Landing a Job in a Crisis: Part III

Part I of the blog series discussed the challenges of the current job market, yet provided suggestions on how crafting one’s experience can help distinguish you among the pool of candidates.  Part II focused on demonstrating business value when communicating with hiring managers. 

For the third installment, I will outline the importance of networking.  This is arguably the most obvious of the three topics that are explored in this series.  However the significance of building relationships and leveraging those in your orbit can not be understated.

The Secret Society

The section header might be a bit dramatic, but imagine being a member of a club that comes with perks and privileges that are not available to non-members.  Well, having a strong professional network is fairly comparable to a secret society; heres why:

• It’s been suggested that upwards of 75% of open roles are not publicly advertised on job boards; they are filled through networking
• Even when openings are public, some companies can claim that 50% of jobs are filled through internal/employee referrals

Those numbers are incredible.  If job seekers aren’t networking and instead focusing only on job boards, they are missing massive swaths of opportunities.  

Networking can take many forms, in fact its a rather nebulous term, but this article will touch on some of outlets to get plugged-in (remember that Part II focused on how to frame your introductions).  

Show Up

Some folks might think the number of connections on their LinkedIn profile equates to the size of their network, unfortunately the materiality of those connections may not be particularly useful if the relationships weren’t birthed in a more material manner.  It means something to see a face, shake a hand (or fist-bump), and have a dialogue.  

There are a wealth of communities that have an online and offline presence.  The balance of each may vary across outlets, but at minimum these communities may have regular real-time (zoom or in-person meetings) and a non-real-time digital forum (bulletin board, facebook page, etc) to keep the group informed and engaged between meetings.  One of my favorite such portals is Meetup.com (however EventBrite and Facebook are equally as good).  Search Meetup.com for topics that you are passionate about and you’ll likely find interest groups in your geographic region, whether its about Entrepreneurship, Cryptocurrency, VR, or Sustainability.   Upon becoming a member of the Meetup group, one can expect to receive emails for virtual or physical meetings (once the pandemic concludes).  Prior to COVID, it was not uncommon for these to be hosted in an event space or social area of a local company that can accommodate a few dozen people, and at certain events beer and pizza might be served too!  The goal is to get like-minded people together to bounce ideas off of one-another, discuss best-practices in an industry, or share novel breakthroughs.  

It maybe intimidating to be thought of as a “newbie” to the group, but rest assured, the existing members welcome newcomers. 

When you are at an event (whether physical or digital), the outcome for a job seeker is four-fold:

• Do a lot of listening: the attendees at this meeting are people who are passionate and likely have some professional association with the topic (but hobbyists also make up a large portion of participants).  Regardless of the composition of the group, they will be speaking the language of the art.  That is, they will be talking about real problems (this is particularly useful for those coming out of school who may have only been exposed to academic-versions of the topics).  They will be using the prevailing vernacular and acronyms; these should be taken note of because it will be important to be able to weave these into your own vocabulary during discussions with hiring managers and recruiters.
• Ask Questions: Most experts love to share their experience and knowledge, and as such, appreciate the opportunity to educate.  Take advantage of this, it provides an opportunity to participate in the conversation even if you feel like you are swimming in the deep-end.
• Breakout: Meetups can attract 10 to 50 people or more; with those kinds of numbers its hard have a meaningful connection.  Many meetups will have a some socializing time before or after the main event (the main event might be a group discussion, a single lecturer, or other centralized activity).  Even is a digital setup, breakout rooms may be available. This socializing time should be leveraged to meet attendees more intimately.  Hint: Meetup.com usually shows those group members who plan on attending.  Examine the list of attendees ahead of time, look them up on LinkedIn to determine where they work and what they do.  Find a few people to target during these socializing times, you’ll now be equipped with a few talking points (or questions) about what you learned from your research. 
• Be Appreciative:  As a Meetup/EventBrite meeting/Facebook Group wraps up, you hopefully have learned some new industry-specific vocabulary, acquired contact-info from those you connected with during the breakouts, and have a stomach full of pizza.  All three of those warrant some gratitude.  Show your appreciation with followups:  send a note to those you met with an email, thank the host, and finally put those new buzzwords to use on your resume.  Those notes to the host and attendees mean more than you know because they open the door to a dialogue that you must nurture and maintain.

Turn Everyday Events into Networking Opportunities

I used Meetup as the example in the above section, however, the fact is these principles can, and should, be applied anywhere. Think about those bullets in even the most mundane situations or those that were organized for sheer social reasons, as there is always opportunity to find connections that can be invaluable. The old expression “birds of a feather flock together” has particular relevance here given that social groups of people are usually connected by shared interests, this suggests there is likely several people in your social orbit that do work similar to you (or work that we want to do). Don’t be shy. Listen, learn, leverage.

This wraps up the series. Hopefully you will walk away with some tips that will better position yourself as you kickoff or continue your job hunt.  You can also get more help from our experts or videos; visit our shop here.