To your credit, career coaches have always alleged that networking is the best way to find a job. However, the difference between convincing someone to join your cause and hitting a dead end is all in your approach. For example, when you ask people if they know of opportunities and they donâ€t, the conversation ends right there.

So, itâ€s time to rethink your angle. Here are a few tips to help convince people to be your allies in the job-hunting process—even if they donâ€t have a position in mind for you right away.

1. Communicate With One Contact at a Time

If youâ€re tempted to send an email to 300 of your closest friends to ask for their help, stop now! People who receive your note wonâ€t believe youâ€re really counting on them—because theyâ€ll assume someone else will respond to your plea.

2. Listen More Than You Talk at Networking Events

Instead of, “Hello, nice to meet you, how can you help me find a job?,” make a point to have a real exchange with the people you meet. Ask a lot of questions—people love to talk to someone who pays attention and asks pointed follow-up questions. If you build relationships with your networking contacts and avoid vague requests, they will be much more likely to help you.

3. Connect With Long-Lost Contacts

What if you see someone youâ€ve been meaning to call, but never got around to it? Donâ€t run the other way—or worse, bombard her with requests to help you on your job hunt. Approach her with a big smile, acknowledge how long itâ€s been, and invoke a little mutual nostalgia by commenting on your joint history.

4. Use Social Media to Get the Conversation Started 

No, this isnâ€t a free pass to spam your Facebook page with “Can you help me find a job?” updates. Instead, fill your social media streams with content that shows off what you know.

When people see that you know your stuff, theyâ€re more likely to comply with an occasional request to assist with your job search. With the right preparation and mindset, you can tell your contacts that youâ€re looking for a job without scaring them off. Keep in mind, most people want to assist; itâ€s your job to make it easy for them to understand how they can help.

Read the entire post, including samples of what to say, inspired by our book, 100 Conversations for Career Success, on my guest post for The Daily Muse.

The post How to convince people to help you with your job search without being annoying appeared first on Keppie Careers.

I was flattered when a representative for Marlo Thomas’ Huffington Post channel contacted me because they saw an article of mine that they liked and wanted to know if I would write a post for them to turn into a slideshow for their site. The topic: 15 tips to land a job.

If you haven’t found a job, or you are looking for one, take a look at the slideshow, and don’t skip any steps. You’ll be ahead of the game, and more importantly, ahead of a lot of other people looking for a job, if you keep all of these in mind.

View the tips and the slideshow.

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What does it have to do with job search? Well, this isn’t actually a post about what to wear…Mainly, it’s inspired by watching the Golden Globes. I’ve only seen some of it so far (I missed the opening), but it seems to me that no one on the stage seems to know where they are going! Did you notice?

Then, Paul Rudd and Selma Hayek presented and their cue cards apparently didn’t come up, so they totally missed their lines. All I could think was, “Don’t they know what they were there to present? Shouldn’t they have been able to say the award they were there to discuss without cue cards?”

What’s the lesson for the job seeker or small business owner from tonight’s show so far (at 8:56 pm ET)? Plan. Prepare. Practice. Ask questions if you need to…Don’t be the job seeker or business owner who doesn’t know which direction to go,  which exit to take or what to say next.

The post If you know where you’re going, you know what to wear appeared first on Keppie Careers.