Your network is the best way to find the work you want

But few people leverage their network well. Here’s how to fix that.

Your network has always been key, and now it’s more important than ever. That’s not going to change. With the dynamics of the current job market, cold applications get lost in a sea of similar resumes. 𝗦𝗼 𝗵𝗼𝘄 𝗱𝗼 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝘂𝘁? 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘂𝗺𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗶𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂.

Many people broadcast their job search on LinkedIn after a layoff. Nothing wrong with that, but it’s not the best you can do:

😩 You don’t control the LinkedIn algorithm. You really have no idea who your post is served up to, or if they just scrolled past it

😩 One and done isn’t enough. Even if people in your network see your post and they want to help, attention spans are short. In a couple of days, people will have other priorities

𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂. Here’s the approach I’ve used successfully, and the approach I suggest to my coaching clients:

1️⃣ Figure out who are the most important people in your network

2️⃣ Have a convo with those people, ask if you can keep them updated on your job search. 𝗜𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝘀𝗮𝘆 𝗻𝗼, 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘃𝗲. 𝗦𝘂𝗿𝗽𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗮𝗶𝗻’𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸...

3️⃣ Get those contact details into a spreadsheet (I’m assuming Google Sheets here)

4️⃣ Once a month, create an email that lets people know where you are in your job search. Where you’ve applied, interviews you’ve had, interviews you have coming up etc. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗲𝘁 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘆𝗼𝘂’𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗿𝘆𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗶𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲. 𝗠𝗮𝗸𝗲 𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗮𝘀𝗸 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽. In the Gmail world, it’s easiest if you create that email as a template

5️⃣ Use a mail merge tool (Yamm, yet another mail merge, is great) to send that update. Yamm will show you what got delivered, who opened, who replied etc

6️⃣ And - if you identified your key people correctly - they will actually reply to you! They will offer encouragement at a minimum, job leads, referrals, and warm intros

𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝗮𝗶𝗱 𝗶𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗱𝘆, 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗲𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗶𝘀 𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 - 𝗱𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗹 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗱...

Need help with this? Use the button at the top of the page to setup a no-cost call with me.