Tap Into the Power of Your Network to Help Find Your Next Position
Get the Job
By Dawn Rasmussen, CMP
Meeting professionals tend to be fairly social animals. We like to connect with people and have a real passion for what we do. However, many job hunters in our industry are struggling to start their searches. If we are so well connected, why do we have such a problem transitioning our people skills to the job search?
Most of us have a lot more people in our network than we think. When we add business connections, friends, family, neighbors, former and current colleagues, clients, industry members that we’re worked with and anyone else that we run across in business or social contexts, the result is a sizable network.
The key is to tap into the power of this network. Studies show that a majority of people find jobs through someone they know, so put your time and energy in the most productive activity of the job search—meeting people and refreshing your existing connections.
One of the four cornerstones of networking is the business card; you’ll need something to hand out to the people you meet. Have a clear idea of your career direction and identify it on your business card. People will remember you better that way.
Card information should include your name, title of the job you are seeking (or general field like “meeting planner” or “sales manager”), your phone number, e-mail address and—if you have it—a
LinkedIn.com profile. This is now your small, portable resume. Business cards can be purchased at
Vistaprint.com or any local print shop or printed at home using templates. (Be careful about compromising quality with economy. A shoddy business card can say things about you that aren’t true.)
Next, build your online presence. If you aren’t on
LinkedIn.com, you need to be. This Web site is quickly becoming one of choice for employers to vet out potential candidates, proactively recruit prospective employees and exclusively post jobs. Many companies cite the fact that there is a “known quantity” about you because they can follow the connections within LinkedIn to get a better sense of you as a candidate.
The most powerful part of LinkedIn is that it allows people to connect more easily. Here’s a good way of putting it: You have contacts in your professional and social networks, and then you connect to me and I have my own network. By virtue of us connecting, our contacts are now shared. As someone who is not particularly well connected, I have about 400 people in my network. However, when you count in the people that are connected to me on second- and third-tier levels, there are 3.8 million people in my network alone. This is an amazing connection base!
The third cornerstone of networking is meeting people. Being static and running with the same crowd is like a hamster running in its wheel…you go in circles. Push your limits. Identify groups that could be outside of your industry but are still applicable and attend their meetings. Hand your card out and talk to people. The person you meet at this event might not be the one to give you a job lead, but they could introduce you to someone that does. Expand your network and add them to your LinkedIn contact list.
Next, respectfully tap into your networks. Informational interviews are the best venues to accomplish this, as they are one-on-one. But the key is to remember that while your overall objective is to someday find a job, when you are in an informational interview, you’re sole focus is getting information. Find out what skills you need to pursue for your target job, including classes to take, organizations to join and skills to hone. Then ask permission to re-contact the person later and/or to keep in touch. After the interview, send a thank you note for their time.
Refresh your contacts from time to time in a friendly way to keep in “top of mind”—many people keep rushing forward and fail to return to cultivate the contacts they’ve already made, which is a lost opportunity. How is anyone going to remember you if you’ve only met/contacted them once?
By being the polite yet “squeaky” wheel that is resourceful and engaged, you will harness the power of networking by activating your connections as ‘sentinels’ for your job search. A position will eventually get snared in your network spider web. And when you are in your next job, remember how important networking was for you when someone comes to you for an informational interview. Don’t forget to “pay it forward.”
DAWN RASMUSSEN, CMP, is the president of Portland, Ore.-based Pathfinder Writing and Careers, which specializes in hospitality/meeting professional resumés. She has been a meeting planner for more than 15 years and an MPI member since 2001. She can be reached at dawn@pathfindercareers.com.