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Leaving Effective Voicemails In Your Job Search!

By Harry Urschel

When networking, following up on an application, reconnecting after an interview, or for virtually any other aspect of a job search… talking to someone is always better than an email.

A professional voice on the phone is much harder to ignore than one of dozens of emails.

However, for most people, the majority of calls you make will initially result in leaving a voicemail than actually being able to catch someone on the phone.

I recently received an email from someone asking what they can do to improve their chances of getting a call back. Good question!

Here are some points to consider:

Be prepared! Many people prepare well for their introduction and presentation should they get the intended person on the phone. However, most are unprepared and stammer or ramble on if they get a voicemail instead. It is just as important to be prepared for a voicemail as it is to talk to the person directly. Just as you should have a script prepared for a conversation, you should also prepare a script for a voicemail. Having a well prepared message to leave will keep you from rambling, stammering, or leaving a message you may regret.

Make it brief! The fact is, a lengthy voicemail is not likely to be listened to in its entirety. And even if it is, it will likely hurt the impression you leave rather than help it. If they are trying to get through their voicemails quickly, a lengthy one quickly becomes annoying. Briefly state  your name, the reason for the call, 1 or 2 very brief reasons you would be of interest to them, and be sure to leave your name and return number at the end. The impression you leave will be much improved by being succinct, substantive, and upbeat. Your voicemail should never be more than 30 seconds or so.

Let them know you’ll be back! If you make it clear that you will be following up again, it may improve your chances of getting a call back. If you leave a voicemail without any indication that you will be following up, it’s very easy for them to delete it and forget about you. The likelihood that they might call you first, or at least remember your call is greatly improved if you indicate you will be persistent. Let them know you’ll be reconnecting.

Be Pleasantly Persistent! Keep trying! Only leave a voicemail once, however, keep trying to reach them often. Many times it’s easier to catch a manager before or after “core” hours. They may be easier to catch at their desk before 8:00 am or after 5:00 pm. Try several times throughout the day to improve your chances of actually catching them by phone versus getting their voicemail. While a call back from them is fine, you will invariably be better prepared for an effective call when you are the one making the call to them rather than receiving one at a random time.

Say something like…
Hello Mr. Smith. My name is Harry Urschel. I’m calling in regard to the open Accounting position you have posted online. I believe my Oracle AR experience in a manufacturing environment over the past 5 years fits the requirements exactly. And I have process improvement skills that saved my previous company a great deal of money.

I’m sure your schedule is full, however, I hope we can speak soon. If you are able to call, you can reach me at 867-5309. I’ll also call back around 4:00 this afternoon and keep trying over the next day or two until we actually connect. I look forward to talking soon. Again, this is Harry Urschel, and you can reach me any time at 867-5309.

Some points to keep in mind when crafting your voicemail script:

- Never use someone else’s script! You will never sound natural using someone else’s words. Write your script in words that you feel comfortable using.

- Practice. Don’t try your script out for the first time when you’re leaving a message to an important contact. You will be better if you’ve practiced it several times in advance.

- No more than 30 seconds. Time it. If you’re over, figure out how to say it more succinctly.

- Immediately connect the dots. Give the most relevant experience you have to the requirements for the position. Telling of unrelated skills, no matter how impressive they are, will not gain interest if it’s not required for the role. Then, give them one BRIEF skill that might set you apart from the competition…. again, related to the open position.

- Repeat your name and phone number at the end of the message so they don’t have to “rewind” to get that information. Make it easy for them.

There is no “guaranteed” way to get a contact to call you back. However, by following a few basic guidelines, your chances can be greatly improved. In most cases, though, your voicemail sets the stage for an effective conversation when you catch them on the phone another time.

Where do job leads come from?

By Harry Urschel

That’s what most job seekers want to know!

“What is the most likely source for finding the right job?” …and “Where should I focus my time?”

Questions that make sense to ask… however, are very difficult to answer! MANY times, the best job leads come from the most unlikely sources! The best job lead may come out of the blue!

Over the last four years, I’ve helped lead a job networking group and teach an 8-week class on job transition skills. For the past 23 years, I’ve also been a recruiter who talks to people looking for new jobs every day. I’ve spoken to thousands of people in a job search. Yet I’m always amazed at the stories of how people have found their jobs. I regularly hear people tell me something like:

“I’ve been searching online postings and going to networking groups for months, but ended up finding the right job through…”

…a referral from an 85 year old woman at my church one Sunday morning.

…the stay-at-home mom next door that knew someone.

…an old co-worker I hadn’t talked to in 15 years but ran into at the supermarket.

…a previous boss that called me out of the blue.

…a recruiter that found my information on LinkedIn.

…a company I blindly called into, not knowing if they had an open position or not.

…a conversation I had with someone I met at a coffee shop.

…an email I got back from someone I had sent a monthly update to about my job search.

…an introduction I sent someone based on an article I read about their company.

…a referral of a referral of a referral!

…and on, and on, and on

 

There is no single best source of leads. The obvious ones (job boards, online and newspaper ads), are generally the least fruitful because nearly every other job seeker out there is checking out and pursuing those same ones.

The reality and the challenge for the job seeker, is that you need to consistently pursue dozens of avenues, all the time!

Don’t neglect any contact, lead, or idea you hear of. Use your time wisely, however, the best opportunity often comes from the least likely sources. Often the name you’re given that sounds like a dead-end lead (the 85 year old grandmother), may be the one that has the best contact, specific job lead, or idea for you.

Will that always be the case? Of course not! However, don’t miss out on an opportunity by not chasing down every lead and contact you hear of. That means putting in enough time each day and managing your time effectively is key to being able to make each of those connections.

If your days are primarily characterized by searching and responding to ads online, you are spending most of your time on the same resources as the vast majority of other job seekers out there. To effectively find and connect to someone that is not getting overwhelmed by candidates, you must go where others don’t. Make personal connections to people whether they have a job opening or not. Getting to opportunities before anything is posted is critical in beating the crowds.

Don’t neglect the obvious avenues. You still need to check and follow up on job postings. You still need to attend networking groups. You still need to search out contacts through LinkedIn and connect to potential hiring managers and recruiters. However, don’t dismiss the stay-at-home mom next door when she says… “You ought to talk to my cousin Frank who works at XYZ Company. He’s not in your field, but his company seems to be doing well!” You have no idea… cousin Frank may know of a particular job, have a better networking contact for you, or know of resources that may be worthwhile for you.

Effective networking is building relationships, one at a time, building a chain of referrals from one person, to the next, to the next, and to the next until you end up talking to the one that has the right lead for you!

Does pursuing all contacts and leads make your job harder than just searching for jobs online? Absolutely! Is it likely to help you find a job faster? YES!

You never know where your best job leads will come from. Check everything out and you may be surprised!

Follow up, Follow up, Follow up!!!

By Harry Urschel

“It’s been a week since my interview and I haven’t heard anything...”

“I had a great informational interview but that was the last I heard…”

“I had a phone conversation with a good contact in the company…”

“I have almost 100 people I’ve networked with in my job search so far…”

“I met someone, at (an event) that said they knew someone, but haven’t heard back…”

“…should I follow up?”

I teach an 8 week class on job hunting skills, and these are the most common questions I’m asked regularly. And my response is always the same: YES!!!

“But I don’t want to annoy them, or come across as a stalker.” …is a common reply.

In my experience, I’ve found that candidates think they are being annoying long before the recipient of their follow ups ever do. Professional, timely, pleasant follow up is key to setting yourself apart from other candidates they are pursuing.

Why should you follow up, and how do you do it effectively? Here are some ideas…

Most people don’t follow up, it’s a chance to set yourself apart. Even after a formal job interview, generally less than 25% of people send a Thank You note of any kind. Other meetings, phone calls, email contacts generally get little to no follow up from most people. Doing something different from the norm, in a professional and upbeat way, will virtually always create a positive impression. You have far more to lose by not doing it, than the infinitesimal risk of losing an opportunity by doing it. Especially if someone else does follow up, and you don’t, you will lose by comparison.

It’s another chance to cement a relationship. Whether it’s a casual networking contact, or a formal interview, the chances of gaining more consideration from them is very much dependent on building a relationship. If you only make an initial contact and they never hear from you again, it creates no reason on their part to invest any more thinking in helping or working with you. Building a relationship requires contact and effort in following up.

It’s another chance to mention something you may have forgotten before. Although you don’t want to launch into an in-depth explanation of something else in your background in a follow up… a succinctly worded phrase or sentence adding value to your earlier discussion can help in improving their impression of you. It’s another chance to provide additional or new relevant information.

Keep it brief! Too often, if someone does follow up, they either ramble on too long on the phone, or write too long in an email or letter. After the first minute of engaging in some way, patience begins to run out and there is either no chance of making a positive impact after that, or you are actually increasing the risk of annoying them. Even an extremely short “Just wanted to thank you again for your time” will have a more positive impact than 5 or 10 minutes of going further into in-depth information. That’s true in a phone call or written communication. It’s best to carefully plan exactly what you want to convey and say it as briefly as possible to make the best impression.

Be professional! Regardless of how friendly your meeting or prior discussion may have gone, never assume too casual a relationship. Even though a hiring manager wants to like you to hire you, or a professional networking contact enjoys talking to you, in order to take additional steps with you they need to feel confident that you will always be professional with others they introduce you to as well. The referral process, and the hiring process is still essentially a business transaction. Don’t take it too lightly.

Switch it up! Effective, and consistent follow up doesn’t mean a steady stream of phone calls every other day. That does become annoying. However, you can have some form of contact with them regularly to keep you fresh in their mind and build a further relationship with them in the process. Within a day of any of the scenarios listed at the top of this piece… Thank them. You might send them a Thank You card in the mail, or email a brief note, leave them a voicemail, or call and thank them for their time. Then, in a week or two, connect again, but in another form, and in two to 4 weeks again in yet another form. Keep the process going, but you end up actually talking to them directly only every couple of months.

If they are hearing from you regularly, but in various and unobtrusive forms, you are building a relationship, not haranguing them. Building that professional relationship has everything to do with their perception of your persistence, your follow through, your professionalism, and their interest in you.

Should you follow up??? Yes! Definitely! Absolutely!

…but do it right!

Don’t Be A Stealth Job Hunter!!!

By Harry Urschel

Are you trying to find a new job without letting anyone know you’re unemployed? Many people try, very few succeed. Especially in today’s job market, it is extremely difficult to get a new position without extensive networking!

That word seems to scare many people. In their minds it conjures up images of glad-handing Multi-Level-Marketing salespeople who wants to show their “plan” with the “perfect” opportunity for you without knowing anything about you. Or it draws memories of the brother in-law who became a life insurance agent and has been haranguing every distant family member for months to buy a new policy from him.

Those bad memories are caricatures of networking or sales, and not the image you would create by effective networking for a new job.

Don’t hide from the people that can help you! Here are some thoughts and some practical help to do it right…

Especially now, there is no shame in losing your job! Often, I hear people say they don’t tell others they are looking for a job because they are embarrassed over being unemployed. Too often they blame themselves somehow when in fact market conditions can make anyone a casualty of a lay-off. When companies are forced to make drastic cuts in their expenses, they often have to cut broadly and deeply. Often they will cut a whole department, or a straight percentage from every department. The decisions of who stays and who goes are often made very arbitrarily with the bottom-line the primary concern. Survival of the company is more important than cutting carefully with a scalpel.

Over the past 2 years, virtually everyone recognizes that no one is immune. There is no stigma to a lay-off as there may have been years ago. There is no need for embarrassment, or shame. It is what it is and generally people don’t view your unemployment as a reflection on you, but rather a sign of the times. I was told of someone recently that didn’t tell his wife that he had been laid-off for 3 weeks. He rose, dressed and left for ‘work’ each morning just as he always had so his wife wouldn’t suspect, but spent his day at a coffee shop. Now that’s stealth, and not at all a good idea.

Who do you tell? Everyone! You never know where your best leads will come from, and usually they come from the most unlikely sources. Make a list of everyone you know. Studies show that most people, on average, know more than 350 people. Create lists in groups to help jog your memory. List ALL your family members, close and extended. List friends. List ALL your previous co-workers from everywhere you’ve worked. List service providers like your doctor, accountant, lawyer, real estate agent, dry cleaner, mail carrier, etc. List other parents on your kids’ sports teams. List other parents you know from your kids’ school. List people you know at church, temple, or mosque. List people you know from former vendors, customers, trade associations, user groups, or professional associations. List alumni from your schools. Hopefully, you get the idea… make lists of everyone you know!

Then gather contact information… find where they work on LinkedIn, call the main number of the company and call them. Gather email addresses if you have them. Google their name to find something of theirs with contact information. Use resources like Jigsaw.com, ZoomInfo, or the phone book!

What do you say? That will vary with how you know them, how well you know them, and what position they hold. However, as a general rule, one thing you don’t want to say is: “Do you know of a job opening?” The vast majority of people you talk to will not know of something off-hand and then the conversation becomes awkward and cut short.

As a suggestion:

“I’m connecting with everyone I know in order to network effectively to find a new position. I realize you may not know of a specific open position in my field. However, I figure my job while I’m looking is to keep adding links to my chain of people, connecting one to another until I find the right opportunity.

I’m hoping you may be able to give me names of a couple of people that you know that would be worthwhile for me to talk to… either anyone else you know in my field, someone that you might reach out to if you were in my situation, someone that just seems to know a lot of people, or anyone you know at companies that seem to be doing well.

I’d be grateful for any specific job leads if you know of one, however, I’m really only hoping for the next couple of links in my chain.”

 

People can’t help you if they don’t know you are looking! Don’t keep your job hunt under wraps. Let everyone you know you are looking, touch base with them regularly (every 4 to 6 weeks), and keep adding to the links in your chain until you reach someone with the right opportunity for you!

What good does THIS contact do for me?

By Harry Urschel

“I’m an Electrical Engineer, I go to a job networking meeting and ask for contacts at one of my target companies, and someone gives me the name and contact information for an Accountant! What good is that???”

Or…

“I already know someone at ‘XYZ Company’, I don’t need anymore contacts there.”

Leading job networking groups and teaching job search classes, I get the same kinds of questions or comments all the time.

What good does a company contact do you if it’s not the hiring manager for the kind of job you want? And, why should you pursue multiple contacts at a company you are targeting? Because the more information you gain, and the more allies you develop, the better your chances of gaining an interview and a job!

When networking for contacts in your job search, any contact can be a great asset to you. Also, pursuing multiple contacts in the organization can boost your exposure when you need it. There is a great deal of value to those introductions and names. They can each be sources of company information, help in navigating the organization, guides to help you get to the best person, and resources in helping you assess the company’s fit for you.

If you are an “Electrical Engineer”, and connect with an “Accountant” at the company you are pursuing, you can ask any of those kinds of questions. Be concise, be professional, be upbeat, and be humble. Ask them things like:

“I realize you’re not involved with the type of role I’m pursuing at ‘XYZ Company’, however, I’m hoping you might be able to point me to the best person to talk to about the ‘Electrical Engineer’ position.”

“Knowing the company as you do, however, pursuing an opportunity like I am and hoping not to get lost in the sea of other applicants going through the normal HR process, how would you recommend I get noticed or find the right person to talk to for that position?”

“As I pursue opportunities in the organization, I’m hoping you can help me get a better understanding of the corporate culture and what priorities are for the company.”

“I have an interview scheduled in the next few days, and I’m hoping you may be able to help me be better prepared. I hope to go beyond what most others would do. Is there any general advice could you provide that would help me excel?”

”Could I ask for your consideration in sharing my resume with someone in the functional area I’m pursuing?”

“Even though I have connected with the ‘Engineering Manager’, I’m hoping to gain more knowledge and understanding of the organization from others as well. Could I ask you a few questions?”

Those questions and others can provide you a great deal of insight and help from any contact within the organization… and sometimes your best information comes from the least likely sources.

In today’s job market, you generally find that most people are willing to help in some way. If you ask in a professional and unassuming way, you will often get the guidance you seek.

Don’t regard any contact as not ‘valuable’ to you, and don’t get discouraged with some ‘dry wells’.  Follow up with every contact you receive and your progress will accelerate.

From Twitter, LinkedIn & Facebook to Face-To-Face

By Harry Urschel

Not long ago, I received an email from someone asking:

“I am in the midst of a horrible job hunt and have been for a while. Do you know of any online groups or support forums that can help me keep a schedule or talk about issues? I live in a small town and the local groups are more geared towards factory workers rather than professionals.”

Good question! Most larger metropolitan areas have a number of networking groups, professional or trade association meetings, or other resources available to help in your job search. A smaller community, however, can have real limitations. Online resources are incredibly valuable. However, whether you’re metro or rural, getting off-line and connecting face-to-face is critical to networking success. So what do you do?

Here are some ideas that may help!

Twellow – Twitter can be a tremendous place to find contacts and get conversations going to network with people in your field, companies you’re interested in, and with people in your local area! Twellow is an excellent tool to find people in each of those categories. Once you are registered on Twellow, go the the “Twellowhood” tab to find people in your geographic area. Follow them, engage with them, and create opportunities to be helpful to each other. For more help of how to use Twellow and Twitter effectively read: Twitter for a Job Search… Really?

LinkedIn Groups – Naturally, LinkedIn is a tremendous resource for finding people at target companies and in your location. However, it can also be a great give-and-take networking resource through LinkedIn Groups. There are thousands of groups related to virtually any topic, location, or field that you can imagine. Search through the Groups Directory to find groups related to your career field, join, and engage with people on topics that can enhance your knowledge and provide potential job leads. Find groups related to your geographic area and discuss leads, issues, and ideas in your vicinity. Find groups related to job search and gain ideas, get help, and build relationships that can help in personal accountability during your search.

If you aren’t able to find a LinkedIn Group that’s local to you… start one! Anyone can initiate a group, then send invitations to others in your area that you find through a location People Search. If you’re interested in a local group, chances are many others are as well, and you would be developing a resource that helps you and serves many others at the same time.

Facebook – Without too much discussion… certainly all that applies to LinkedIn, works on Facebook as well. Although it can be more difficult on Facebook to figure out what kind of career people are in, you can find people locally, create groups, and perhaps refer them to your LinkedIn Group.

Take it off-line! – Finding appropriate contacts, making an introduction, and engaging online is a terrific way to connect with people that wasn’t possible even a few years ago. Social Media sites have been a ‘game-changer’ to a job search networking process. However, relationships, both personal and business, are still most effectively developed face-to-face.

Through Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook arrange a job networking event locally that can add value for everyone. Invite other job seekers, potential hiring managers, HR representatives from local companies, and recruiters. It shouldn’t be too difficult to find an appropriate facility for the event. A church, community center, YMCA, school, or hotel will likely be glad to offer their facility in order to be a helpful resource for jobseekers. Many companies encourage their Managers and HR Staff to participate in such events because of the good will it forms, the benefit to the community, and naturally, the ability to find valuable potential employees.

If you can identify enough people all in the same field or industry as you, it’s often quite effective to focus on people with similar backgrounds. Networking can be most effective with others in your field. When you have several people all seeking similar opportunities, potential contact and lead referrals are more targeted. A position that doesn’t fit one person may be a great fit for another. I recently heard a term I like for this: “Coopetition”. Cooperation + Competition = Coopetition! There are many benefits in networking with others in your field… not the least of which is seeing who your competition likely is at many of the interviews you go to!

Once you have a number of people, you can also arrange a weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly networking meeting to continue the sharing process. Your meetings can include sharing job search ideas. Perhaps bringing in speakers that can add expertise for you; often HR Pros or Recruiters can be good resources to be able to relate what works and what doesn’t when pursuing opportunities. Share contacts, leads, and company information.

Online tools are a great place to start, however, taking your efforts beyond the screen will make the difference to get you to your next job!

@salesrecruiter (that’s me) made the list! – 25 Most Influential Recruiters on Twitter

Jason from The Talent Buzz posted this January 11.  I love Twitter, and it’s an honor to be included with the other great recruiters on this list.  Thanks, Jason!

It’s hard to believe it has been almost 2 years since my first tweet.  Since then I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of great people inside and outside of my industry and profession, and publish a few blog posts on the topic.  A few examples include:

• Using Twitter to Recruit, Find a Job, or Network
• Using Twitter to Network and Find a Job
• Recruiting, Social Media, and Friends. Twitter Rocks!

Looking back the growth of twitter has been astounding.  In April of 2009, there were 1.5 billion tweets.  9 months later (as I write this) there are 7.6 billion tweets and counting.

Last February (2009) there were 900 profiles with the word “recruiter”.  Fast forward 2 months to April and it grew to 3,900.  Today there are 10,372!  There are also over 15,000 social media “experts” in case you hadn’t heard…

So with over 10,000 people with the word recruiter in their profile, who should you follow?

I would start with the 25 most influential recruiters on twitter, according to wefollow.  They include:

1. Shally Steckerl – @shally
2. Irina Shamaeva – @braingain
3. Glen Cathey – @BooleanBlackBlt
4. AIRS – @AIRSTraining
5. Steven Rothberg – @StevenRothberg
6. Jennifer McClure – @CincyRecruiter
7. Jerry Albright – @Jerry_Albright
8. Geoff Peterson – @GeoffPeterson
9. Stephanie Lloyd – @StephanieALloyd
10. Paul DeBettignies – @MNHeadhunter
11. Craig Fisher – @Fishdogs
12. Michael Long – @theredrecruiter
13. Ryan Leary – @ryanleary
14. Jim Durbin – @smheadhunter
15. Shannon Myers – @slcmyers
16. Sarah Peacey – @RecruitingTruth
17. Nikki G – @Recruitnik
18. Todd Kmiec – @toddkmiec
19. Dawn Mular – @DMular
20. Jeff Lipschultz – @JLipschultz
21. Rick Deare – @RickDeare
22. Peggy McKee – @salesrecruiter
23. Bruce – @RecruiterBruce
24. David Graziano – @DavidGraziano
25. Darryl Dioso – @DarrylRMSG

Sure, one could argue the other 9,000 recruiters haven’t registered their profile on wefollow (that’s their fault) or have chosen a different tag than recruiter.  Either way, you’ll be in great company with these 25 tweeps.

Check out Jason’s great Twitter Tips on the Talent Buzz!

Help them help you!

By Harry Urschel

Most people understand the importance of networking when looking for a job, however, few do it effectively.

People tell me their networking conversations or meetings are awkward and rarely produce anything meaningful. When I dig a little deeper, I often find that they expect their networking contacts to somehow just know what to do. Most people would love to help you, but have no idea how they can. It’s up to you to help them help you!

Often, a job seeker will jump to a question like “Do you know of any job openings that would fit my  background?” Chances are the networking contact doesn’t know of a specific opening at the moment, and the conversation stalls there, becoming awkward for both. So… Rule #1 – Don’t ask for a job!

That may sound counterintuitive. After all, the conversation is about looking for job leads, isn’t it? Well, yes, and no. As soon as they realize you’re looking for a job, they understand that you’re interested in leads. In the course of the conversation you should certainly tell them that if they know of, or come across an opportunity, you would appreciate the referral. However, don’t put them on the spot at the moment by asking them if they know of leads directly.

So what is the objective and what should you ask? Although you hope they may offer up a potential job lead, your objective in each conversation is to get 2 or 3 additional people to talk to. In your conversation with them, you can give them an analogy like:

“My job during my search is to follow a trail of breadcrumbs from one person to another to another until I get to someone with the right opportunity for me, so I’m only hoping you might be able to point me to the next few links in the chain for me.”

Then have various questions prepared that would help them think of who they might refer. Questions like:

“Who would be the first couple of people you would connect with if you were in my situation?”

“Some of the best contacts for me are people that just seem to know EVERYONE. Who do you know that’s like that?”

“Is there anyone you know at ‘XYZ Company’, ‘ABC Corporation’, or ‘Alpha, Inc.’?”

“It’s often worthwhile for me to network with other people in my field whether they know of open jobs or not, who else do you know that’s also an ‘engineer’?”

“Often the best contacts don’t come from work situations, but rather from someone’s church, health club, other parents of kids sports teams, or some other outside activity. Is there anyone you might think of from some other situations like that?”

“Who else do you know that would be worthwhile for me to connect to?”

The likelihood of getting a response to any of your questions will depend on some key criteria in the mind of your contact:

• Are you professional, humble, and credible? If they don’t think these things of you, they are not going to be willing to stick their neck out to others they know by referring you on.
  



• Do they understand what you do and what you are looking for? If they don’t have a good idea of what you do or what it is you really want, they will feel uncomfortable about referring you to others.
  



• Do you communicate well? Can you articulate your experience and your questions well? Are you brief, and concise, or do you ramble on with too much information? They won’t want to refer you to their friends if they don’t feel comfortable with you themselves.
  



• Do you exude a positive attitude? Are you upbeat, or discouraged? Do you show passion, or are you a grump? They don’t expect a life of the party, however, don’t want to refer you to someone if you’re a downer.

In order to achieve all this it takes preparation! Write out, hone, and practice your Elevator Speech. Be prepared with plenty of possible questions to ask them so that you can have appropriate ones in mind regardless of the direction the conversation goes.

Always ask them if there’s some way you might be able to be of help to them. Make it clear that you would like to build a mutually beneficial relationship and you’re not only there to see what you can get out of it. People will always care more about helping you if they know you care about them.

Then finally, find some way to connect with all of your contacts once a month or so. See if you can be of use to them in some way, and let them know that you’d still be grateful for leads or referrals if anything new comes to mind.

That connection can best be accomplished by sending out a monthly email newsletter to all your contacts. Give a synopsis of what activity you’ve had the last month, what new companies you may be pursuing, a brief reminder of what you do and what you’re looking for, and perhaps some personal updates to make it warmer as well. Be sure to Blind Copy (BCC) all the addresses from your distribution list into the address field and attach another copy of your resume for them to have handy. People that have done that regularly tell me they get the greatest number of new leads from that newsletter each month. Many times, a contact that may not have had any ideas for you when you met may think of something weeks later, however, figure you may not need it anymore by then or they don’t know how to reach you. The newsletter continues to build the relationship, let’s them know you’re still actively looking, and gives them your current information to be able to reach you easily.

In order to make your networking as effective as possible… help them help you!

What Is LinkedIn? And Why Should I Care?

By Peggy McKee

With over 50 million members and still growing, LinkedIn is the biggest professional network in the entire world. It connects an individual with numerous contacts. But, there is more to LinkedIn than just connections….after all, recent developments in networking technology should provide more than just size.

LinkedIn is able to facilitate the exchange of ideas on a larger scale. In other words, the network does not just exist – it exists for a specific purpose, which is to increase professional and business opportunities for users. One of the ways that LinkedIn accomplishes this is by providing a means to update profiles as often as it is needed. This gives business contacts the chance to see your most recent projects and contact information.

Simple Intro, LinkedIn

By The Recruiting Animal

What is LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a huge database of professional profiles. Recruiters use it a lot - a lot - so it makes sense to have your profile there.