networking

Steve’s Job Search 2012: A Blitz Works

by

I lost my job right before a vacation.  I took some time to send out resumes before heading out to my suddenly-even-more deserved rest, then I hit the job search like the palm of a short but charismatic Lannister.

I hit all the job boards I could.  I burned hours upon hours telling everyone in my LinkedIn directory (who would want to know) about my job search.  I told my friends.  I rechecked my recruiter list.  I probably easily put 50 hours into the search or more in the first week alone.  Maybe more – I can’t honestly remember.

It worked.  I got an insane amount of resumes out as noted, and obviously got results.

A good blitz works for several reasons:

  1. It gets you out there pure and simple.  You might not sustain it, but it does saturate the market.
  2. It lets you evaluate your opportunities.  This is kind of like career echolocation, where you send out signals and see what happens.
  3. It gets some one-time or limited tasks just the heck out of the way so you can focus – like blitzing your contact network.
  4. It gets your name out there, so the chance for “pass alongs” increases with every contact you make.

#2 is one that’s not something I’ve heard people talk about much, so I want to emphasize it.  If you do a big, insane job search blitz, then at least you get a lot of signals back to evaluate your progress.

A blitz is also good as if you get good results then you get reinforced as well.  It’s a good way to keep yourself in good spirits.  If nothing else at least you can drown your panic in activity.

If you’re blitzing the job boards, do not just do the day you start or the last few days.  Go back as far as they can go so you catch up on any posts you can find.  It’s worth it – those positions are up there for a reason, and even if the job is filled, someone may still look at your resume!

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/

Steve’s Job Search 2012: Networking

by

In my latest job search?  Yeah I did networking.

Yeah, I always emphasize networking.  What did I find out about networking in my latest job search?

Well, yes, it works.  You knew that.  Most of us know that.  I found that it works pretty well – I had several interviews due to networking, and all of them due to people reaching out to me due to past contacts.  As my job search geared up, I got lots of people helping my apply for jobs at their companies (though my results came so quick I had to let them down quick as well).

What did I do?  I took a weekend and wrote everyone I knew and told them my situation.  That took hours.  It was also worth it.

My advice:

  1. Be open about it. Tell them your situation, what you’re looking for, and where you’re looking for it.
  2. If you don’t know what you want or what you’re looking for, hold off until you do – it’ll just confuse things.
  3. Track and follow up with every person who replies, and review your conversations.
  4. When you do get a job, let people know (even if its a LinkedIn post or something).
  5. Find people who can refer you and see if they’ll refer others – after all, they may have some leads for friends of yours.

Networking’s effectiveness is, much like the use of job boards, also bounded by geographic area and connections.

There is also one, big, huge, enormous factor in Networking that I realized while doing my search, something I knew unconsciously, but now I *get* it:

The skills you develop in networking, the attitude of trying to connect, is just as important as any connections that you make.  When you interview, you’re networking, when you handle a rejection you’re networking.  You’re networking throughout the job search even if you don’t realize it.

That networking ability connects you with recruiters and interviewers.  That networking ability lets you turn a failure into a future interview.  That ability simply lets you connect.

That makes a huge difference.  I could see in my interviews that sheer connecting got me results.

So when you’re in an interview?  You’re still networking.  Remember that.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/

Ask A Progeek: Keeping Up Networking

by

Well, been awhile since our latest talk.  Sorry this is a tad late, I had a crazy week!

So what’s the question from the Aspiring Progeeks today?

While I know the value of maintaining a network, how do I “keep in touch” if there’s nothing specific to say?  A random dropping of “Hi, how’s it going?” seems socially awkward, and yet too much time can lapse if I only contact the person when there is news or a relevant question.

This is actually something I struggle with myself.  I’m a connections type of guy, and rather social, yet I’m also not sure how to be uninvasive yet also keep up contacts.  Here’s what I found works – and yes, this is pretty much pure progeek.

First, you’re probably already keeping in touch with people anyway via social media, in-person, etc.  You’re doing a lot of networking already with your regular contacts and may not realize it.  If you’re not maintaining and expanding your actual social sphere, then you’ve frankly got larger problems.

Secondly, good networking these days usually requires some kind of regularly updated social presense in twitter, a web page, a blog, etc.  Take advantage of keeping a presence people want to and can follow available.  This takes the pressure off you by knowing that, if people truly need to contact you (and you forgot them) they can find you and follow you – and it already is “socially appropriate”

If you’ve got these going, you’re already solid.  Now where it gets tougher . . .

Third, you have to decide how you’ll classify your contacts to figure out the best way to keep in touch with them.  Do you know a lot of recruiters?  Do you have a lot of fannish contacts that are kinda-friends/kinda-pro?  Sort contacts in a way that works for you – and figure which kind of contact is appropriate.

Fourth, put together the right tools and schedules to keep in touch with people in a way that works, benefits you, and benefits them.  Here’s what I do:

  • Anyone I’m actively needing to engage goes into my task management program (Wunderlist)
  • I have active conversations in a folder I review once week to make sure they’re still going on.  Conversations that are questionable go in a folder that’s reviewed and purged once a month.
  • I keep an alert list of people I’m following regularly and set times to check in on them monthly, bimonthly, and so forth.  I keep this in Salesforce because I use it’s useful for many other things (you may just need a simpler system).  These are for people who I should talk to regularly, following up on projects and the like.
  • I set up a system to regularly contact people in LinkedIn list – though I’m currently revising that plan (which I intend to share).  This is more my “hi, how’s it going” pile.

Fifth, you’ll notice the tools I mentioned – find the right ones for you.  I like Wunderlist, a low-level Salesforce, and LinkedIn.  You’ll find something that fits you.

Sixth, do NOT forget “non-regular networking” off the schedule.  When I hear of news at a certain company and I recall people are there, I look them up and ask how it’s going.  When I find something of interest to certain people I ping them.  I get into the habit of networking – and this is when it is appropriate to contact people (in fact if someone’s company is laying people off you bloody well better be reaching out)

(In fact, if you do this right, it’ll make regular networking easier and may even eliminate or diminish some of your usual schedules.  This may be replacing my LinkedIn schedule to some extent).

Seventh, and finally, find a way to get feeds about people – from Tweetdeck to Twitter to RSS feeds or whatever.  Find a way to feed your social media together so you can get a quick view at a glance what other people are doing and respond – which also removes the social issues.

The great thing for us geeks is we’re technical, organized (in some ways), and can think creatively, systematically, or both.  Leverage this and you’ll be Networking like a pro.

Oh, and always re-evaluate your strategies.  It lets you make sure they work for you – which is what it’s all about.

– Steven Savage
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/