Using your network to find a job.

You will most likely have more connections than you can initially imagine!

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The type of job you are seeking will pretty much determine the type of actions and where you can find the best resources for your career search. Applying directly to the online recruiting resources for local companies or requesting a paper application from a small company without the Internet recruiting software is best for clerical, retail, food services, and light manufacturing positions.  But if you are striving towards management, or have reached an executive level, the jobs you may want to strive for may not be posted (yet).

The mindset of some mid- to large-level businesses are they do not want to waste their limited man-power to dig through hundreds of applicant’s resumes to find that none of them fit the company’s needs. There may be political forces in place where the executive leader needs to keep the search under the radar – especially if the candidate is to replace an incumbent.  The hiring manager may have candidates in mind, but want to keep the pool small for consideration.

The best place to search for job openings if you are a mid- to high-level management position is within your own Rolodex.  Pull up all those business cards, database of contacts, LinkedIn connections, and other people’s phone numbers and start making phone calls.  You don’t have to mention that you personally are looking for a position, but you can note, “hey, I have a close friend who has many of the same skill sets and background as myself who just made a decision to look for a new position – who do you know that might have an interest in talking to him about a (name the position title, i.e., Director of Marketing) position?”

Don’t ignore your best friends – some of them may be in the industry and can put out feelers to their contacts within the industry.  Do they have family members in the same or similar industries that they can reach out to, or have they read recently about any companies expanding their workforce because of new growth or trying to replace an aging workforce.

Who are your staunchest supporters or strategic alliances in your current business development or marketing activities?  Who are the vendors who you have worked closely with in improving the bottom line of your current or past employer?  They have first-hand knowledge of your capabilities and thus would be most likely to share your resume with their hiring managers.

Have you had one-on-one’s with business clients in the last year with whom you have kept up?  Do you send them business or refer them to new clients?  If they see how you have helped them, they should be ready and willing to help you in return.  Who seems to be a connector or maven in your business and social circles?  These are great sources of people and their point of contact information, but can also introduce you personally or via phone, or even on their own letterhead to that hard to reach executive.

Who do you know that has a great reputation in their field?  Because they have that reputation, they are most likely to know others who will listen to them that you can reach out to touch (figuratively).  Take them to lunch, brainstorm who they know, pull out a notebook, and after the lunch, email them list of who you need telephone numbers and emails for immediate correspondence.  Ask permission to name-drop your contact to get past the ‘gate-keeper’ secretary.

If you have been keeping up with your social media – that can be a great source.  LinkedIn has dozens or more job boards – some focused specifically in geographic locations.  Yahoo Groups and other online social media bulletin boards has job seeker groups where recruiters stalk the site to pick up great candidates.  Many folks don’t understand Twitter, but recruiters use that to tweet jobs that fill quickly because job seekers are watching the tweets for key words, so create your profile and start following profiles with recruiter or recruiting in the key profile description.

The best method to start your advanced career position search is to reflect back on the people you have encountered over the past year and how you have kept up with them. Write notes for a loose script of what information or favors you are asking them for, and keep meticulous notes of the data to refer to if those calls are returned.  Do remember to continue to post your resume on job boards and resume databases – because some companies search only through those resources for candidates – and you don’t want to miss an opportunity.

Dawn Boyer, Ph.D., is the owner of D. Boyer Consulting – providing resume writing, social media management, business development, and human resources consulting. Reach her at: Dawn.Boyer@DBoyerConsulting.com or https://dboyerconsulting.com.