An up to date phone and address book is essential; who you've decided to look for a better job, or need to find because you're out of work, is not time to decide to update your phone book. It should be done on a regular basis. Only few minutes it takes each day or week are well worth it It's tough to suddenly call on the people in your network for help in finding a better job when you haven't done any contact with them in years. Sometimes this rule should be broken, depending upon the nature of your relationship, but it's much better to keep in periodic touch, particularly with business colleagues. Some of the most successful people I know do this by noting items in newspapers and magazines that they think would be of inter to an individual, clipping them, attaching a very brief note (which need say nothing more than "Thought you'd interested in this"), and mailing it off. An occasional one call to keep in touch is always in order, as is makes it a point to attend business and professional meets at which you're likely to bump into some of the people on your networking list. And make sure you send your network greeting cards on appropriate holidays, and anniversary and birthday cards if you know them enough. I've always been interested in photography, and I routinely send snapshots to people, ones currently ten, or those from years ago that I run across in my society.
Many people, especially those who suddenly are unemployed, make the mistake of calling people on their networking list and asking if they have any jobs available. This puts the person on the spot and creates an awkward situation. Chances are there won't be a job open the precise moment of your call, and the best anyone can expect from this approach is "We have nothing now, it I'll keep you in mind and get back to you if something comes up." Of course, that "promise" will be forgotten.
A much better approach is to call people on your networking list and either ask for advice about finding a job or ask if they would be willing to act as a reference for you. People are always flattered when asked to give advice, and being considered important enough to function as a reference is flattering, too. Of course, you'd have had either some direct business dealing with anyone you'd ask to be a reference or a personal friendship w someone who is well known in the business community.
What happens when you make these calls and this approach is that you haven't asked anything of that people that is difficult to deliver like a job? But you’ve gotten the point across that you are available, because you're unemployed or are interested in making a change if the right one comes along. Once you've done this, it pays to follow up occasionally with a short note, any other unobtrusive way of keeping in touch.
It's important also to remain visible to your professional colleagues in ways that don't involve direct contact. By seeking out opportunities to write for professional journals, you're assured of having your name, say nothing of your good thoughts, placed on the desk and in the briefcases of many people who could prove helpful to you throughout your entire career.
Too many people I know arbitrarily narrow down the list of people they'll let know that they are looking for better job or are out of work. I've never been able to figure this out, unless, of course, it comes from embarrassment, or just plain laziness. Selecting fewer people means having to make fewer calls and write fewer letters. The successful people I know take exactly the opposite of that. Each day they keep their eyes open for ways to expand their network, rather than narrowing it. The only reason can possibly think of to be judicious in choosing member of your network would be to preserve the confidential of your job quest. But this doesn't come into play until you've decided to actively look for a job. That's really the whole point nurturing and expanding your network when you aren't looking for a job means that your list will be long, current, and useful when you are looking for one. By the way, your network comes in very handy if you have decided to launch your own business. Those people to whom you've networked may well become your start, even best customers or clients.
Don't make the mistake of restricting your active networking list to only those "big shots" that sit in lofty management positions and are assumed to be the best less to help you climb your success ladder. By all means keep in touch with them if you have a legitimate reason for doing so, but nurture, with the same enthusiasm, those currently working on a level with you in your industry or profession, as well as those in lesser jobs. Anyone can be the source of information about a good job opening.
There is a secondary type of network that each person should develop and maintain. It consists of companies with which you have no connection you know no one inside them but that might have use for someone with your experience and skills.
Read the business section of your local newspaper and trade magazines in your field to get a handle on which companies are expanding. They may not be looking to fill jobs at the moment, but an expanding company generally will need to bolster its staff with good people. If our network is big enough and good enough, you undoubtedly will know someone on it who will, in turn, now someone in that expanding company whom you could contact.
Read the business pages of even your smallest local newspapers. Often, weekly newspapers give prominent pace to local men and women who have been promoted. These executives on the rise might be looking to bring in new people, and you have nothing to lose by shooting off resume and letter to them.
You might also do a little thinking about changing industries, provided that would not represent too dramatic a loss of the skills and knowledge you've managed to obtain over the years of your working life. For example, a successful MBA financial analyst who decides midstream to become a medical doctor is going to lose a lot of ground for a period of time (but, understanding and accepting that, should make the change anyway if it is truly important). My acquaintar was successful, and was our family doctor until he moved to another area of the country.
More typical, however, is an accountant I know who after ten successful years, felt he could not go much further in his field. He became very depressed about that until I suggested that there were many other areas business that could benefit from someone of his caliber and knowledge. It took him a while to accept this notice. When he did, and put his mind to it, he identified number of possibilities in which his accounting background would stand him in good stead, yet would not constitute his only function. He incorporated his own personal interests and hobbies into his analysis of the situation. He'd become fascinated with computers, and is known as a whiz with the PC he had in his home. I conducted an aggressive job search and was hired by Software Company that was in the early stages of developing a program for the accounting field, which would have to be marketed aggressively once its development is completed. My friend, the accountant, had significant input into the software program, and eventually headed up its marketing drive. He was happy from the first day he started in that new job, feels he has achieved far greater success than he ever would have had he stayed strictly in the accounting field, and is looking forward even greater success in the future.
For some of your contacts, a note will accomplish more than a phone call. It's a matter of judging the tenor your relationship with that person.
No matter how you go about it, the first and most successful way to find a better job, crazy world or not, is to have developed an extensive network and to use it effectively.
