Personal Contacts: The Key to Successful Networking
When the word "networking" is used, we tend to think of
upwardly mobile college graduates with a bursting day timer in hand
chatting up the competition at business meetings, conventions, or
workshops. The average blue/pink/white collar worker disconnects,
feeling that they could never be that pushy, don't know enough people
to even start the attempt, and that the method only works in
competitive business environments.
Wrong!
While
networking can, and often does, follow such a scenario, the concept is
much broader than that. The premise is that most people find a job
through someone they know. It may be a direct referral or, more likely,
indirectly hearing about an opening that seems suitable.
Procedurally,
networking could not be simpler: contact everyone you know to see if
they have any firsthand knowledge about job opportunities. Then contact
all the people they know. Obtain referrals to other people from
everyone you contact and in a short period of time, you will have a
veritable army of people working with you to find the right position.
An
organized approach to this time-demanding but highly effective
technique is discussed in depth in my workbook "The Wolf at the Door:
An Unemployment Survival Manual" (Authorhouse, 2003). Contact lists in
various categories are provided as well as schedules for follow up and
strategies for maintaining the strength and commitment of your lists.
For now, let's look at the different levels of networks you can develop.
1. Sizzling Contacts.
These
are the people you know personally. They include your family, friends,
former coworkers, and acquaintances: your barber, your mailman, your
doctor, your real estate agent, the guys you see at the golf course,
the women at your club, your children's teachers, other PTA parents -
anyone with whom you have regular contact. Often, you need go no
further. How many of us obtained our first job through our family or
their friends? It is a common occurrence. Look for a moment at ethnic
groups and how they operate. Most new immigrants find a position
through personal contacts. Hispanics are famous for bringing in their
brothers, cousins, and nephews when there is an opening. Most companies
who hire mainly Spanish-speaking labor never advertise. All they have
to do is tell their employees that they need more workers and the next
day dozens of assorted relatives show up and they can make their
selection. There are large ethnic communities in different parts of the
country: Vietnamese, Armenian, Indian, Korean, Chinese, Irish,
Portuguese, Samoan, and Filipino. In almost every group, initial job
search is strictly word-of-mouth. Later, as individuals, many workers
become culturally assimilated and move into more mainstream jobs but
the core of the group, especially those with poor English skills, tend
to remain within their original subculture. There are, for example,
airlines whose entire ramp staff at some airports are Pacific
Islanders, manufacturing companies where the usual language on the
production floor is Portuguese, and supermarkets where the workers (and
customers) are overwhelmingly Korean. Contrast the successful
employment rate of these groups with, for example, African-Americans
who are very loosely tied to their communities. Until recent attempts
by Church and civic organizations, networking was almost non-existent
in African-American culture and a consistently double-digit
unemployment rate directly reflected that lack of connectivity.
2. Warm Contacts.
From
everyone you seek out while you are making personal contacts, you try
to obtain the names and contact numbers of people they know and if you
can use their names as a source of referral. If all the people you
directly know, literally dozens, give you a few names to call, you may
have well over a hundred names within a few days. Frequently the first
and second level contacts are all that is required. Someone you touch
will know of something suitable somewhere.
3. Tepid and Cold Contacts.
If
you are really unfortunate, your circle of social acquaintances is very
limited, your geographic area has devastating economic blight, your
have negative or limiting personal aspects (prison record,
disabilities, a very poor work record), then you may need to expand an
extra level or two. Secondary referrals have some potential but the
more tenuous the link between you and your friends and the target
person, the less effort to help you is likely to be encountered. When
you have exhausted all of your contact lists, unlikely but possible,
you are left with the standard job search techniques (classifieds,
internet, job fairs, agencies) or cold calling. Cold calls, whether by
telephone or, preferably, in person, require you to call or walk into
an employer without any introduction, and with no knowledge of any
openings. You are likely to receive many negative responses to your
queries but sometimes you just happen to time it perfectly and there is
a newly available position that suits you. While the chances are
sobering, you can still feel proud that you are out in the world,
taking positive actions for yourself, rather than withdrawing into the
sanctuary of home where the odds against success become
astronomical.
About the Author: Virginia Bola operated a rehabilitation company for 20 years, developing innovative
job search techniques for disabled workers, while serving as a respected Vocational
Expert in Administrative, Civil and Workers' Compensation Courts. Author of an
interactive and emotionally supportive workbook, The Wolf at the Door: An Unemployment
Survival Manual, and a monthly ezine, The Worker's Edge, she can be reached at
http://www.virginiabola.com
More articles by Admin
Print Article | Download PDF | 1194 views | Dec 21 2004
|
|
