Getting to The Interview Part 2

Getting to The Interview Part 2

This is the second part of a 5-part series.

The accumulated layoffs of the last year have made the job market unusually competitive. As always, networking is the key, but what does "networking" even really mean? And, what do we need to do, to elevate ourselves above the competition?

I'm a career coach for the San Francisco Job Forum. There are seemingly limitless job search resources available online, but the people we help don't want to read volumes of information - quite the opposite - they want the least amount of information necessary to get their next job. That will be the goal in presenting this short series of articles - to distill the best and latest wisdom into bite-size chunks.

There's a lot to cover so we'll break it down into 5 parts:

  1. Know What You Want And Who Will Help You
  2. Build Your Team of Advocates <- this installment
  3. How To Approach Companies Where You Have Advocates
  4. How To Approach Companies Where You Do Not Have Advocates
  5. Putting It All Together

The articles will focus primarily on what you need to do in 2023, up to getting an employer's attention and getting an interview.?

Part 2: Build Your Team of Advocates

In Part 1 of this series, we created two lists of target companies:?

a) the ones where you have contacts, and?

b) the ones where you do not.?

In this Part 2 we'll focus on the first list, reaching out to your contacts to validate their support and commitment to provide referrals and connections.?

Step 1: Identify the first companies to initially focus on

Our goal in this step is to focus our efforts where we can get the most benefit. We want to identify the connections who are, or could become, effective advocates for us.?

First Filter: How patient can you be?

- I'm in a hurry: Prioritize the companies where your relationships are the strongest - where you can likely create active advocates for you

- I'm not in a hurry: Prioritize the companies you are most interested in

These are two different strategies. If you feel the need to secure your next gig as soon as possible, you're going to prioritize based on your strong pre-existing relationships - people you feel you can count on. But if you have flexibility and time on your side, you may prefer to be a little more idealistic - to go after the best companies on your target list, and spend some time developing relationships there.

Second Filter: Are your connections at the right level?

Ideally, your advocates will be people at one or two levels up from you - that is, they could be peers with your next manager. So, look at your target list and the connections you have at each, and prioritize where you have connections at that ideal level. As another option, maybe your connections are NOT at that level, but they seem to be well-connected and could introduce you to someone who IS at that ideal level.

In short, you want your advocates to be decision-makers who can positively impact your candidacy.

Now, based on these two filters, you may want to re-order (re-sequence) your Companies-with-Contacts list, to put your best advocates at the top of the list.

Step 2: Request a live interaction with your connections

We want to meet with our connection, tell them a little about what we're doing, and what we need from them - job referrals and potentially additional connections. I find we get the best outcomes from live human interactions. But, people are busy - seemingly busier than ever before - so here's a recipe for requesting and holding a live conversation.

  1. Reach out via email or LinkedIn. Remind them of your connection. Include your contact information and a link to your LinkedIn profile.
  2. Express your ask up front to ensure your intention is immediately understood.?
  3. Close by saying you know their time is valuable, you understand if they're too busy right now, and to have a nice day. Take away any pressure to meet.
  4. If/when they agree to meet, propose three possible dates and times, and send a meeting invite as soon as you agree.
  5. Prepare a simple agenda to guide the conversation

  • Opening / small talk / connection
  • A few questions about the person and their experience (make it personal, not generic)
  • Close with a request for advice / recommendations / additional connections / future follow-ups

If they agree to connect you with someone else, draft the introduction email for them - this will score points for you, and increase the chances of them actually connecting you.

After every interaction, make sure to express your gratitude promptly. Thank you letters don't have to be long, but they're golden if they're authentic.

BONUS SECTION: How to Network and Ask For Help

No doubt you've been told that networking is the best way to get a job - that some large percentage of job seekers get their jobs through networking. I'll define Networking as the building and maintaining professionally beneficial relationships. That sounds good, but in practice it can feel uncomfortable and yucky. And then there's the business of asking people for help - how can we do that, without coming across as needy and desperate?

The solution is something called Social Capital. The writer Austin Belcak compares it to a bank account - you can't make withdrawals until you've made deposits. And, a one-time deposit may not gain you much - for real benefit you're going to need to make ongoing deposits (although they don't have to be big).

My favorite book about networking is Working Out Loud by John Stepper. I'm not actually sure that John ever actually mentions "networking" in the book - it's about achieving your greatest goal, by doing good for others. But when you lead by helping others, networking becomes much easier - and even fun.

Here are ten strategies for making deposits:

  1. Follow them on social media. LinkedIn is a good place to start, but also find out if they're professionally active on YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, etc.
  2. Like their posts and articles. Even better: Comment on their posts and articles, for example, by acknowledging common values or shared experiences.
  3. Introduce them to other people you think could be beneficial to their work.
  4. Acknowledge significant events in their career, such as achievements or transitions.
  5. If they're a published author, be aware that authors are very grateful for posts positively acknowledging their works. This is the easiest way to initiate a relationship with an author you admire but do not yet know.
  6. Volunteer for an activity or event that might interest or benefit them
  7. Share an idea with them that they might find interesting or valuable.?
  8. Find ways to make their life easier. For example, propose a solution to a problem they're facing.
  9. Offer to interview them for a blog, LinkedIn article, or other social media content.
  10. Thank them publicly for an idea or solution they've shared, and explain how you applied it and how it benefitted you.

When you get to talk live, focus on learning about your connection, their interests, and their needs. In preparation, think of maybe 3 questions you could ask, to get them started. What would you most like to know about them? And once the two of you get talking, stay curious and keep asking questions. Go beyond "What do you do?" to "How does your craft make you feel?" Express genuine curiosity.?

They will receive your authentic interest as a deposit. And, the more you know about them, the more options you'll have, to make additional deposits.

This is how you can grow the relationship.

This is how you can network.

That's it for now. The next installment will focus on how to approach companies where you already have advocates, so watch for it in the next couple days.

The individual articles:

  1. Know What You Want And Who Will Help You
  2. Build Your Team of Advocates <- this installment
  3. How To Approach Companies Where You Have Advocates
  4. How To Approach Companies Where You Do Not Have Advocates
  5. Putting It All Together

#connections #network #career #jobsearch

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