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Do’s and Don’ts of Networking

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 80% of jobs are filled before they are posted online. Posting a job online is expensive, requires screening resources, and results in candidates that are slightly less engaged on average; for these reasons, companies prefer hiring based on referrals. If networking is so important, most people must get referred to jobs, right?

This might come as a surprise:

Only 7% of job seekers are referred for jobs.

In addition, platforms like LinkedIn have made it much easier for people to really grow themselves professionally. People are using online platforms to find jobs, make connections, look for opportunities, and expand their professional network. LinkedIn hosts 500 million professional profiles, which means nearly unlimited potential to connect and expand your network.

Quick side note: Are you taking advantage of this unlimited potential to connect to potential employers? Use my quick, two-page resume cheat sheet, which breaks down exactly how a marketing manager was able to DOUBLE the initial offer they received. Get your own copy by submitting your information right here:

 

However, just like any social media, professional networking can often take too much of your time. And in reality, distract you from what you were actually supposed to be doing in the first place.

In fact, more often than not, people end up spending time and effort looking in all the wrong places. As a professional, you should always know where the best opportunities are.

Before most companies resort to posting jobs online, they try to hire internally and via referral for two reasons:

  1. It’s a lot cheaper. It takes a lot of manpower to look through the hundreds of applications they typically receive.
  2. It's more effective. Candidates hired via referral usually stick around longer.

If the competition is so minimal, why aren’t more people referred to their dream jobs? Here are a few networking pitfalls I’ve seen people making:

Don’ts

  • Chasing recruiters

Reaching out to a few recruiters with a copy of your resume is a good idea, but expecting them to respond immediately, and with a job that's just perfect for you, is not realistic.

Recruiters are being emailed by hundreds of candidates a week and it can be difficult to stand out unless you are a perfect fit for a role they are actively recruiting for. The chances of that happening are slim, especially because recruiters often are very specialized. A recruiter that I spoke with once, for example, built an entire, thriving business just sourcing candidates that worked in the lighting industry.

I’ve seen a lot of job seekers get very emotionally attached to a recruiter. Do not make that mistake! If you do not fit within their open searches, or if their client decides not to pursue your file, they do not even have to let you know.

Don't get strung along by a recruiter who you're not a priority for.

​Instead:

Network with people you could potentially be reporting to. For example, if you are interested in a Sales Associate role, depending on the size of the company, you could be reporting to either a Sales Manager or Director.

​Why?

  1. Authority. People who are department-level decision-makers have more hiring authority than an HR person. If they like you enough, your contact goes to their HR department and say, “We need to hire three additional Sales Associates this fiscal year, and I actually have someone in mind to fill one of those roles.”
  2. Executive-Level Relationships. If you are an executive-level professional, building relationships with other executives is a great way to get the company to create a job that draws on your unique intellectual and leadership assets.
  3. Knowledge of Role. Who would know better that it’s time to hire more Sales Associates, HR or the Director of Sales?
  4. Timing. While recruiters may only reply to you when there is a perfect, open match for someone just like you, the Sales Director will keep your outreach in mind months in the future if they feel you are a talented candidate. That’s because they’re more involved in the work their department does. They'll remember what problems you can come in and solve for them.

Advice. Even if the Sales Director cannot give you a job tomorrow, they can give you valuable advice to help you with your job search and career overall.

  • Perfectionism

A mistake I’ve personally made in the past is focusing on perfectionism. I’ve said things like, "I should first try to figure out how to write the perfect email."

And by having unrealistic expectations and creating artificial obstacles for myself ("Before networking with this person, I should spend a couple more hours researching their company.") I’d get paralyzed.

Instead:

Focus on quantity over quality.

Why?

​Spending hours researching company websites is not going to move your resume (or candidacy) in any direction. You know what will? Actually moving your resume and conducting outreach, not research.

It’s going to be very counterproductive if you get emotionally attached to one job and put all your resources, time, and energy into networking with that one decision-maker, completely customizing your resume and cover letter, and then later finding out that they weren’t hiring in the first place.

If you were a Sales Director, which candidate would you be more impressed with? The one that mimics the job description you posted almost word-for-word in their cover letter, or the one that a Sales Manager raves to you about?

Your Sales Manager knows sales. If your Sales Manager is impressed with a candidate, that candidate is probably going to be worth your time too, right?

The perfect job search is more about timing than perfection. No matter how perfect your introduction note is to someone, if they aren't hiring, you've just wasted your time reaching out to them.

I want to share one more thought with you. Your best friend will rarely be the best referee for you. Asking your best friend for a referral will be pointless; you likely have social circles that nearly perfectly overlap.

You don’t need to have that degree of intimacy to ask someone to help you with your job search.

If you’ve been guilty of perfectionism, try this – give yourself a deadline of an hour to reach out to 10 people and see how much progress you make.​

  • Bad impression

One of the most cringe-worthy mistakes you can make is being completely unaware of how you come across.

Instead:

Pick a buddy that you know will be brutally honest with you. Ask them to check your...

  • Body language
  • Physical appearance/body odor
  • References
  • Resume, LinkedIn profile, cover letter
    • You can upload yours here for a free critique.
  • Internet presence
  • Voicemail
  • Email address
  • Tone in emails/phone
  • Not “asking”

The clumsiest mistake you can make as a job seeker during networking is not “asking” for what you need. Irrespective of how obvious it is what you need and how impressive your content is, you’re still a stranger. You can be as subtle as possible if it’s not your style but it’s imperative that make it clear what it is you’re looking for.

  • Going after large companies only

While larger companies are targeted by a lot of candidates, according to the Edward Lowe Foundation, companies with more than 500 employees; like Google, Amazon, Cisco, and Deloitte; are responsible for only 11.6% of all jobs created in the United States.

Additionally, these companies have the luxury of being very picky. For example, most Google openings get a couple thousand applications.

Instead:

Companies with 0-99 people are responsible for 73.7% of all hires; companies with 100-499 people are responsible for 14.2% of all hires.

​Why?

By opening your heart to smaller companies, not only do you set yourself up for more opportunities, hiring processes in larger companies may be more bureaucratic. Often, smaller companies' top priority isn’t to have an outstanding web presence, so they might not show up on LinkedIn or Indeed. But that doesn’t mean that their pay scale, benefits, and culture aren’t competitive.

Once you have avoided steps that can only result in time-wasting in one way or another, the next thing you need to do is make sure to incorporate certain things in your networking:

Do’s

  • Identifying the right contacts

Instead of chasing after hiring managers or HR professionals, try and connect with people you’ll potentially be reporting to. Let me put this into perspective if you’re a sales executive looking for a job you’re better off connecting with the Sales Director of the company than the hiring manager. If your skill stands out, when an opening arises you’ll be referred by the Sales Director rather than the Hiring Manager.

  • Quantity over quality

This is probably one of the very few places where I’d recommend going with quantity over quality. Rather than getting emotionally attached to one job and putting all your eggs in one basket, it’s better to go for multiple.

  • Networking events 

Networking events provide a great opportunity to expand your network. You get to meet new and industry-specific people. Your focus at such events again should be quantity over quality; gather as many information cards as possible and meet as many people as possible.

  • Ready to give

It should always be a two ways street. You should never expect people to reply to your messages but instead, look to offer value and build relationships.

  • Following up

Answer this, you get hundreds of emails from strangers every day asking the same thing, how likely are you to respond to each and every one? This is what happens in the lives of recruiters or figures of authority. Now, if there’s one guy who stands out not only in content but persistence as well. You are more likely to respond. This is the importance of following up. This isn’t to say bombarding people until they respond but following up once or twice and if you still don’t get a response, just move on.

There are new opportunities coming out every day. The ones who are filter out the noise and keep their focus on their objectives are the ones that succeed in the end.

Here's more information on making your LinkedIn attractive to recruiters:

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