It has been proven over and over again that word-of-mouth and referrals are two powerful methods of getting jobs.
They get you in the door for a day or two first, and it can build from there.
They alert you to what we will term the hidden jobs market – the jobs that don’t get advertised and the jobs that evolve over a period of time.
And, yet, very few people take pro-active steps to develop their personal and professional networks so that they might be able to capitalise on these opportunities.
People leave it to chance. A few simple tips for enhancing your networking are:
Tell people you know that you are looking for work – otherwise they might not even notice you’re on the prowl;
Get people to introduce you to people – decide who you want to meet, even for a coffee, and set up meetings through mutual friends or contacts.
Have your ‘elevator pitch’ at the ready – who you are, what you do and what value you will bring. You should be able to prick their interest in less than a minute. People like to help but you’ve got to make it easy for them to do so – therefore, in all meetings, you should be clear about the value you offer a potential employer;
Join a jobs club. Here you will be motivated and held to account. “You said you were going to drop your CV into ABC Ltd last week – did you?”
If you’d like to further develop your job-searching and networking skills, you can attend our free 45-minute webinar on job-searching methods for the modern world on Tuesday, May 27th, at 1.05pm. It’s limited to 50 places and you can register here: http://goo.gl/yVh5Od.
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