Jill MacFadyen's Career Coach Blog

As promised,  today’s blog is about the Networking Brief or Handbill.  The emphasis is on the word brief.  You might ask, “why do I need this if I have a resume.?”  The resume doesn’t tell the reader what you want in a position, plus it might make the recipient feel as if he/she has to find you a job.  The Networking Brief lets the recipient know exactly how you can be helped.  It is a one page document that is easier for the recipient to keep on hand.  If you go to job search meetings, you will probably be expected to pass out your Networking Brief.

When you are networking or just out and about, you want to tell people what you are looking for in your next step.  Don’t expect them to take out a piece of paper and jot down salient points.  It is your job to let them know with your personal commercial and with your Networking Brief.  This leaves the guess work out of the game. 

A Networking Brief is a one page document.  It includes:

• your contact information,
• short summary (similar to your resume),
• several bullet points about why you are good,
• types of positions and industries you are interested in,
• contacts that would be helpful,
• and names of target companies if relevant.

 It does not include names of companies you have worked for or the names of your schools.  I would like you to use a filter when writing it.  That filter is:  does the recipient need this information to connect me with the people who can be most helpful to me?

Please use the links to see the two samples.   network_brief_bank  network brief Technical

QUOTE

 “You cannot get to the top by sitting on your bottom.”  Proverb

PLEASE COMMENT

Once again, I would appreciate any experiences, comments or questions that will help other readers.  I would particularly enjoy some humorous experiences and success stories.  Once a month, I will choose one commenter to contact for a free one half hour coaching session.

HOW TO REACH ME

jill@careercoachjill.com

www.careercoachjill.com for career coaching   

www.limitlesshorizon.com for personal life coaching

www.leadercoaching.org for leadership coaching

RECENT POSTS

If you are recently laid off, start with the bottom listed blog, Ouch—Job Lost—How to Get a Fulfilling New Job, and then work your way up to the top.  

• Other Networking Tools
• How to Write Your Personal Commercial or Elevator Speech
• Are You Sure I have to Network?
• The New Year has Arrived
• As the New Year Approaches
• How to Manage the Holidays
• The Resume—Text Version
• The Resume—Putting it All Together
• The Resume—Work History
• The Resume—Summary
• The Resume—General Comments
• The Resume—Your Ticket
• Get Rid of the Rocks
• Reinventing ourselves
• But I don’t know What I want to do When I Grow Up
• How Much Do You Like Yourself?
• The Leaving Statement
• A Continuation of Perspectives
• Change your thoughts and you can change your world
• Harder to get a job while “in transition”?
• Ouch–Job Lost–How to Get a Fulfilling New Job   

Thanks to tech guru David Behrens (http://neptunestudios.net), and editor M. C. Pastoret.