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Disorganized Search = Disorganized Employee?

December 15, 2008 By Mark

Your search is a reflection of how you organize projects, handle adversity and communicate.   These are things we see in everyday jobs.  So treat a search like a job, not something you have not done before or very often.   There is no free pass just because no one likes to be in a search.

If you trouble making meetings on time, being prepared for a meeting (e.g. research on the individual or company) or following up, then what does that say about your ability as an employee?

It will be difficult to get someone to give you their A-list networking contacts if you don’t give them you’re A-list attention.

The better you take care of yourself, the better impression you will give that you can kick ass when you get on the job.

Filed Under: D. Organize Your Networking Tagged With: Organization, Search organization

Dedicated cell phone and e-mail for your search

December 15, 2008 By Mark

I recommend a dedicated cell and e-mail account for your search – you want both of them to last longer than your search.

Using a work cell or e-mail will cut yourself off to all the networking contacts you’ve made once you change jobs.   Also, you may not be able to take your cell number with you when you leave.

A dedicated e-mail is helpful so you don’t mix up important networking e-mails with kids soccer, book club, etc.   Also, an e-mail that is just your name looks more professional. 

LESSON LEARNED:  I’ve got 500 business cards with my old work cell number if anyone wants one – I found out after I had them printed that our corporate agreement did not allow me to take the number.

Filed Under: D. Organize Your Networking Tagged With: Organization, Organizing Your Search

E-mail address – Considerations for selecting

December 15, 2008 By Mark

Depending on your networking contact’s style, e-mail can be a great vehicle to set-up times to meet/telephone and to stay in touch.

Most people use personal e-mail accounts for managing their career search.  I seen fellow job seekers with e-mails addresses that range from clever (e.g.  yournamehere@…) to cryptic (e.g. bbk43437@…) to ‘all in the family’ (e.g. billandmarge@…).

While these addresses may be unique or clever, they can reduce the professionalism and effectiveness of the e-mail.

Recommendation: Use an e-mail address that begins with or contains your full last name.

1) Looks professional

2) Makes it easier for the contact to see who sent the e-mail – especially in a follow-up. 

3) Blackberries usually display a portion of the e-mail address and title – why start with your last name.

Most importantly, people to whom you have been introduced or met will likely remember your name, they will not remember your e-mail address. 

Also, until you network regularly, you are less likely to have a spot in their contact list - so your name will not appear in the “From” line, just your e-mail address.

Make it simple for your contacts to help you.

Filed Under: D. Organize Your Networking Tagged With: dedicated, E-mail address, Organizing Your Search

Before you begin – Organizing Your Story

December 15, 2008 By Mark

A marketing plan is the start of an effective pitch as it provides the context for telling your story.  

Start with the position you seek, and then begin to build your case on why you are qualified for filling it.

Focus on the key elements of the role – no more than two or three – then how your skills and experiences support the key elements.

Pitch overview:

1-30 Seconds:                    Role you seek

30 – 60 Seconds:               Key elements critical for fulfilling the role

60 – 120 Seconds:            Key element #1 – how your skills and experience fill in

120 – 180 Seconds:          Key element #2

180 – 240 Seconds:          Key element #3

Remember this is your first pass.  As you continue the conversation, you can expand the details that seem fit to share.

Filed Under: D. Organize Your Networking Tagged With: 90 Second Pitch, Organization, Organizing Your Search

Organize Your Search Week

December 15, 2008 By Mark

The toolkit has a method to organize your search week.

As you adapt the timing of activities to meet your style/situation, I’ll offer two thoughts

1.       Set a specific time each week for business development.  Given busy schedules, this week’s activities usually fill spots in your calendar out two weeks or more.  So if you skip a week, you may up with some big gaps in your networking.

2.       Spread out your follow-up activities – so you don’t fall asleep at your computer or make mistakes.  Assume you have 12 meetings a week and each person gives you three names to follow-up on.   That is forty-eight “thank you” and “invitations to network” notes.

Filed Under: D. Organize Your Networking Tagged With: Organization, Organize Search Week, Search Week

Dividing Your time by type of Networking contact

December 15, 2008 By Mark

The four categories of people with whom you’ll network:

1.       Target Company Decision makers – The people who participate in or influence hiring decisions regarding positions you seek

2.       Target Company Insiders – People usually outside of the department/division in which you are seeking a position.   They can get you connected to the decision makers and give you valuable insight into how you desired department/division and position is viewed within the company.

3.       Peers – Individuals who hold positions that you seek

4.       Advocates – These are people outside the company who can help connect you in (family, colleagues, bankers, fellow candidates, recruiters).   Professional service providers (lawyers, insurance agents, etc.) are very popular because they work with so many firms.

Here’s the rule to networking: Work up the food chain

This was my own ratio for the contacts sought and dividing up my networking time – 4:2:1   4 advocates/peers, 2 insiders, 1 decision maker.  

I targeted to have 15 meetings a week:  9 advocates, 4 insiders and 2 decision makers.

I had to meet with numerous advocates to get an introduction into a company insider or decision maker.  Also, I used advocates, especially fellow candidates, to fill in the gaps in my calendar – since getting to people inside companies was often rescheduled.

Remember that meeting decision makers is always good, regardless if there is an open position or not.  So keep working up the food chain!

Filed Under: D. Organize Your Networking Tagged With: Dividing Time by Networking Contact, Organize Search Week

Using e-mail Folders to Organize Your Search

December 15, 2008 By Mark

One item I found very useful in my search was creating the following mail folders to organize all of my e-mail and meeting requests.

1.       Search – 1 – Open invitations

2.       Search – 2 – Pending meetings

3.       Search – 3  -Post-meeting follow-up

4.       Search – 4 – Introductions made

5.       Search – 5 – Introductions received

6.       Search – 6 – Second Contact

7.       Search – 7 – No Response/Complete

Notice that I labeled each folder using the term “Search” and a number.   Simply so they would show up in one spot among my other folders and in order.

See the toolkit “Organizing E-mail Folders for your Search” tool for description of what I included in each folder.

Meetings may take several e-mails to set up, so you need a method to keep track of the status.  I simply used these folders to file e-mails – so I could sort on the person, date, etc. to quickly check where I was in the process.   Also, to make sure I had transferred everything from my e-mail to my calendar.

The “Open Invitations” folder was probably the busiest folder.  Each time I sent out an invitation to network, I would file it here.    Each week, I would check the status of whether I had received a response to my invitation.  If yes, I’d delete it.  If not, if the original date was over two weeks, I would hit “Reply All” and send a quick follow-up note.   I would also move the follow-up note into this folder – so then I could see I had two requests outstanding.    In case you’re wondering, my rule was three tries to get an invite accepted – then move on.

I sent about 100 e-mails a week during my search.   So these folders came in pretty handy.

Filed Under: D. Organize Your Networking Tagged With: E-Mail folders, Organizing Your Search

Tracking Your Progress

December 15, 2008 By Mark

In the toolkit is something I created to help track five weeks of progress (two prior weeks, current week, and two upcoming weeks).   I liked to look at it like this for a couple reasons:

·         Balance of the individuals I was meeting

·         Plan for the upcoming two weeks

·         Keep track of follow-up items

·         Identify possible introductions I could make

I built this in Excel – so I simply just added columns so I could easily look backwards.   The ability to go backwards was important for planning my follow-up activities.

I know this seems like too much detail, but if you go back to “Expectation #1 – Get ready to meet loads of people” – within just a few weeks you could easily have 60+ meetings.   Finding a method to keep track of who you have met and those for you need to prepare is important.

 

Filed Under: D. Organize Your Networking Tagged With: Organizing Your Search, Tracking Your Progress