An excellent approach is to use your network of contacts. There are others, of course, that should be simultaneously pursued-personnel recruiters and want ads - but nothing substitutes for utilizing people you already know and those you make contact with as part of your job search procedure.
Networking basically involves two levels. The first is composed of those people already in your sphere of contacts, both personal and professional. I had heard of a gentleman who had been overseas and therefore felt he did not have any contacts to call upon for employment in the United States. All it took for him was the realization that if he jogged his memory and creatively went over a list of the people he knew, he could come up with a long and helpful list of people to contact.
In your case, the same exercise can reap similar rewards. Is there anyone you know who might be in a position to hire you? Think hard about it. How about contacting your friends in DP who are at your level, or in jobs at higher or lower levels? More than likely, one of them will introduce you to an executive in their company. Have you thought of speaking to hardware and software salespeople? They get around and are often excellent sources. And what about those acquaintances you have met at meetings, conferences, and conventions? They can be a gold mine of solid leads.
Chances are someone will emerge if you put your mind to it. Yes, that would be ideal, but, unfortunately, that's the point where too many people stop in building and using a network. What's important is that every single person you contact is the potential source of another contact. The individual who would be in a position to hire you directly might not have any openings, but once you've talked to that person, other names might come up at other companies who could be potential sources of employment. Here again, this is where passivity gets you nowhere. Let's say you've come up with the name of someone you believe might be in a position to hire you. Call that person, introduce yourself, using the name of the person who recommended you, and indicate that you are interested in finding another job in data processing.
You should ask if you can set up an appointment to see the person with whom you are speaking. If you know there are jobs that you qualify for available with that company, you can be direct about wanting to be interviewed for one of them. If you sense or know that there aren't any openings at the moment, ask if you can come in for some advice and guidance. If either or both approaches fail, you then have a choice of simply saying "Thank you," or you can say "I appreciate your time, and I'd also appreciate any leads you can give me of other people in the industry with whom I could speak."
It pays to be as specific as possible. If there are a couple of companies in your area that you would be interested in working for, instead of simply asking for names from your original contact, you might say "I'd be interested in working for the XYZ Corporation. Is there anyone there you might put me in touch with?" The worst response would be "No, I don't know anyone, but if I think of someone I'll let you know." Then again, the response might be "Sure, Joe Smith and I are very active in the local Kiwanis. Joe's the manager of information services at XYZ. As a matter of fact, he was telling me the other day at lunch that they're expanding and ..."
Nothing ventured, nothing gained. There are many adages to sum up that philosophy, but they all say the same thing, and they are all equally valid. Be direct, tell the person what you want, and begin developing a network of people who know you are available, who know you have the right credentials, and, hopefully, who know someone who can be of direct help to you.
I can't stress enough the need to be open and flexible. As with the fly fisherman who must go where the fish are, the job hunter must go where the jobs are. One word of caution if geography is particularly important to you: if you are, let's say, shooting for a job three years from now in western Michigan, take the time to study the market there so that you don't end up gaining three years' experience on systems and equipment not in vogue in western Michigan. I use that location as an example because Joe Grabinski, of the Robert Half Grand Rapids office, makes the point that if a programmer and/or analyst accumulates two years of COBOL and Manufacturing and/or CICS, he can almost guarantee that person a position in western Michigan. On the other hand, he says, "If they show up here with several years of NETA/3 or FORTRAN, I invariably have to say, 'Good luck!' "
It all comes back to doing your homework, whether it applies to a future geographical move or specific companies with whom you'd like to work. Professional magazine writers know that the biggest mistake they can make is to write an article or query for a magazine they haven't read. Each magazine has its own editorial style, and failing to research it is like shooting at targets in the dark. The same rule should apply to all job seekers, with perhaps an even greater need for it in the data processing field. How embarrassing (and nonproductive) to gain an interview in a company you're high on and find that everything you're talking about has little or no application to that particular firm. Learn everything you possibly can about a company before approaching it for a job. Try to get hold of its annual reports. Use the library to research articles that might have been written about the company or authored by the people who'll be interviewing you. Do your homework; it pays off.
