whom you already know that you're looking for a job and give each one a copy of your resume, you'll be leaving your success up to chance.
The best approach to take is what's known as the "targeted" approach. This is where you make a list of the companies with which you want interviews, either because of the industry or field they're in, their size, their location, or some other important factor-and then systematically go through the list. The first step, therefore, is to compile such a list of potential employers. If you need assistance in identifying companies to approach, many sources are available, from local directories and newsletters to the web.
