Career Networking: The Critical Need To Stay In Touch

I’ve written before about big mistakes people make in job search.  Big gaps in their career networking strategy.  And there are a number of issues I see regularly with people who are in the process of finding a job.  Here are links to a few articles in case these issues might be yours:

Looking for Work?  Don’t Be a Desperado.

The #1 Enemy Of Successful Job Search?

How To Avoid Two Bad Afflictions In Job Search

Sometimes you don’t like it when I focus on the negative.  I had someone once say that I was doing that too often.  But wouldn’t you rather know?  And have some ideas of how to fix the problem?

The issue today relates to staying in touch with your network.

And it is really quite simple to fix.  But no one is fixing it.  So I had to write this post to hit you with a 2×4 and then pick you up off the ground, dust you off and give you some ideas to fix the problem.

Interested?

So here’s the situation:  You meet or introduce yourself to 25 people each week (some of you more, some less).  Each of those people learns about you in some fashion.  Hopefully you do a good job of sharing your specific job search objectives.  And then you meet with 5 of those people the following week for a coffee.  You then exchange more details.  And offer to help each other.

And then you promptly forget about each other.

Since you meet a whole new crowd of people the next week.  And everyone you meet over the months of job search cannot possibly stay top of mind, right?

That’s the problem hurting most job seekers.  You are unable to stay relevant and topical.  You are forgotten.  Despite all of your efforts to be memorable in career networking.

And how do you fix that?

• Well, you keep networking, of course.  Spending at least 50% of your time away from your home office.  Meeting with real people and reinforcing your personal brand.  Live and in person.
• You can also become a person of influence in your community.
• Or decide to volunteer during job search around town.  To stay visible and meet others with the same idea.

But here’s an even better idea. Identify your network, create an email distribution list, and send a monthly e-mail to everyone on that list.

This is an example of career networking with a purpose.

There are “free” and “fee” methods to send an update.  The free version is simple.  Crank up your e-mail program and send a friendly note straight to your distribution list.  Need help?  Watch this video from Microsoft on how to create a distribution list in Outlook.

It does not need be a long message.  Simply a way to re-introduce yourself, to once again share your job search objectives and offer to help others with their search.  And, gosh, if you found yourself out of things to say, why not offer a link to a helpful post from your favorite job search blog.  Really.

Make sure to read part two of this post called 3 Great Examples Of Career Networking E-Mail Updates. Here you’ll see examples from my own network.  Three people who have allowed me to share their e-mail update with you.  So you can see some specific examples.  Good advertising for them.  And an opportunity for you to see how it can be done.

So be sure to come back.  Or sign up for the e-mail feed or RSS feed of this blog.  It’s easy!

How do you keep in touch with your network?  And what do you say?

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