The one thing that helped me get a Job: Activating my Network.
Most folks will find their eventual job via their network of contacts. I have not found more than a hand full of folks who got a job by dropping their resume off. Putting your resume it into a job database, rarely works either.If you succeed doing this, good on you, but maybe it is time to build your network.
Activating your network means: telling folks you are looking for a new job. You don’t need to be blatant, but you do need to be clear. Don’t be too vague, you want folks to know you are looking. An email broadcast may not be needed, but make sure folks know you are looking.
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Parts of Your Network
- Former employers and former bosses. You need these for your references and if these folks are working, they will know better than anyone else, where jobs might be. These folks are the Insiders, treasure them and treat them well.
- Former co-workers, again, if these folks are employed, they will know of inside jobs and who might be hiring. These are good insiders and you should stay in contact with them and treat them well (don’t buy them lunch or anything, but maybe buy them a beer or coffee).
- Acquaintances in your industry. You meet these folks at conferences, or other events. These can be very useful folks, if you cultivate your relationships with them well.
- Those you meet on your job searches, this will include:
- Other jobs seekers, these folks are useful because they may have heard of folks hiring, but remember they are competitors, and if they don’t have a job, they aren’t as useful as the first two groups of folks.
- Headhunters are of use because they might give you tips on what areas are hiring, and they might even find you a job (yeh, right).
- Trainers and folks who teach job hunting courses. These folks will give you useful tips on how to make your resume more interesting, and have more tips for you.
This is a good list of useful folks. Remember you are trying to find out about the inside jobs that are not necessarily going to be advertised. A lot of times these jobs are simply unavailable to most folks, but if you have a good insider, you may be able to work around that (keep that in mind).
Job Searching Isn’t Easy
Job searching is hard these days (I knew of what I spoke), but nothing worth having is going to come easily now either.
Activate your network before you think you need them, it is just being prudent.
I agree with Gerry to an extent. I can actually think of a few people I know who have landed jobs through the “formal process” of submitting a resume, and going through the motions. However, most of the people I know who are currently employed found their jobs through people they knew. Another piece of advice I would throw out is to always have a rainy day fund somewhere in case you face a few months of unemployment. Employers can smell desperation!