I first came across the concept of networking ages ago, during the 1970s, probably late in my college studies. Of course, it wasn't a person who told me about networking, but a book: What Color Is Your Parachute? by Richard Bolles.
The book made sense. In a nutshell, Bolles' advice was to network instead of apply for jobs. By his way of thinking, if we have something we want to accomplish in life, it makes sense to pursue that rather than to pursue the goals of others by answering ads.
My problem was that I wasn't clear about what I wanted to get out of life, at least in terms of a career. So for nearly all my life, I ignored Bolles' sound advice. One result was that despite extraordinary intelligence — I was one of those people who would consistently get 98th to 99th percentile in mathematical and verbal aptitude on standardized tests — the best I was able to do after more than 30 years in my career was to end up about two or three years beyond entry level. I was able to get new jobs when I needed them, but even though I dragged my family across the U.S. West, I was able only to make moves that were mostly lateral, never up in the direction I had hoped for. It was only because I lucked into some successful freelance work on the side that I was able to remain solvent.
Tuesday, August 26, 2014
Monday, August 25, 2014
Day 2: Maybe I'll be lucky
It's almost a truism among those who counsel job seekers that the vast majority of jobs aren't filled by those who have responded an of job listing. The figure I've heard most often is that only about 20 percent of positions are filled that way, compared with 80 percent for networking and 10 percent in other ways.
I've never been able to verify that figure, but I did find one reference to a survey done by the Lou Adler Group that found indeed a majority of jobs are filled by networking or internal moves. About 27 percent of people who found a job did so by responding to a listing, and about half that many got jobs when someone in charge of hiring came across the candidates résumé on LinkedIn, Monster or some other site.
In any case, for most people — and I suspect this is especially true for those going beyond entry level or fast-food-type jobs — responding to listings isn't the best way to find success.
But — who know? — I may end up being one of the lucky ones despite my lack of networking. (If I am, this project doesn't stop. There are plenty of good reasons to network beyond merely finding a job. I have missed out on too much in life, and that's coming to an end.) I had an interview this morning with a company that I'm excited about working for, and I found out about the job on ones of the jobs sites.
I feel good about that interview, in part because during it I did what networking is supposed to be about — putting myself out there and letting people know who I am and how I can help them. Networking doesn't have to be about buttering people up, and in fact it shouldn't be. At its best, it's about making genuine connections.
And I think I did that today. I'm pleased with myself because of that.
The interview was scheduled to last 45 minutes. We talked for twice that long. I didn't realize I was being that talkative, but the interviewer didn't seem bored with me. I talked about my strengths, yes, but I also was honest about my shortcomings. And I asked questions, lots of questions.
In the past, I've approached interviews as a way of trying to get something I want from someone who has it to parcel out. But, in a good networking fashion, this time I looked at it differently. I was there to tell the company what I had to offer, and I expected the interviewer to tell me why I would want to work for her. I did, and she did.
I wasn't there to grovel, but to learn. If I don't get a job offer out of the 1.5 hours, I will have gained knowledge well worth the time. And that, in part, is what networking is all about.
I've never been able to verify that figure, but I did find one reference to a survey done by the Lou Adler Group that found indeed a majority of jobs are filled by networking or internal moves. About 27 percent of people who found a job did so by responding to a listing, and about half that many got jobs when someone in charge of hiring came across the candidates résumé on LinkedIn, Monster or some other site.
In any case, for most people — and I suspect this is especially true for those going beyond entry level or fast-food-type jobs — responding to listings isn't the best way to find success.
But — who know? — I may end up being one of the lucky ones despite my lack of networking. (If I am, this project doesn't stop. There are plenty of good reasons to network beyond merely finding a job. I have missed out on too much in life, and that's coming to an end.) I had an interview this morning with a company that I'm excited about working for, and I found out about the job on ones of the jobs sites.
I feel good about that interview, in part because during it I did what networking is supposed to be about — putting myself out there and letting people know who I am and how I can help them. Networking doesn't have to be about buttering people up, and in fact it shouldn't be. At its best, it's about making genuine connections.
And I think I did that today. I'm pleased with myself because of that.
The interview was scheduled to last 45 minutes. We talked for twice that long. I didn't realize I was being that talkative, but the interviewer didn't seem bored with me. I talked about my strengths, yes, but I also was honest about my shortcomings. And I asked questions, lots of questions.
In the past, I've approached interviews as a way of trying to get something I want from someone who has it to parcel out. But, in a good networking fashion, this time I looked at it differently. I was there to tell the company what I had to offer, and I expected the interviewer to tell me why I would want to work for her. I did, and she did.
I wasn't there to grovel, but to learn. If I don't get a job offer out of the 1.5 hours, I will have gained knowledge well worth the time. And that, in part, is what networking is all about.
Sunday, August 24, 2014
Day 1: The book nobody else wrote
For months I've been saying that someone should write a book about networking for people like me. But if anyone has, I haven't been able to find it.
Yes, there have been a few books written about job networking for introverts. But for some reason, I haven't been able to identify with the authors. One of the prominent writers on the subject is a woman, and nearly all of them are young enough that they could be kids of mine if I had married earlier in life. I don't know if either of those factors matter, but I just haven't felt that they're speaking to me.
It just isn't that I'm introverted. Many people are — probably a third of us. And some of them are very successful at networking and life; for example, both major-party presidential candidates in the 2012 U.S. presidential election — Barack Obama and Mitt Romney — are most likely introverts.
I think the problem is that the first bit of advice the networking gurus often give is that career networking is just extension of most of us already do, just not in a career naturally do. All of us network, they say. For example, do you want to find a good car mechanic? Many people would simply call their friends and ask for advice. That's a basic form of networking. But today I can't think of a single person I'd call on the phone to ask without feeling awkward doing so, although there may be a few I'd ask if I were talking to them in person. I don't remember when was the last time I made a social phone call to or made a lunch date with anyone other than a relative.
It didn't strike me how little natural networking I do until I was attending a networking workshop a few months ago and the facilitator asked us to make a list of people in our circle of friends and acquaintances. The idea being that if we know, say, 100 people, and each of them knows 100 people, that's a potential collection of 10,000 people who might have a connection with a job of some sort.
And when people made their lists, I'm not sure there was anyone in the room who had fewer than 100. Some had twice that many. The guy sitting next to me had 250. But when I tried making a list — my criteria were to include anyone I knew in the metropolitan area other than relatives who I could introduce by first and last name who could also introduce me by first and last name — I couldn't even use up my fingers in counting them. And I had lived here for well over two years.
And that's not because I'm a hermit. I have a job in a workplace with over 100 people on my shift, and I attend church every Sunday with somewhere around the same number of people, even teaching an adult Sunday school class. But I simply was not connecting with people, even if I might see them daily or weekly. And among those people, there are probably dozens who could tell you my name; I'm not invisible. I just don't make the connection.
Beginning today, that's going to change. This will almost never certainly be published except in an online blog that few if any will read, but I'm writing the book that's going to guide me through what could be the biggest change of my life.
Yes, there have been a few books written about job networking for introverts. But for some reason, I haven't been able to identify with the authors. One of the prominent writers on the subject is a woman, and nearly all of them are young enough that they could be kids of mine if I had married earlier in life. I don't know if either of those factors matter, but I just haven't felt that they're speaking to me.
It just isn't that I'm introverted. Many people are — probably a third of us. And some of them are very successful at networking and life; for example, both major-party presidential candidates in the 2012 U.S. presidential election — Barack Obama and Mitt Romney — are most likely introverts.
I think the problem is that the first bit of advice the networking gurus often give is that career networking is just extension of most of us already do, just not in a career naturally do. All of us network, they say. For example, do you want to find a good car mechanic? Many people would simply call their friends and ask for advice. That's a basic form of networking. But today I can't think of a single person I'd call on the phone to ask without feeling awkward doing so, although there may be a few I'd ask if I were talking to them in person. I don't remember when was the last time I made a social phone call to or made a lunch date with anyone other than a relative.
It didn't strike me how little natural networking I do until I was attending a networking workshop a few months ago and the facilitator asked us to make a list of people in our circle of friends and acquaintances. The idea being that if we know, say, 100 people, and each of them knows 100 people, that's a potential collection of 10,000 people who might have a connection with a job of some sort.
And when people made their lists, I'm not sure there was anyone in the room who had fewer than 100. Some had twice that many. The guy sitting next to me had 250. But when I tried making a list — my criteria were to include anyone I knew in the metropolitan area other than relatives who I could introduce by first and last name who could also introduce me by first and last name — I couldn't even use up my fingers in counting them. And I had lived here for well over two years.
And that's not because I'm a hermit. I have a job in a workplace with over 100 people on my shift, and I attend church every Sunday with somewhere around the same number of people, even teaching an adult Sunday school class. But I simply was not connecting with people, even if I might see them daily or weekly. And among those people, there are probably dozens who could tell you my name; I'm not invisible. I just don't make the connection.
Beginning today, that's going to change. This will almost never certainly be published except in an online blog that few if any will read, but I'm writing the book that's going to guide me through what could be the biggest change of my life.
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