When you place your follow-up call, you may reach a secretary who will ask why you're calling. Explain that you're following up on a letter you recently wrote to the person you wish to speak with. This will facilitate your call being put through. When using this approach, some individuals won't take your call. Others will tell you that they have no idea of people for you to contact. But then there will be those people who will be sympathetic to your situation and who will want to help you. They will agree to set up an appointment, and you will have successfully begun your networking process. If you're ever tempted to try to save time by calling people on the phone instead of writing letters when contacting executives for advice without a referral-don't.
Since you're asking someone you don't know to do you a favor, you'll have much more success if you go through the trouble of writing a letter. The person you're writing to will appreciate your effort and the length you've gone to; in turn, he'll be more inclined to help you. Granted, going on interviews for advice will be time-consuming, and you'll probably have to meet with a large number of people before you're made an offer. But meeting many people is what networking is all about. In fact, there's a saying in the employment field: "Networking works if you work it." Meet as many people as you can-your perseverance will be rewarded. Whether you should ask your contacts to arrange job inter views for you or introduce you to people for advice and additional referrals is a matter you need to decide at the outset of your job search.
Discuss this with your closest contacts and get their opinions as to which approach would be more effective. If you find that you're having difficulty getting job interviews, however, asking your contacts to refer you to people for advice is clearly the next step. Needless to say, if you're able to arrange interviews for advice with people who also work at the companies you're interested in joining, you'll be covering two bases at the same time. Another point to consider when getting interviews through personal contacts is your need for confidentiality. If you're unemployed or if confidentiality isn't important, you're free to approach as many people as you want and to generate as much exposure as you can. Clearly, the more people who are aware of your availability, the more openings that will be brought to your attention. If you're employed and must maintain a low profile, you'll have to be selective about the individuals you approach. One of the outstanding features of generating interviews through personal contacts, though, is the enormous ground a contact can cover for you, especially if he's well known in your field. He can call managers, describe your background, and try to find openings for you or interest managers in creating a position without revealing your identity. Ask your contacts to make as many of these calls as possible.
Networking Tips
The following are important steps to take that will increase the success of your networking activities:
- Whenever you're given referrals, always tell the person who gave you these introductions that you'll call him in a few weeks to apprise him of your progress. Not only is this courteous, but during your follow-up call you might be given the names of additional people to contact.
- Depending upon the amount of rapport you've established with this person, you might want to call again in a month or so to report on your progress. This continual follow-up activity will help you to keep your contact actively engaged in your job search. The same day you initially met with someone, write a thank-you letter in which you express your appreciation for the referrals.
- Reiterate that you'll be calling in a few weeks to report on your progress. Also note on a calendar when to make this follow-up call. Keep records of each meeting you have.
- Using 3" x 5" cards, write down the name of the person you saw (including his title and company), the date of the meeting, the name of the person who introduced you (if any), whether the meeting was for a job interview or for advice, any names of people you were given to call, important comments that will help you in future meetings, and planned follow-up activity including its date. This record keeping will be so helpful; in fact, that you should maintain notes on every interview you have, including interviews that result from the other job-search strategies.
- When you have an especially good relationship with a con tact, check in with him every two weeks or so throughout your job search. Don't be surprised if some people even ask you to do this.
