Did you also hear about the
simple truth that finding a job goes best via via and that your so-called
network is the best source to discover new opportunities, especially some vacancies
that never even go public and are instead filled internally? Well, I did. Networking
seems hot. And I can tell you that when I read that in these recession times it
is the way one should look for a job, my first reaction was: I’m not like this,
I have no network and it’s a shame to annoy people you know asking for help. As
it turns out, networking is not as black-and-white as I thought it was. Now
that I’m busy with career planning and research, I have come across the idea of
networking as a perfect source of information and orientation on a number of
occasions and somehow started to accept it. I also noticed that at birthday
parties for example I try to talk to people about what they do for living in a
different, more involved kind of way. And the moment I start asking detailed
questions the way one does by a network interview, I get so genuinely
interested in the subject matter that people themselves cannot but get
enthusiastic to talk about themselves.
That’s how networking works,
evidently. If you want to find out in how far certain branches or occupations would
suit you, the best way to get information is to ask the people who do the kind
of work you are interested in. You can say for sure that if the information you
would like to receive about a certain sector, kind of company or position exists,
it is to be gathered from the abovementioned people. The only question is whether
they are willing to share it with you and it’s up to you to make them want to
share.
If you are as terrified of having
a so-called ‘network interview‘ as I was when I got this task from my career
coach, here are some practical tips that might be helpful:
-->
- The labour market is not easiest at the moment, so one should be creative to find employment: therefore do start networking as it is a nice an informal way to not only gather information you need about branches and professions, but also a way to draw employers’ attention to yourself as a potential candidate, though applying for a job is not directly your objective at this point.
- Networking can be ‘warm’, ‘lukewarm’ and ‘cold’, which stands for talking to someone you know directly, someone referred to by someone you know or talking to an unknown person respectively. Obviously, the difficulty level of making contact with the person you are interested in increases with the ‘drop of temperature’. Very comparable with marketing and sales, don’t you think?
- As ‘cold’ networking can be hard, start with a good preparation and make sure you can present yourself in a positive and powerful, but concise way – a famous ‘elevator pitch’ (preferably thoroughly practiced beforehand) would do – so that you can come through the gatekeeper (the receptionist) and be put through to the right person. Emphasize that you are not applying for a job, but merely doing research. If you are positive and enthusiastic, then you are most likely also nice to talk to, so it can be a great experience for the interviewee as well, only he/she doesn’t know about it yet. Turns out, people like talking about themselves, and if there’s someone who wants to hear it and also asks smart questions, chances are they’d be happy to tell you a lot.
- Also by warmer networking types it is essential to prepare well. Make a checklist of the items you would like to discuss and ask initially to take not more that 15 minutes of someone’s time. If they start enjoying the conversation too (people like talking about themselves, remember?) and if everything goes smoothly, they’d probably keep on talking, otherwise you’d be happy you could take your leave after 15 minutes. Try to keep a balance between asking questions and telling about yourself, this should be a two-way communication, not a question-answer session.
- Such an interview can be held on the phone, but a face-to-face contact would provide you with more information, including the subtle and intuitive things like, say, seeing the office, observing the non-verbal behavior of your interlocutor or feeling the ambiance.
- Bare in mind that you are not there to put the person to work for you or let him/her think about your future, you are interested in his/her experiences with the position or the sector.
- Take care formulating questions: if you want to know about the workload or pressure, whether there are jobs in the sector or if people are being laid off, use descriptive language or more general terms, for instance ”How would you describe the corporate culture?” or “I’m someone who needs a lot of variation in work, do you think I could find it in this kind of work?”.
- If you feel like you are running out of questions, you can always ask the person whether he/she knows of any other things that might be relevant.
- Make sure you have a business card with you, either with or without your current position (depending on whether you are employed at the moment), so that you can leave your own contact details behind. It’s even a better option to have cards with just your academic title (if applicable), name and contact information. If asked, you can also send your resume later.
- Ask at the end of the conversation for another name – a person who could possibly help you further – this way it’s always easier to come in contact with someone. Put down names or departments that could be of interest to you.
- Work out a plan of your activities and try to keep up with the schedule. Make a short summary after each contact and spend enough time on reflection. Research is the primary objective of networking, so try to analyze what appeals to you and how it would feel If you were in the position or did the work of the person you talked to.
Hope you find the tips here
useful if you are to look for labour market information by means of network
interviews. Of loads of information on this topic that I found on the Internet
or elsewhere the abovementioned did help me a lot.
