Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

How to research your way to a networking contact

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Is it socially acceptable to go up to random people on the street and invite them to coffee? Typically, no. You need to have a reason to meet, and it is up to you to come up with the reason before you do the inviting!

Research is a key factor for successful networking. I like to tell my clients, “Don’t look for a job, look for a company.” Similarly,  networkers should not first try to identify a list of people to meet, but rather identify organizations to infiltrate.

How to begin? Easy!

Think about geography. It’s always easier to connect in person with people who are local. Plus, are you willing to relocate for a job? If not, clearly, the organizations in your area will be your targets. Use all available resources to identify organizations of interest in your area. Don’t forget word-of-mouth resources, newspapers, information online and business journals.

Julie Abraham had some great ideas posted on Career Rocketeer to help job seekers:

“Research these companies by looking at their website to understand their mission and values. Use Hoovers or Yahoo finance or some other library database (like Mergent) to look up financials (if public company), read the most recent annual 10-K report (if public company) to understand their strategy and vision, check their website for PR articles and look up articles on Proquest or some other database at the library.

This should give you a good understanding of the companies strengths and weaknesses so you can ask intelligent questions when you speak with an officer of the company. Set-up Google alerts on these companies so you can read any breaking news. Search them on Twitter and other social media sites to understand their social media presence.”

Once you have identified several organizations, begin to tap your way into them. Leverage your LinkedIn connections and search other social networks (Twitter is my favorite) to determine logical connections. Now, it is time to contact people.

Every time I talk to clients about informational interviews, I always emphasize the importance of approaching contacts NOT as a job seeker, but as someone who is simply gathering information. If you can convince yourself AND the person you want to meet that you don’t expect the meeting to result in a job, you are much more likely to be successful securing appointments.

Let’s face it, if you approach as a job seeker, (“I am looking for an opportunity working in _____, and I would like to talk to you about positions at your organization.”), your contact will not want to speak to you unless he or she actually has an opportunity in mind. No one wants to disappoint another person, so if your target contact has no job in sight, he or she is likely to suggest that you send your resume to HR.

That tact will not help you get your foot in the door, and does not connect you one-on-one to a potential ally. So, be polite, but persistent. Insist that you are gathering information, “not expecting a specific opportunity as a result of our meeting,” and push to talk to contacts in person. If your targeted contact is not interested, ask for a referral. (“I appreciate that you are too busy to meet. Is there someone else in your department who might be able to speak with me?)

The fact is, most people love to talk about themselves, and few of us have a willing audience for our stories! Ask yourself, if someone called you and  requested that you share your story and information about your organization (assuming you weren’t working with classified information), what would you say? I would bet that most of you would be willing to help.

Stay tuned for information about what to ask once you land the meeting!

If you’re ready to hire someone to help you move ahead with your plans, contact me to find out how you can boost your job search – both online and off line. Check out my new book, Social Networking for Career Success, to learn how to use Branchout and other social networking tools to your advantage!

photo by BW Jones

Are you fooling yourself? Bored at work? Is it your own fault?

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In honor of April Fool’s day, members of the Career Collective community I co-coordinate with my colleague Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter are tackling a few important and timely questions! Today’s post is one of many responses to the question, “How are you fooling yourself about your career or job search? What can you do about it?”

I encourage you to visit other members’ responses, which are linked at the end of my post! Please follow our hashtag on Twitter: #careercollective.

Are you “bored” at work? Maybe it is time to look in the mirror! Susan Cramm,  the founder and president of Valuedance and a former CFO and CIO, asks this question in a post I have been meaning to share. She suggests, “Maybe You’re the Reason Your Job Is Boring” for the Harvard Business Review. (Thanks to @J2BMarketing for tweeting about this post!)

Susan suggests you ask yourself these questions (points 1-3 are Susan’s, commentary is my own):

  1. Are you on autopilot?

    2. How often are you driving somewhere new, but you accidentally turn the wrong way because you usually go the same old places? It’s tough to break out of routines that are monotonous. Think about how you can make a change. Otherwise, you are always going to wind up in the same place, and you will have no one else to blame!

  2. Your energy level is less than impressive.

    3. This is familiar to most people. We are tired, busy, overworked, have too much on our minds. It would be surprising if our energy levels were not much lower than necessary for active, productive work. What can you do about it? Break your routine. Get more sleep, exercise. Read a good book. Make time for yourself so you have more energy to give at work.

  3. You’ve become a conformist.

    4. Susan says, “It’s not unusual for leaders to start sleeping on the job once they hit year three or four. At this point, they have molded the organization in their own image. They know their people, processes, and technology aren’t perfect, but have adjusted to their imperfections and lose sight of the opportunities for improvement.”

    Are you sleeping on the job? Have you given up on making changes that you might have pushed for early in your tenure? Can you take one problem and think about how you may push for a solution? Is there ONE thing that really excites and interests you at work that you can take upon yourself to champion? What issue can you try to solve? Is there a strategy you can pursue that will engage and interest you?

    4. I would add – you are complacent.

    I have a friend who was thinking of looking for a new job, but realized how much work she would have to do to achieve the level of trust and flexibility that she maintained at her current (boring) job. Once we start to become accustomed to the way things are, it is difficult to take action that would challenge us and keep things interesting at work.

    So – the question remains: Are you fooling yourself? What actions are you willing to take to grab the wheel and drive your own career bus? Is it time for a change? Maybe the change should involve a job search, but maybe it means re-engaging and re-connecting with your current job. It’s up to you, but nothing happens until you take the wheel!

    Read what my #CareerCollective colleagues have to say on the topic:

    10 Ways to Tell if Your Job Search is a Joke, @careerealism

    April Fool’s Day – Who’s Fooling Who?, @MartinBuckland @EliteResumes

    If It’s Not You and It’s Not True, You’re Fooling Yourself, @GayleHoward

    Don’t Kid Yourself! (The Person You See in the Mirror is a Good Hire), @chandlee

    Avoiding the Most Common Blunder, @jobhuntorg

    Are you fooling yourself? Bored at work? Is it your own fault?, @keppie_careers

    Hey, Job Seeker — Don’t Be a Fool!, @resumeservice

    Job Search Is No Joking Matter,  @careersherpa

    Is Your #Career in Recovery or Retreat? (All Joking Aside), @KCCareerCoach

    9 Ways You Might Be Fooling Yourself About Your Job Search, @heatherhuhman

    Don’t get tricked by these 3 job search blunders, @LaurieBerenson

    Trying to hard to be nobody’s fool?,  @WorkWithIllness

    It’s not all about you, @DawnBugni

    Mirror ‘their’ needs, not ‘your’ wants in #jobsearch, @ValueIntoWords

    Stop Fooling Yourself about your Job Hunt: Things you may be doing to sabotage yourself – @erinkennedycprw

    Same as it ever was – @walterakana

    Don’t be fooled. Avoid these – @kat_hansen

    Job Seekers: You Are Fooling Yourself If...@barbarasafani

    photo by and_there_I_was

Five networking fundamentals to land a job

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If I had a dollar for every job seeker who told me he or she was “networking ’til they were blue in the face,” but had made no progress in the job hunt, I could take a very nice vacation!

The fact is, many people think they are networking, but all they are doing is telling everyone they know that they are looking for a job. That is not networking. That is telling everyone you know that you are looking for a job. (Let’s ignore the questionable grammar there – you know what I mean.)

In fact, I volunteered recently at a non-profit job fair. I was waiting to have a word with the organizer, but one of the job seekers was speaking to her. He introduced himself and said, “I’d love to talk to someone in your organization about sales, as that is my specialty.” I watched the organizer…She looked like she wasn’t sure what to say or how to respond. The request was so broad and non-specific. I could hear her thinking, “What does he want from me?” (Or, at least that is what I imagine she was thinking!)

I know what I was thinking – “That is NOT a way to ask for a networking meeting or informational interview.”

In a conversation with a client recently, we discussed networking. He considers himself introverted and wonders if in-person networking is for him. My advice to introverted job seekers is the same as it is for my extroverted clients. To successfully network, you need to do five things:

  1. Research
  2. Ask questions
  3. Be interested in the replies
  4. Have a story
  5. Follow up

Stay tuned for more details and how to successfully leverage these steps for your networking enjoyment!

photo by Light Play

If you stay in traffic, it’s going to take you a long time to find a job. Or: More marketing tools to find a job

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Last week, I wrote about hearing John Jantsch speak during his recent visit to Atlanta. (John  is the author of Duct Tape Marketing and the soon to be released, The Referral Engine.) He pointed out a hierarchy of the customer’s experience as marketers see it:

People must KNOW – LIKE and TRUST you…This leads them to:

TRY – BUY – REPEAT – REFER

To sell, you must “create a better customer experience,” which helps solve lead generation issues for those who are seeking customers and clients. Clearly, these marketing fundamentals now rely on creating necessary feelings of trust and encouraging people to try and buy via online channels. It is no surprise that being online and establishing a presence there (in what John calls the “free real estate”), helps move people through the necessary channels for success today.

However, Jantsch made an important point:

“The fundamentals of marketing have not changed,” despite the fact that the tools are different.

I thought that was such an interesting point, and one that is often overlooked. Yes, the mechanisms have evolved and the ways to connect and establish “deeper relationships” are different today than even a year or two ago. (Twitter, anyone?) However, the main points are not different. The  idea is to establish relationships and trust. That is an age-old goal for anyone selling something.

The same is true of job search. I recently helped a client who works in a marketing capacity. He refuses to embrace the “free real estate” of social media for his job hunt, insisting that he does not want to be too self-promotional. This was surprising, coming from a marketing professional, and frustrating for me. I worry that he is approaching his search with only a percentage of what he needs to be successful.

Many of you probably also bristle at all of this “social media for the job search” talk. You may remember a time when all you needed to do was send out a resume, make a few calls, and you would be hired. Unfortunately, those days are over. But, one thing has NOT changed…To easily land, you needed to be able to make a few calls. Today, a “few calls” may translate into having several hundred followers/friends on Twitter, many hundreds of connections on LinkedIn and a professional Facebook page that allows you to leverage relationships with long-lost high school friends and new contacts all in one place.

Having an optimized resume is crucial, but adding a layer – a “social” or online version that is more interactive and allows readers to dig deeper is becoming more important. Just a cover letter was the norm. Now, your calling card may be a blog.

John said it well – “How you move HAS changed, but the point is to create awareness.” That has ALWAYS been the point of job search.

John suggests engaging in social media with this in mind:

  • Listen first
  • Claim your free real estate
  • Publish content – or limit your ability to succeed.

For job seekers, I’d suggest thinking the same way. Connecting and building relationships has always been the point. Yes, there are a lot more ways to get there today. To be successful and efficient, you want to build deeper relationships and expand your network beyond your immediate circle. I cannot think of a better way than by engaging in social media.

Think about it this way: If you needed to get from your home to a friend’s house, and the only way was through treacherous traffic, wouldn’t you appreciate a new bridge that could take you directly there, bypassing the aggravation of bumper-to-bumper cars?

Think of social media as your bridge. If you stay in traffic, it’s going to take you a lot longer to get where you want to go.

What Duct Tape Marketing has to do with your job hunt

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Last night, I had a chance to hear John Jantsch, author of Duct Tape Marketing and (soon to be released) The Referral Engine. I was so excited to have the opportunity to meet John, as his highly acclaimed book has long been on my “to read” list. (It also seems to be on the “recommended” list of many of my colleagues’ blogs.) John has a great blog as well, dedicated to helping small businesses find “simple, effective and affordable” marketing solutions.

I also have to give a shout out here to the Atlanta Business Marketing Association and Kris Elliot (@regusatlanta) from Regus AtlantaOffice Solutions for hosting a terrific event in their beautiful office space! (Win one year of fully furnished office space at one of their 23 Atlanta locations enter HERE!)

I had a feeling that I’d get some great ideas to share with you from John, and I was not disappointed! The fact is (can’t say this enough): Job search is nothing more than marketing YOURSELF. And John’s definition of marketing absolutely hits the spot:

“Getting someone who has a need to know, like and trust you.” What a great way to define the point of the job search!

All too often, job seekers fail to connect and land because they don’t focus on what the organization or employer wants. Big mistake. Find this information by studying the job description, thoroughly reviewing the organization’s website and social networking sites and making good use of information from people you have met via informational interviews.

What are their problems? (Their “pain points.”) You need to understand those problems before you can try to solve them. (Follow THIS LINK for a story that helps explain why!)

Job search is not about you. Your resume is not even all about you – it is an opportunity to make connections between what you offer and what the organization desires. If you ignore those all important NEEDS, it is unlikely that you will connect with an employer in this very competitive market.

Take a good look at your resume. Are you taking into consideration who will be reading it and what appeals to him or her? Do you make an effort to connect your skills and accomplishments in a context that resonates with your audience? What can you do to incorporate information with the “hooks” to appeal to the jobs you are hoping to “catch?”

Stay tuned for more that John shared that really resonated for me and related to job search!