Now let's examine various job-finding strategies you can use.
Networking Contacts
Contacting persons who can help you get a job is your best chance for success. The purpose of networking is to expand your list of contacts by meeting more and more people through friends and referrals. The more people you know and contact, the better your chances of hearing about jobs and getting an interview. It's not surprising that the best and most obvious way to find a job is through networking. As an experienced professional you have developed many business friends and acquaintances in companies within the industry in which you worked. These are excellent sources to call for information about current jobs or potential future positions.
In both good and bad times, there is always movement in companies with new jobs being created, people leaving for new positions, retiring, or being terminated. In larger companies changes are constantly taking place, especially in today’s volatile job market. Such changes open doors for 50-plus job seekers as new departments are being formed and new positions created. Frequently, companies cut into the muscle of their staffs in an attempt to trim costs and later find they must rehire people to perform needed work on a full-or part-time basis.
As a networker, you are a known commodity if you are recommended for a job by someone in the company or an acquaintance who knows that interviewer or employer. An employer wants to feel confident that the person hired is capable of doing the job. A personal recommendation from someone who knows you is to your advantage. A good referral saves a company the time, trouble, and the expense of con ducting a job search. In many large companies it is standard practice to give a cash award to employees who refer qualified people who are hired by the company.
Use every source you know, and don't be bashful about calling even casual acquaintances or people you don't know if you hear of a job lead. It could help you land a job.
Here's a typical case. A professional manager working on a new job with a new company for only two months was suddenly let go because the company had cash-flow problems. On the day he left, a co-worker suggested that the manager call a public relations director in a major company with a possible job opening. The manager was so distraught about being let go that he never followed up. A month later he met the person who had given him the woman's name and number on the street.
"Did you call Miss X?" asked his former coworker.
"No," said the job hunter.
"They're still looking. I’d give her a call," said the contact.
"Don't forget to tell her I told you to call."
The next day the job hunter called Miss X, mentioning his co-worker and said, "Mr. Y suggested I call you. I understand you have a potential job opening in your company for a person with my experience."
"Oh, yes," said Miss X. "Call our vice-president, Mr. S. Tell him I told you to call. His number is..."
The job hunter called, got the first of several interviews, and three months later was hired. He barely knew the co worker at his former company. The public relations woman and the vice-president at the major company that hired him were people he'd never met before. But because of his experience, skills, and the fact that he had several excellent interviews with the vice-president, he landed the job, beating out several competitors in the company that hired him.
Obviously it’s preferable to have a friend or acquaintance recommend you for a job, but you don't have to know someone to get a good job lead. Make everyone you meet a contact.
