Advice on the Power of Networking and Good Resume Practices to a Job Seeker

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The Goal of Networking:

When it comes to networking for the purposes of finding a job, you never ask anyone if they are hiring, because it makes them uncomfortable.? That means they’re less likely to answer emails or return calls.

Instead, your goal in networking is to connect with people and genuinely have interest in a topic, industry, or company that you want to learn about.? You should walk away with the names of 3 people along with a personal email or call of introduction from the person you’re talking with.

They’re happy to spend time discussing the best 3 people to introduce you to with a personal email or call.? People want to help and this is an easy ask for them, rather than focusing on the job they don’t have to offer you.

The Participants:

“The Learner” - ? ? ? A student of mine with whom I’ve stayed in contact

“The Connection” - A buddy of mine who works in warehousing and logistics

“The Coach” -? ? ? ? Manny developing networking skills in the Learner

The Scenario:

The Learner asked for some assistance with finding a new job after 18 years of increasing responsibility at the previous company.? He had grown to run the operations at several facilities before being let go for reasons that have nothing to do with performance.

For the purposes of networking, I (the Coach) introduced him to a friend of mine, who runs warehousing and logistics for an international company in the area.

The Learner is a mid-career technical professional who is versatile and good with people. Once he finds a company with good cultural fit they'll likely snap him up based on the Jim Collins concept of 'First Who... Then What,' from the book Good to Great. AKA "Get the right people on the bus and then figure out where they'll sit."

The goal of networking is to build collaborative relationships in business for the purpose of making everyone involved better-off

The Email:

I wrote a first email to my buddy introducing him to the Learner and asking for them to set up a meeting.? I expected the Learner to take charge and start by providing some times that the Connection could choose from, using the principle of “Make it easy for the Connection to comply.”

In the first email response, the Learner said that he had submitted a job application at? the Connection’s company.? A short email discussion between the Connection and the Learner revealed that the job in question had been filled and other jobs tentatively mentioned in the conversation were not appropriate for the candidate.??

The Analysis:? In one or two email exchanges, this networking lead had died without the two people ever actually speaking together.? I created some feedback for the Learner based on the email exchanges and edited for clarity below.? What would you have done?

The Feedback to the Learner

"I saw the email conversation with the Connection and I’ve got some feedback to help you going forward with networking.

Your stated purpose was to talk about the general business climate in non-threatening ways.? Take the meeting.? Don't close the door by email.? Goal was to get more information on XX topic and 3 contacts with an introduction.??

(Idea:? You might think about writing an introduction your contacts can use to send to their connections, to make it more likely that it will actually occur.)

I would have saved the discussion about your job application for the meeting, phone or video based on their preference.? Sometimes jobs come up that weren't open before the conversation.

When talking, people provide much more info about potential upcoming jobs or business conditions than via email.? People want to help and you don't want to put them in a position where you're asking them directly about jobs.?

Let them offer it to you.

Alternatives for next conversation:

• Talk to the Connection about the company and its needs.? Get information on key markets and potential markets, like optics and fabrication.? Challenges, both internally and externally.? Key customers they're approaching?? You might have connections.

• The Connection is a warehouse guy (you read his LI profile, right?) and could have offered advice on local vendors that he would consider working for, current or past positions.

• Ask the Connection for 3 connections who have insight into XX topic.? Very flattering when you ask someone's opinion on a topic.? And, it's non-threatening to be able to discuss the best people to introduce you to, rather than talking about jobs they don't have.??

With all of the connections you make, try to see if you can do something for them.? It may not be needed, and you might give them ideas; perhaps they need a recommendation or are looking for an article on YY topic.??

Ask the people you network with if they would recommend their child to work at the company and act according to the response

Oddly, studies have shown that when you ask somebody for a favor they can easily grant, then they're more inclined to think favorably of you. The old example used to be borrowing a book from someone. Can you ask for something simple from the person you're speaking to? An introduction? An article recommendation? A website???

The phenomenon is known as the Ben Franklin effect with this Wikipedia explanation.

It's still not too late to do any or all of these things in this case.? Especially if I ask the Connection to take a meeting with you."

Coaching and feedback is critical, especially for skills like interviewing not practiced much

Feedback from the Learner

After reviewing the email with the Learner, he agreed with much of the assessment and said that networking doesn’t come naturally to him, as an introvert.? He acknowledged the advice and is working on presenting his accomplishments in the best light. We're currently working through situations to highlight his accomplishments in the best manner.

Thoughts On a Good Resume:

Most resumes contain a chronological listing of positions and responsibilities.? While OK, for a mid-career professional they may have too many jobs to list them all.? Anything over 10 years old is not very relevant to the current position.??

Emphasize results over responsibilities and use numbers to describe outcomes.? ‘Implemented $250K lab expansion on time and under budget.’? Be prepared to discuss these projects in the interview.

Companies see your resume results and imagine the success as theirs. Not much success for the company in stating 'Managed CAPEX' unless you did something cool with it that we want to know about.

What's a ‘BL’ and why should readers care?? Explain any acronyms once and don't forget to indicate the type of company worked for.? ‘International manufacturer of optic systems’ is an example.

As a leader, why should someone hire you out of other candidates?? Your resume should reflect that, not just be a recitation of facts and responsibilities.

What skills, insight, and analysis do you bring to the table?? What can you do for an operation?? Some people are maintainers. Others visibly move the needle. How have you done that in the past?

Remove the months from your resume work dates, just use years of employment unless critical.

When you repeat the same words over and over again, (Focused or Managed, for instance) it's usually easier to rewrite the section and remove the redundancies.? Makes the text look cleaner

Adding a table helps clarify related content making it easier to read while dividing it up logically.? Think of adding a Skills section or other category to highlight the achievements..

The results you added look pretty good at first glance with dollars and percentage savings.? Think about "how" you got these results.? What were the key factors helping or hindering success?

In Conclusion:? Networking is great! It takes time and planning to be successful and find jobs or connect with the right people. Practice networking in low-stakes situations to be ready when networking results are critical.

What are your ideas on how to network for a new job? Keep the conversation going in the comments below.

Learn how we build practitioners with our hands-on coaching approach. Check out the CICS advantage today!

Visit the CICS LSS learning kits webstore to browse the coaching services we offer. See why our products, like Magic Ball or Red Bead and Blue Bead Experiment Kits are "Designed by trainers, for trainers."