Networking is a term you will hear a lot during your job search and it’s something we coach here at Operation Hired. What does it mean? How do you do it effectively?
When looking for your next opportunity, it helps in today’s world to put yourself out there. It is ok to reach out to people letting them know you are looking. You can reach out to people you know, people you worked with, friends…you can let them know you are actively looking (you are ok going public with your search) or if you are confidentially looking (you don’t want your current employer or coworkers to know you are looking).
Start reaching out to people you know. Friends, family, former coworkers…let them know you are in the market. Someone you reach out to might refer you to a friend or coworker of theirs who might know someone. You might find yourself making more and more introductions and connections. A message can be as simple as, “I wanted to let you know I am looking for a new opportunity can you keep me in mind if you hear of anything.”
You also need to network with people who are not in your network. It is perfectly acceptable to reach out to people you don’t know to introduce yourself. You can reach out to people who have the job you are looking to get, people who work at the companies you are targeting, someone you don’t know but worked at the same company as you, went to the same school…
When reaching out to someone to introduce yourself, (most common forum is LinkedIn) simply mention what you have in common and why you are reaching out. Be careful not to ask them for anything other than to keep you in mind if they know of, or hear of any, opportunities.
One networking tip: reach out to recruiters at companies with openings you are interested in. You see an accounting job posted at “ACME” Corp. You can use LinkedIn to find a recruiter, or manager, at that company. You can even look for a recruiter, or manager, in accounting. You can search for the recruiter(s) who recruit for accounting roles. You can search for an accounting manager. If you find these people, you can send them a connection request with a message, or a message without the connection request, letting them know your interest and that you have applied for job number XXX.
It has happened were a manager forwards your note to a recruiter stating this person looks interesting, can you talk with them…
This is important…you do not want to reach out to a corporate recruiter (in house) asking if they have a job that matches your experience. Corporate recruiters work on specific roles and if your experience is not a match for a role they are working on, they are not going to take the time to find one for you. You are better off reaching out letting them know you have applied for a specific role. If that recruiter is working on that role, great! If not, it is easy for them to find the recruiter who is, and forward your note to them.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to people. All it takes is one person to respond with a lead, or they know someone who is hiring, or they know a recruiter, or a lead to a lead, that produces an introduction, interview and job. We’ve seen it happen time and again.
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