Networking: Following Up Just Enough

Last time I suggested being mindful of the words you use and how much you talk in a networking meeting or interview. This posting is about how to follow up with out feeling like a stalker. 

In February Steve Rosenblum spoke at the Career Stimulus Program’s monthly meeting at Harper College in Palatine, Illinois. It was a very good talk, and it excelled in delivering a means for job seekers to follow up. Steve’s talk was entitled: “Organizing Your Job Search” and he drew out his 3X3 Networking process. Steve is an HR professional and he comfortably suggest working through the a company’s HR organization.

Its basic premise is to wait three business days after the initial contact or application and follow up with someone in the company, either the hiring manager or HR staff contact. If you are leaving a voice mail or talking to the person on the phone your message is the same. It has three parts:

1. Acknowledge that they are busy and probably have a lot of responses to the open position.
2. Ask if they received your application or resume; that this is the purpose of your call.
3. Ask if there is anything that can be done to improve your chances for the opportunity.

If you have left a message and don’t hear back, Steve suggests that you wait three days from your last contact and call back. Then If you don’t hear back on the third day call again. Still if you haven’t heard back follow up one more time. If after three follow ups from your initial contact or application they haven’t connected with you, place them in a holding file because you never know when someone might contact you and you should never really give up until you get a definite “No, thank you.”

Mr. Rosenblum’s talk covered following up prior to an interview. How about after having an interview, how long should someone wait to follow up?

We teach that once you’ve had an interview, the following up process changes from three business days to a week to ten day waiting period. After an interview, either for a job opening or an informational interview, call the person the next day and thank them for their time and to reconfirm that you are interested in the opportunity if that is appropriate. (Informational or networking interviews probably don’t have a job opportunity right away, but may later.)  Then call back every week to ten days to let them know you’re still interested in the opportunity and are looking forward to moving ahead. You may keep calling until you get a definite yes or no without being considered a stalker.

In addition to a phone call after an interview go ahead and send a hand written note. You wouldn’t believe it but over 60% of people don’t follow up after an interview and even more don’t follow up after network meetings. I look at it this way... if you don’t follow up then your efforts in your job search to get the interview are wasted. Don’t waste your hard work. Network - Interview - Follow up - Land the job!

Next week we’ll talk about Xtranormal movies...

Networking is for Everyone

As a compound word, Networking has two words that make it up: net and work. Net as in a contrivance of cord tied into an open, meshed fabric, for catching things; or anything serving to catch or ensnare. A net could also be a connection of things like computers as in the Internet.

Work is exertion or effort directed to produce or accomplish something; or the result of exertion, labor, or activity. Author Lillian Bjorseth defines Networking as an active, dynamic process that links people into mutually beneficial relationships to create social capital.

It's important to realize that it is work, but it doesn't have to be toil. It requires talking to people and establishing relationships and this is sometimes difficult or scary for people. But if you are in sales, especially in today's marketplace, you'd better get good at networking.

The work comes in two forms: first, calling people on the phone; the second comes in meeting people face to face. Regardless of everything written, it comes down to phone calls and meeting people face to face. Without these two aspects you cannot build mutually beneficial relationships.

It's funny, the other day I heard someone call a "network marketing" business "relationship marketing."  Boy, they created a new terminology that hits the nail on the head. Building relationships is not easy: just ask anyone who is married or in a family. It's work and that's okay, it can be fun and invigorating building your network if you remember you will need to give before before you will receive.

It is exciting when you meet people to whom you can give something, something of value. In sales it might be the information associated with your product or service which will benefit the other people's life or business. In a job search it might be another connection or even the promise to pay the benefit forward. There is a Tao in networking where you only receive when you give freely. This requires being open and giving of yourself. This may be the scariest part of networking for some people.

I saw an interesting blog the other day that asked this question, among others: "do you have to be born with the ability to network?" Link The short answer is no, just a willingness to get to know people. The blog quotes Dale Carnegie, "You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you."

 

So realize that everyday you are faced with countless opportunities to network with people and it could lead to something fantastic. Happy Networking.

The SYSTEM of Job Search Isn't Fair

   The simple truth is that the players, organizations and activities involved in the area of employment and hiring are not there to help you find a job. This job search system or simply “The System” is set up to comb through candidates or to eliminate resumes. This is very different from finding the right person for the job.

So often I listened to clients and others in job search say, but I was perfect for the job and I didn’t even get a phone interview. How can that be? Let’s take a look at The System…

A company finds that they need to hire someone. A manager needs to fill out a requisition to hire. Let’s say there is enough money in the budget and the manager makes a good case for the hire and the requisition is approved. What happens next?

Most companies have a formal procedure for hiring in order to comply with state and federal employment regulations. HR (Human Resources) is called into the process. They check a database of candidates and the position is advertised internally. If this fails, the posting is then advertised outside the company. (Note: only about 20% of jobs are advertised.) This can involve print media, online service or an outside recruiter (AKA Headhunter). The result here is hundreds of resumes.

HR processes the resumes and presents to the hiring manager five or six “good” candidates. In a stack of 200 resumes what are the odds of any specific resume being chosen? Depending on where your resume is in the pile of resumes no one may ever see your resume.

I’ve heard HR people complain about the volume of resumes they have to process. If they find six appropriate candidates in the top of the stack are they really going to keep looking through the rest of the stack? A company's formal hiring process is there to mitigate the risk of legal complications - not to find the “right person.”

I've really simplified this but you can see that long before an interview can be scheduled you have to do something to break out of The System and get yourself noticed. This is why networking is so important; it's a numbers game or a lotto and the odds are stacked against you. Beat The System: become excellent at networking.

-- Edited by Alice Dechene