Estimated time for this lesson - 25 min
Today’s Training Will Include:

• Four levels of a successful job search
• Targeted resumes and cover letters
• Finding those people in your network that can help you
• LinkedIn and how it works and helps

 

 

Four-Levels of a Successful Job Search

Level 1Send Out Targeted Resumes & Cover Letters	Level 2Research & Make Phone Calls	Level 3Network	Level 4Interview Preparation
Create a strong cover letter and resume that really showcases your unique value that you bring to a company.	Use www.linkedin.com to discover the “contact settings” of each of your potential champions. Look for targets that are open to job seekers.	Network with your potential champion with an “exchange conversation” which focuses on both of your interests (e.g. here is what I need and here is how I can help you).	Ask your champion to help you prepare for your interview. Ask questions that help you understand things like the culture of the company, the nuances of your potential new job and the key focus of the company.
Mail out to a targeted list of potential employers and to potential decision makers in those companies.	Choose potential champions who have networks beyond 100 and who have endorsements. Choose potential champions at the highest level you can at your targeted organizations.	Tip: How you can help others is all about you taking the time to review your potential champion’s profile to see what they are looking for.	Provide your champion with feedback after your session.
Identify two to three potential champions (professionals at the senior manager, director or vice presidential levels at your targeted companies using www.linkedin.com	Call first to find the names of assistants on your targeted list of senior managers, directors and vice presidents of your targeted companies.	Turn your potential champions into champions for your goal of attaining that next job through the Networlding Support Exchange.	Continue to explore ways to support the goals of your champions and, in turn, continue to make good requests to achieve your goals.
Research information on your influential champions on www.linkedin.com and www.zoominfo.com	Call your list in a focused manner which means making at least five contacts a day.	Leveraging relationships - Help your champions achieve their goals- Work all levels of the Support Exchange Model- Talk at least monthly with your champions

 

This chart is good to help you identify where you are now and where you need to go to be successful in getting that great new job. It’s all about finding the right support network, and remember, once you have your network, maintain it!

Whenever I speak with a job search candidate, I help them realize they need to own this process and continue it always. If you do this people will even support you now as they will hear you saying things like, “I want to make this a priority in my life not just for now but also after I move to my new position. I also want to make sure I support you in the same way so that if you ever need me, I’ll have the human resources through my network to reach out and help you.”

One of the colleagues I admire most takes this approach, and used to be the CIO of BlueCross/Blue Shield. He started and still runs a CIO network that helps technology executives in transition and has kept it alive, well and supportive for years even after he got his job transitioning from the food industry into the health industry. He also reaped the direct benefits of having such a vibrant network—he was able to tap into it for hiring and for himself when he transitioned out of Blue Cross/Blue Shield.

Does it take some effort? Absolutely. But, the effort is so worth the rewards because it is still all about finding and supporting the best people first, who will in turn, create the best opportunities for you and others as well as enable you to do the same in return.

Targeted Resumes and Cover Letters

Part of preparing for a job search is having a great resume and cover letter. As a writer myself and working as a coach with the organization, Allen & Associates, I always recommend my clients get help creating these essential job search tools. The reason is that you cannot get the perspective that an outside person can when it comes to this area. You are just too close to who you are and what makes you unique.

This is where good writers come in and at Allen, for example, they have highly seasoned professionals who take the time to really help you develop a resume that represents the best you have to offer. Having the support you need to write compelling copy that captures the attention of someone who has just read twenty resumes before yours is highly instrumental in your job search.

Finding Those People That Can Help You

The best way to start building your network is to figure out who you already know and then see, on tools like LinkedIn, how those people network. You want to find the best, proactive networkers. So, how will you know if those people are proactive? Take a look at the screen shot below from LinkedIn that shows two real networkers whose names have been changed to protect their identities.

Jack Bradley • Greater Chicago Area

• VP Information Technology and Services ABC Co.
		20	500+

Jill Brown • Greater Chicago Area

• VP Information Technology and Services XYZ Co.
		1	3

Now, who would you rather network with—Jack or Jill? This sign: shows you the number of people you are away from this person. Two degrees means you are just one person away and the one person is someone you know from your network. In this case Jack and Jill are just one person away from you.

The sign shows you the number of endorsements this person has, showing that Jack has twenty endorsements while Jill only has one.

Finally the sign shows you the number of people that person is linked with, so, for example, Jack has 500-plus connections while Jill has only three. Therefore, based on the comparative analysis, you would choose to connect with Jack. Now, networkers might connect with Jack and Jill. Networlders, on the other hand, just connect with the Jack’s of the world. Why? Networlders know that networkers like Jill will only slow their networking efforts down while the Jack’s of the world will have similar people to themselves in their network for you to network with and so on and so on. Networlding is a networking accelerator.

LinkedIn and How It Works and How It Will Help

I chose LinkedIn as the number one networking tool because it is a state-of-the-art software solution that helps create, grow and keep track of your network. It is also very cost effective—either free or low cost and the results one gets with minimal strategic effort is very high.

Another reason I chose this software is that it shows you a visual representation of a network, revealing once and for all, how networks work. To many people viewing this tutorial, learning the science of networks through LinkedIn will be almost shocking. Little did you know that people, in the millions, are sharing information about their professional lives in such a candid way.

Who would have imagined (including myself) that this phenomenon would exist today. For the last decade I have been asked to share my insights on the research I have been doing on leadership networks. Now, all I have to do is take some screen captures on LinkedIn showing people who I can search for in major cities all around the world and come up with hundreds of connections to executive leaders at most top companies.

The trick, however, to websites like LinkedIn and others is that you need to know the steps to building a strong network or Networld. And from there, make sure you keep that network alive. LinkedIn will help you move through the stages from planning to preparing to practicing to mastery.

 

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