The secret to easy networking
(MoneyWatch) There are two types of networking. The first is simply building relationships with people in your field, your neighbors and your dentist. This type of networking is what helps you find the "hidden jobs" that are often filled before they are advertised. This also helps you fill vacancies in your company. You should never, ever, not even for a day, stop doing this. Build relationships! Help people out! Don't burn bridges.
But the other type of networking is the type where you desperately need a new job. And you look around and you say, "I have talked and talked and talked until I'm blue in the face and my fingers are sore from sending emails and I can't find a job." Many of you have experienced this. (Or are experiencing it now.) Enter a new company: CareerSonar.
I get lots of emails from lots of companies claiming they have the answer to job hunting. And most are rotten. So, when Aviram Ben Moshe, co-founder and CTO at CareerSonar contacted me, I ignored it. (I was busy.) He sent me a follow up email, and I admire a little bit of persistence, so I reluctantly signed up, intending to send him a "Thanks, but no thanks," email. (I send a lot of those.)
- How to get a hidden job
- How to work with a recruiter on LinkedIn
- Unemployed? 5 Reasons companies won't hire you
Instead, I became a big fan.
When you create an account, you can give it access to your LinkedIn and Facebook accounts, and then you enter the keyword for a job you're looking for and the location. It then goes in and brings back a list of available jobs where your friends and contacts work.
Why is this a huge advantage over searching yourself? First of all, I may talk to my friend, Judy and say, "I'm really looking for a job doing Analytics," and she'll say, "If I hear of anything, I'll let you know." But, how much time does she spend thinking about it? Does she go and look at her company's internal job postings? Unless there's a vacancy in her actual department, she may not know about it. CareerSonar simply matches up a a list of your criteria with your contacts at each of the companies.
Then, of course, it's up to you to contact your friend/former cowoker/neighbor and say, "Hey, Judy, I see there's a Senior Online Analytics job open at your company. I'm very interested in it. Can you tell me anything about it?"
Now, the reality is this, you could do this on your own. You look at various companies and when you find a job that looks interesting, you comb through your LinkedIn Connections, hoping to find someone with a connection. Or, the other way around (you start with your connections and look at their companies). But, this does it for you.
I seriously love it. And other people do as well. Ben Moshe shared this little story with me:
We had a user the other day saying he was looking for a specific role in finance and previously looked for it at investment banks and other financial institutions. Through CareerSonar he was recommended a position at the American Museum of Natural History in NYC that matched exactly what he was looking for. He would never have otherwise thought to look there.
I love that. It magnifies the power of your contacts. Now, of course, if you don't have good relationships with your connections, and if you've been a lousy worker in the past, this won't fix those problems. But it does give you a simple way to see what is available at companies where you already know someone. And if you get your first degree contacts to join CareerSonar, you searches will return their contacts as well. Knowing someone who knows someone is still more helpful than sending your resume into that resume black hole.
If you have a job hunting secret, send me an email at EvilHRLady@Gmail.com.
