Online-Schmonline. Best practices for finding a job IRL!

In my last post – which readers enjoyed to my delight - I offered pointers for leveraging online sources during your job search. LinkedIn is great but those submitted applications aren’t going anywhere unless a real person-to-person connection exists. Today I am going to offer best practices on how you can use THE REAL WORLD to build those relationships. Ok, let's go!

Number 1 - Own it! Your job is looking for a job. Take pride in your job and make sure everyone who cares about you knows you are good at it. This may not be easy. It is natural to want to hide your “unemployment.” It can be embarrassing, but you need to get over it. And you will. Do you know why? Because you are taking this sh*t seriously. The situation is as it is for reasons mostly out of your control, and those that were in your control have taught you a lesson. You are a better person today than you were a month ago. You are a better employee now than you were in your last job. You are a f*cking rockstar looking for a stage.

Number 2 - Stay disciplined. Disciplined people with good habits are better employees than those without. Heck, disciplined people with good habits are generally better people. Get out of bed early. Do your chores. Make your bed. This applies to your search too. Keep a notebook (I use a word doc). Write down every conversation you have, with whom, when, what was discussed, whether it was email or in person, and what are the follow ups. Return to this list every week and reach out with deliverables, reminders, and warm wishes. Be strategic and polite, but don’t fear sending a bump up. Even people who love you will forget occasionally. Discipline will keep you in their thoughts. And if you should accidentally overdo it, they’ll let you know and you’ll be a little smarter.

Number 3 - Be prepared. As you meet new people, you will be sharing your story. But no one other than a recruiter or hiring manager wants to sift through your too-long resume. Have a list of 5-10 short bullets that sum up your story and can be inserted into every email that its appropriate. Next, print (and carry!) personal business cards. Sure, we don’t officially need them in the smart phone era, but a card placed in a new connection’s hand is a physical reminder of the conversation and may lead to a slot on their to-do list. Finally, understand that different audiences have different needs and prepare multiple versions of your resume. An internal recruiter may want to see that you are an expert in specific platforms, but his or her hiring manager will likely prefer that you can manage teams irrespective of platform.

Number 4 - Say yes. You never know where you will meet the person who is going to lead you to the next opportunity. But you do know that you won’t meet anyone while hiding. Learn to say yes to every invitation you receive. Go to that wine night at your gym, the social gathering at the kid’s school, or enroll in a boot camp (get fit and meet new people). Do you have old friends with whom you mean to connect but never do? Well, this is the time. Can you do one new thing a week? Great, now do lots more. Set a goal of five events each week where you can have a conversation and build your audience. This is your job. Are you good at your job? Yes. Yes, you are.

Number 5 – Seek connections with people you admire. Look within your network and find the people who work for firms you like, are good at building audience, or lead exemplary careers. Pay attention to them. Learn how they succeed, but also how you can get their attention. Reach out, tell your story, be vulnerable. Ask for help. I once read that a young JFK discovered that asking for favors achieved better support than doing favors. Get people you admire to invest in you. While you are doing this, don’t forget to look under rocks. Some of the most valuable relationships you build are with those in the same boat. Seek out other searchers. Share ideas and experiences. Show them love.

Number 6 - Use your time. It may feel like you lose a lot when you lose a job. It may feel like you don’t have much when you are unemployed. But you know what? You have been given something wonderful. Time. Now make the best of it. You have the luxury now to go to the gym more, lose weight, spend more time at your children’s school, read more books – a lot more books. If you aren’t using the extra time in ways that make you fantastically better, then you need to figure out why. Maybe you can use this extra time in therapy.

And finally, stay frickin’ positive. People are attracted to enthusiasm. Looking for work isn’t a pleasant job, but if you can find a way to love it, take advantage of the perks it offers, and use the opportunity to make yourself better, then the people who can help you will want you in their orbit. Remember, your job is audience – not applications. Applications almost never lead anywhere. Audience is filled with opportunity.

#opentowork #careerprotips #linkedin #chiefofstaff #jobsearch