Keppie Careers

Social media speaker, social media consultant, job search coach

7 tips to help you become a better ACTIVE listener

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I can’t talk enough about how important it is to be a good listener if you want to succeed in your job hunt. Earlier this week, I shared tips to help improve your listing skills. Today, some additional thoughts and advice!

I have written about how to stand out in a sea of sameness.  Instead of focusing on YOU – what you want, what you offer – start listening. Ask questions. Be the candidate who connects on an emotional level with your audience. There’s nothing that people like better than someone who seems interested in THEM – it’s human nature. Be the one who listens first and answers based on what you learn. You may be surprised by how well this technique works!

Being an active listener is just that – a process that involves your participation. On the surface, listening is something you do without thinking. In reality, to be a good listener, you need to work at it.

, who writes for the About.com Guide offered these tips to help become an active listener.

  1. Listen for verbal clues.
  2. Watch for nonverbal clues. “ Eyebrows, hands, pauses, eyes” – these note when a person makes an important point.
  3. Be mindful of your own reactions. Nod or smile, but try to avoid physically reacting to a negative comment. Fleming notes,  “As long as you’re managing your reactions, you’re still listening.”
  4. Avoid making predictions. Don’t assume what the person will say next, as it usually means you will stop listening.
  5. Focus on the words, not the person. Don’t focus on what the person wears or ugly hairstyle!
  6. Don’t get caught up on one detail. It is easy to get distracted, but you don’t want to miss the next important point.
  7. Don’t let your mind wander. Your “to do” list can wait. Push non-related thoughts from your mind to focus on the conversation.

Don’t miss the rest of my series about the five networking fundamentals to help you land a job. Review the pieces about the keys to researching your networking targets, how to ask good questions and six ways to improve your listening skills.

Once you have a chance to think about updating your skills, take  this quiz to evaluate your general listening skills.

Please share your ideas and comments about good listening in the comments!

photo by vickisnature

Questions to ask when networking

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This is the third in my series about networking. Now that you have the keys to researching your networking targets, and know the fundamentals, you need to consider what to ask when you meet them! The number one thing to remember when networking is that most people have a favorite topic of discussion – themselves!

GL Hoffman had some useful advice at his blog, What Would Dad Say?:

It truly is not about you. It is more about the other person. Ask questions, find their interesting story, learn from them, ask advice. Strive for a conversation that is 25% you, 75% them.

Remember your manners. Smile a lot. Say please and thank you. Hold doors open. Make eye contact. Say “and” more than you say “but.” Be positive. These are the things your mom taught you.

These are great launching off points to consider before thinking of what to ask at an informational meeting.

Don’t forget that it’s important to assess what you want to know! There is nothing worse than having a meeting and walking away without accomplishing your goals. So, have some goals!

Need help learning what to say when networking?
Find tips and scripts for in-person and online networks in my new book:
100 Conversations for Career Success

Figure out what you need to know about the organization or the person – things that you cannot find out by a quick Google search. Consider asking about the person’s (or organization’s) values, important skills needed to work there and about how they do business. Ask the nuanced questions you want to know. For example:

  • What are your biggest challenges? (Or those impacting your field/company/organization?)
  • What is the best (and worst) part of your job?
  • What would you do differently (if anything) if you were starting over in your field?

At the same time, in case you have a contact who likes to ask a lot of questions, be sure that you can also discuss your unique qualities – your unique selling proposition.

  • What are YOUR skills.
  • Why are you interested in this field or organization?
  • What do YOU have to offer?

Be sure to bring along your resume, just in case your networking contact asks for it, or if you have an opportunity to ask for input and advice.

In the long run, what exactly you ask is less important than HOW you ask it and how well prepared you appear. It is really true that you have one chance to make a first impression…Be interested and interesting and you won’t have to worry!

Feel free to share your great question ideas and success stories in the comments!

photo by leo reynolds

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

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.