Make The Call!
Happy rainy Friday! I hope your job search has been prettier than the weather this week.
If you’re feeling stuck in your search, it is likely because you haven’t yet gotten in front of the right people. It’s easier to identify this problem than to solve it, right? You might be new to town or feel like you don’t have many of the “right” contacts. I want to encourage you today to pick up the phone and start calling people you know, asking for time with them. Make the call!
No matter where you are in your search, connecting with people – a/k/a networking is a key part of most successful searches. Learning how to grow your network well now during this search should serve you well throughout your career. Hopefully going through this exercise will help spur some new activity and movement in your job search!
STEP ONE
Make a list of everyone you know who would take your call. It doesn’t matter how you know them or where they are located. You will likely start with a healthy list and then continue to add as you remember others you should call. My friends at Coldwell Banker call the various compartments of your life “Circles of influence”. See if this list helps jog your memory of people you should put on your list:
· Former co-workers from all previous jobs
· Former supervisors
· Former classmates
· People you go to church with
· Neighbors
· People with whom you served on boards, committees or other volunteer capacity
· Parents of your kids’ friends
· Kids’ friends (if they’re old enough)
· Professionals you use: Doctor, dentist, accountant, attorney, banker, investment person, etc.
· Others you come in contact with: Postman, pizza delivery guy, mechanic, dry cleaner, etc.
· The bottom line is: don’t discount anyone and assume that just because they are ________, they can’t be of good assistance.
STEP TWO
Make the call! Most of your productive time during the day should be dedicated to reaching out via phone to schedule in-person appointments. If you’re spending most of your time surfing online job boards, my feeling is you aren’t being as effective as you could be. You want to be connecting in person with people. So start with your list – the people you know.
Call and ask for 20 minutes (no more than 30 minutes) in their office. You are NOT asking these people for a job. You want to meet with them to get their input and advice about your job search. Now, if they suddenly realize you are the solution to the problem they have and want to turn your meeting into an interview, you won’t object. Chances are, if they had a job for you, you would already know about it.
You need to be in charge of this meeting, starting with the initial call. They may try to avoid meeting with you because they can’t hire you. Put them at ease by saying “I want to meet with you to get your input and advice about my job search, I am not expecting you to have a job for me.”
If they’re really busy at work your response should be “No problem! I’m not interested in wasting your time. I don’t need to do this immediately, but I value your counsel. Could you possibly give me 20 minutes in a few weeks?” Get the meeting scheduled. The less you know the person the more likely they will try to object to giving you the time. You might also say something like “Would you be willing to invest 20 minutes to give me some feedback about my search?” I really like the word invest, because you are giving them an opportunity to help you and to dispense advise and maybe even expertise. Everyone likes to give advice (see this email as exhibit A!)
STEP THREE
Meeting & managing the time. As I mentioned earlier, I encourage you to “run” the meeting. Chances are, whomever you are meeting with is expecting you to ask them for something more than what you said you wanted. Your endgame goal for this meeting is twofold: (1) Grow the relationship and (2) Two or more contacts or introductions.
Here is my proposed time budget for a networking meeting:
00-03: catch up, discussing mutual friends, ice-breaking.
03-04: State your purpose; “I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me. I’m looking for your input and advice about my search and maybe even some ideas of other people I could talk with. Maybe it would help if I gave you a quick rundown of my career and what I do for a prospective employer?” That sounds great!
04-06: Your well rehearsed, two minute drill.
07-08: Set them up to talk: “Can you think of anyone who might have a need for someone like me or have an interest in connecting with me?” Then shut up. Let them talk. Awkward silence is OK, but hopefully your two minute drill sparked ideas of people they know to send you to.
08-16: Here you have to do some guiding to keep them on track thinking about their contacts. Take good notes.
17-19: Ask if they would be willing to call those contacts and introduce you telling the person that you will be calling in the next few days.
19-20: Thank them for their time and ask if you can periodically update them on your job search? Even if they encourage you to stay, get out! Why? You want them to feel comfortable taking a follow up meeting with you later and also feel good sending you to their friends. If they know you will honor your word where you asked for 20 minutes and respect their time, they will likely be more free sending you to other people they know.
STEP FOUR
After the meeting. Out in the parking lot, finish your notes. Maybe you didn’t write down everything. Capture that before you leave that office. Critique yourself. What would you do differently next time? Did the meeting with them spark an idea of someone else to call that they didn’t mention? Write it down now.
Follow up. Everyone says they send thank you notes, far fewer actually do it. Write a hand written thank you note. If you’re handwriting looks like Sandskrit or you could have gone to medical school, it’s OK to type it out, but mail it. Anyone can email. Stand out – be different.
Keep good records. If you met with Russ Knight on May 14th, note how you met me, my contact information and anything useful I said, and anyone I suggested you speak with. You can track this via a spreadsheet but a notebook can work too because it will also serve as a physical encouragement when you don’t feel like you have much going on in your search. You will be able to thumb through the notebook looking back at the contacts you have deepened or developed new.
I hope this is of good use to you. Start now so people you can start asking people you see at church on Sunday if you could call to schedule a meeting with them. If you dedicate yourself to connecting with people you will grow relationships far beyond those you know now.
God has something for you in this. For me, my two layoffs within a year and subsequent time with the startup company were difficult, confidence shattering experiences. But God brought me to the right place and revealed His purpose for me to attempt to help others going through job loss. I believe God has a plan for you too.
I pray that those who might benefit from OJT will be there this Tuesday at Asbury UMC in Tulsa. Blessings to you in your search!
Happy rainy Friday! I hope your job search has been prettier than the weather this week.
If you’re feeling stuck in your search, it is likely because you haven’t yet gotten in front of the right people. It’s easier to identify this problem than to solve it, right? You might be new to town or feel like you don’t have many of the “right” contacts. I want to encourage you today to pick up the phone and start calling people you know, asking for time with them. Make the call!
No matter where you are in your search, connecting with people – a/k/a networking is a key part of most successful searches. Learning how to grow your network well now during this search should serve you well throughout your career. Hopefully going through this exercise will help spur some new activity and movement in your job search!
STEP ONE
Make a list of everyone you know who would take your call. It doesn’t matter how you know them or where they are located. You will likely start with a healthy list and then continue to add as you remember others you should call. My friends at Coldwell Banker call the various compartments of your life “Circles of influence”. See if this list helps jog your memory of people you should put on your list:
· Former co-workers from all previous jobs
· Former supervisors
· Former classmates
· People you go to church with
· Neighbors
· People with whom you served on boards, committees or other volunteer capacity
· Parents of your kids’ friends
· Kids’ friends (if they’re old enough)
· Professionals you use: Doctor, dentist, accountant, attorney, banker, investment person, etc.
· Others you come in contact with: Postman, pizza delivery guy, mechanic, dry cleaner, etc.
· The bottom line is: don’t discount anyone and assume that just because they are ________, they can’t be of good assistance.
STEP TWO
Make the call! Most of your productive time during the day should be dedicated to reaching out via phone to schedule in-person appointments. If you’re spending most of your time surfing online job boards, my feeling is you aren’t being as effective as you could be. You want to be connecting in person with people. So start with your list – the people you know.
Call and ask for 20 minutes (no more than 30 minutes) in their office. You are NOT asking these people for a job. You want to meet with them to get their input and advice about your job search. Now, if they suddenly realize you are the solution to the problem they have and want to turn your meeting into an interview, you won’t object. Chances are, if they had a job for you, you would already know about it.
You need to be in charge of this meeting, starting with the initial call. They may try to avoid meeting with you because they can’t hire you. Put them at ease by saying “I want to meet with you to get your input and advice about my job search, I am not expecting you to have a job for me.”
If they’re really busy at work your response should be “No problem! I’m not interested in wasting your time. I don’t need to do this immediately, but I value your counsel. Could you possibly give me 20 minutes in a few weeks?” Get the meeting scheduled. The less you know the person the more likely they will try to object to giving you the time. You might also say something like “Would you be willing to invest 20 minutes to give me some feedback about my search?” I really like the word invest, because you are giving them an opportunity to help you and to dispense advise and maybe even expertise. Everyone likes to give advice (see this email as exhibit A!)
STEP THREE
Meeting & managing the time. As I mentioned earlier, I encourage you to “run” the meeting. Chances are, whomever you are meeting with is expecting you to ask them for something more than what you said you wanted. Your endgame goal for this meeting is twofold: (1) Grow the relationship and (2) Two or more contacts or introductions.
Here is my proposed time budget for a networking meeting:
00-03: catch up, discussing mutual friends, ice-breaking.
03-04: State your purpose; “I appreciate you taking the time to meet with me. I’m looking for your input and advice about my search and maybe even some ideas of other people I could talk with. Maybe it would help if I gave you a quick rundown of my career and what I do for a prospective employer?” That sounds great!
04-06: Your well rehearsed, two minute drill.
07-08: Set them up to talk: “Can you think of anyone who might have a need for someone like me or have an interest in connecting with me?” Then shut up. Let them talk. Awkward silence is OK, but hopefully your two minute drill sparked ideas of people they know to send you to.
08-16: Here you have to do some guiding to keep them on track thinking about their contacts. Take good notes.
17-19: Ask if they would be willing to call those contacts and introduce you telling the person that you will be calling in the next few days.
19-20: Thank them for their time and ask if you can periodically update them on your job search? Even if they encourage you to stay, get out! Why? You want them to feel comfortable taking a follow up meeting with you later and also feel good sending you to their friends. If they know you will honor your word where you asked for 20 minutes and respect their time, they will likely be more free sending you to other people they know.
STEP FOUR
After the meeting. Out in the parking lot, finish your notes. Maybe you didn’t write down everything. Capture that before you leave that office. Critique yourself. What would you do differently next time? Did the meeting with them spark an idea of someone else to call that they didn’t mention? Write it down now.
Follow up. Everyone says they send thank you notes, far fewer actually do it. Write a hand written thank you note. If you’re handwriting looks like Sandskrit or you could have gone to medical school, it’s OK to type it out, but mail it. Anyone can email. Stand out – be different.
Keep good records. If you met with Russ Knight on May 14th, note how you met me, my contact information and anything useful I said, and anyone I suggested you speak with. You can track this via a spreadsheet but a notebook can work too because it will also serve as a physical encouragement when you don’t feel like you have much going on in your search. You will be able to thumb through the notebook looking back at the contacts you have deepened or developed new.
I hope this is of good use to you. Start now so people you can start asking people you see at church on Sunday if you could call to schedule a meeting with them. If you dedicate yourself to connecting with people you will grow relationships far beyond those you know now.
God has something for you in this. For me, my two layoffs within a year and subsequent time with the startup company were difficult, confidence shattering experiences. But God brought me to the right place and revealed His purpose for me to attempt to help others going through job loss. I believe God has a plan for you too.
I pray that those who might benefit from OJT will be there this Tuesday at Asbury UMC in Tulsa. Blessings to you in your search!
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