For Students
Networking
When you are looking for a job you write lots and lots of letters. While each letter is important, there is one letter that is crucial. It's the letter to your friends and to your friends' friends. (Well, you probably just talk to your friends, but you should write to their contacts too).
This is because when you are job-hunting, you are marketing yourself, and your personal services. Think about it: when you buy a product, you can return it, but an employer cannot ‘return’ an employee if they are unable to do the job! The employer needs to be very cautious about who they choose to do a job.
Networking - why it’s important and who to network with
Networking - how to do it at an event
Networking - why it’s important and who to network with
Think about how hiring decisions are made. If there is a graduate recruitment program, the selection process is highly structured, but if there is a one-off vacancy, the employer probably starts by asking around their contacts to see if anyone can recommend someone for the job. ‘You wouldn't happen to know someone who might be interested in…?’
Usually, someone in the employer's network knows someone. Interviews follow, and the person gets hired. The moral of the story is that we hire our friends because we don't like to take chances. So what does this mean? Your job is most likely to come from one of your friends, or one of their friends. Not from a recruiter, not from an ad, not from cold-calling or pounding the pavement!
It's important to involve your friends in your job-seeking, not just to notify them. Most people call their friends and say: ‘I'm finishing my course in July. Let me know if you hear of any vacancies.’ The friend says, ‘Sure’. And that's the end of it. The phone never rings because your friends aren't sure of the help you are looking for.
Who do you think of when you think of friends? Include your mates, but also include everybody you can think of who knows your name. Include everyone on a personal and business level. Use the checklist to help you.
Record all names, don't pre-judge people. You never know who will be able to help you. Don't rule anyone out prematurely. Go back as far as secondary school, or even primary school. List your old classmates. Look at your Christmas card list. Write down names until your mind goes blank then stop and begin again later.
Sometimes, this activity really helps you sort out who your friends are! Usually, what you find is that if you send letters to all the people on your list, you get a positive response from some of your friends, which is a good ego boost if you're feeling down, and also, help arrives from those you least expect to be able to help.
So what should you put in your letter? You need to be quite specific about what you are looking for. If you are too vague your friends won't know how to help. Even if you want to keep your options open, try to give some indication about the qualities you are looking for in a job. Try to keep the tone of your letter warm, friendly, interesting, enthusiastic and short.
The Friendship Checklist:
- family (include uncles, aunts, cousins, distant relatives)
- your partner's family and relatives
- close personal friends (yours and your partner's)
- fellow classmates and university professors, school teachers
- organisational groups, professional associations
- social groups or clubs, sporting clubs, church groups, church leaders
- current and former employers
- fellow employees (if you already have a part-time job)
- friends of your parents (and your partner's parents)
- professional contacts including, eg your doctor, dentist, lawyer etc.
Basic Elements of ‘The Letter’
- Establish rapport. Rebuild old fences. Make your readers feel good. ‘I have missed you. Uni hasn't been the same without you in the back row of the ELTs!’
- Explain the situation. ‘I finish my course in November and have decided not to go on to do Honours’. "I really want to get some experience in the workforce before doing any more study."
- Tell them what you want. ‘I want to work in small company where I can take on a lot of responsibility, and where I will get a range of experience’.
- Ask for advice and ideas. ‘Would you mind looking at my resume and letter and giving me some honest opinions/ Please call me. Or jot some notes and fax it back. Would you be able to suggest someone at XXX and Co. that I could talk to about this type of work?’
- End with a warm and enthusiastic close. Enthusiasm is catching. It's much easier to help someone with a positive attitude.
Example letter
John Client
Plenty Road
Bundoora VIC 3083December 5 20--
Ms Kelly Smith
ABC Enterprises
Kingsbury Drive
Bundoora VIC 3086Dear Kelly,
I hope you are well. It has been strange to think of you working while I've been having a coffee at Slices! I would just like to let you know that I am due to finish my Bachelor of … in November. Consequently, I've put a current resume together in order to start marketing myself for entering the "real world"!
I am really keen to find employment as a …. with a small company, so that I can have the opportunity to do all sorts of tasks, rather than specialise in just one area at this stage. I would like to stay in Melbourne but I would relocate to Sydney or to the Gippsland area, if need be.
If you hear about any opportunities through your work or through friends, please could you pass on my resume, or alternatively, give me their names so that I can make direct contact!
Any assistance that you can give me at this stage would be really appreciated.
Best wishes,
John Client
John Client
Attachment: Resume
Networking - how to do it at an event
You’ve been invited to an event – perhaps a cocktail party or a lunch – where you will know few people. You’ve been told that it’s important to network if you want to succeed in your chosen career but you hate functions like this. What do you say? How do you start a conversation? It would be so much easier just to stick with your friends or to eat your food quietly in a corner and hope that, if someone approaches you, they have plenty to talk about. But if that’s how you approach it, you might as well not bother going.
There are some techniques that even the shyest person can use to help them make the most of the opportunity to meet people, to find out about them and/or their organisation and to make a positive impression. As you practise these techniques you will gain confidence and networking will become easier and even enjoyable!
Think first about the impression you’re making with your appearance and your body language. Dress smartly and pay attention to personal hygiene. Practise your hand shake – firm but not a “crunch”. Talk to yourself in the mirror so that you learn how to maintain eye contact. Look alert, positive and interested. Remember that others will be more willing to engage with you if you look friendly so don’t forget to smile. Even if you’re nervous, if you act confidently you are more likely to convince yourself and others that you’re worth talking to!
So, how do you approach someone, particularly if they’re already talking to someone else? The easiest situation is one in which you know (even vaguely) one person in a group. Just join the circle and listen to the conversation. An opportunity may arise for you to contribute, or your contact may include you in the conversation by introducing you to the others. If you don’t know anyone else, then you’re going to have to make the first move. Go up to someone else who’s on their own, extend your hand and say something like “Hello. My name’s x; I’m in my final year of a degree in y”. Practise your conversation opener before you go the event. A chance encounter – perhaps while you’re lining up for food – can also be an opportunity to engage with the person beside you. Talk about the food, the event, the weather – anything that can open up a dialogue.
The most important thing to remember once the introductions have been made is that it’s not all about you. Ask the other person about their job, how they know the host, how they’re enjoying the evening; whatever topic you raise at this stage should be non-intrusive, unlikely to raise negative feelings and designed simply to get the conversation moving. Listen to the answer and pick up on any clues they offer about topics that might interest them. For example, they may say that they met the host through a mutual interest in sailing; don’t just let this slip through – pick up on the clue and ask them about their experience of sailing, how that developed, how often they get out on the water etc. The best questions are those that are open-ended (can’t be answered with a simple “yes” or “no”), often starting with words such as “how”, “what” and “why”.
The key to good conversation is to listen attentively without interrupting the speaker and to show your interest in the other person and what they have to say. However you must try to avoid making it sound like an interrogation. This can be achieved by adding snippets of information about yourself, such as “I once went sailing but I was a bit scared because the wind got up unexpectedly and I’m not a good swimmer. Have you ever been scared when you’ve been sailing?”
If the event is one at which you’ll be meeting potential employers, anticipate the topics they could raise and the type of questions they might ask; consider beforehand what information and impression you want to convey and practise saying out loud your responses to these questions. For example, they may ask about the subjects you’re studying and why you chose them, what your career goals are and what you like to do in your spare time. Consider this to be a trial interview because, if the employer likes you and believes you could be a strong candidate for a job, they will remember you when the formal process gets under way.
Whatever you do, don’t be offensive (to the person you’re talking to or about anyone else) or overbearing and don’t drink too much or overload your plate. Remember your manners, both in terms of what you say and how you say it, and in the way you eat your food – no waving of your cutlery or speaking with food in your mouth! You want to be remembered - but for the right reasons – so go there with a positive attitude and make the most of your opportunity to mix professionally and build your network.