How to leverage your existing relationships for your job hunt.
When people used to say this to me at the peak of my job-hunting mode, I used to roll my eyes.
How was I supposed to meet professional people if they only hung out with other professional people? What would I have to offer them when reaching out to get help?
I use to carry around assumptions that I had nothing of value to offer those who I wanted to build relationships with. I would tell myself things that were only partially true so that I believed I was correct in my assumptions.
Now in my early thirties, I shake my head at how much time I wasted thinking I had no value to offer those relationships. I am embarrassed that I thought so little of myself and had so much anxiety about asking for help from more established professionals.
Furthermore, I’ve learned that respect can be earned even as a young and up and coming professional. It’s earned by being genuinely and authentically interested in your career, your industry, and respectful of the more established professional’s time and energy.
But how can you start building your “Who You Know” rolodex? Well, first you should stop sifting through a rolodex! Nobody uses those anymore! Instead, I suggest taking a more methodical approach that involves technology, good old fashioned pen and paper, and a little bit of time for planning.
5 steps for leveraging your existing relationships for your job hunt
step one:
Make a list of your closest colleagues or friends who work in your industry or field. This can be a brain dump of sorts. My favorite program for building out a brain dump like this is MindMeister. (MindMeister is a free Mind Mapping tool!) As part of this brain dump, you want to track some important information about your contacts, including: (1) Company Name, (2) Their Role, and (3) Your Last Touch Point.
step TWO:
From the list generated by Step One, identify which of your contacts are at companies you’d be interested in possibly working for or may have contacts with others who can help you. A good way to do this is to expand your Mind Map out even further and add some basic information on places your contacts have worked in the past. For example, if Alex worked for Facebook in the past and you really want to work for Facebook, you should reach out to Alex first.
step three:
Now you need to put a structure in place for reaching out to your contacts of interest. How will you connect with them? Will you shoot them an email and request a lunch meeting? Or would you possibly ask for a conference call?
One of the most proactive methods I have seen is to find a job opening you’re interested in and requesting their help to get in touch with the hiring manager or recruiter. Many companies will pay referral bonuses to employees who refer suitable applicants for open positions. Make it easy for your contacts to suggest your name.
PRO TIP:
Your outreach doesn’t have to be awkward. Leading into step four, look at where your interactions may come naturally with your contact. For example, if both Alex and you are members of an industry group and the industry group is having a happy hour next week, it might be smart to reach out to Alex and ask if he’s attending. You could always offer something casual like, “I’d love to catch up with you and wanted to see if you’re attending next week’s happy hour.” If he says he is, great. If not, use that as an opportunity to invite him out for coffee.
step four:
Get out there. It’s very hard to express your interest in other opportunities if you’re spending all your time behind your desk. Attend industry events, go to happy hours with fellow colleagues in your field, and make a point to be visible in your industry, especially in your local market. Make sure you’re seizing every opportunity to expand your network, maintain existing contacts, and let others know you’re looking to make a change.
PRO TIP:
In marketing, we like to say it’s important to stay “top of mind”. But what does this really mean? Basically, we want to make it easy for your contacts to think of you when new opportunities come up. I have been asked so many times if I knew anyone who was looking to make a career change; the people who always first come to my mind are the people who have taken the time to let me know they are looking and made a point to keep in touch with me.
step fIVE:
Get on LinkedIn. You’d be surprised how many people think LinkedIn is just for those looking for jobs. Wait, but aren’t you looking for a job? Then why aren’t you on LinkedIn? 94% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet candidates. Keeping your positions up to date on your LinkedIn profile makes you 18x more likely to be found in searches! It’s also a great place to build out relationships and grow your professional network. You don’t have to physically be face-to-face with someone to reach out to them for help, so stop playing it safe and start spending ten minutes per day on LinkedIn building up your network.
PRO TIP:
One of the most common mistakes I see people make with LinkedIn is they decide they want a new job and they immediately go to LinkedIn update their profile and start randomly connecting with potential connections. They do this for about a week and then lose steam and come back to me and say, “But LinkedIn doesn’t work.” To this I respond, “No, you just don’t know how to use LinkedIn.”
LinkedIn is a social media platform. To gain traction on it, you must be using it thoughtfully, consistently, and authentically. I talk much more about this in the training I give on LinkedIn for Relationship Building.
To use LinkedIn effectively to build relationships you must be more purposeful and thoughtful in how you connect with your contacts and your audience. Before taking this haphazard approach to networking, try following a potential contact on LinkedIn for a while. Get to know what they post about and what is of interest to them, then make a strategic move to reach out with something thoughtful and purposeful before you make your ask for job hunting help.
Still not convinced that you need to be relationship building? Well, let me convince you. When you pay for a Custom Resume Rewrite, I’ll also give you a free masterclass on using LinkedIn for Relationship Building. Learn more.
Ready for a job change?
Get a done-for-you resume customized to your next job and get my LinkedIn for Relationship Building Masterclass for free!
Hi, I’m Jessica
As an internationally recognized legal marketer and law firm executive, Jessica has spent her career helping attorneys pitch their services and their resumes to some of the largest global companies and CEOs in the world. Her specialty: Helping smart professionals be unforgettably hire-able. Whether you are seeking your first job or a career change, Jessica empowers you step-by-step. Execute simple, yet practical and actionable tasks to get your resume past the stack and into the hands of your next manager.
