Jill MacFadyen's Career Coach Blog » Networking

THE NETWORKING BRIEF OR HANDBILL–AGAIN

Jill — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 18:57:30 +0000

It has been a few months since I wrote about the Networking Brief or Handbill. I ran across a sample that I thought would interest you. See the link at the bottom and also go back to the earlier blog to check out the earlier samples—one for banking and one for technology. Use these or the one linked today as guides as you create yours.

As a reminder, the Networking Brief is used when 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 guesswork out of the game. 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.

A Networking Brief 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,
connections you hope to make
names of target companies if relevant (and which this sample so nicely shows).

A Networking Brief is not a resume. 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 new sample. Remember, this might not be the right style for you but I did want you to see it and I do thank the person who has allowed me to share it. See Network brief john jones final

QUOTE

“More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet no MBA courses are given on the subject.” Peter Drucker

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

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

Share and Enjoy:

JOB SEARCH LIKE A TENNIS RACKET

Jill — Sun, 20 Jun 2010 19:02:13 +0000

Tennis rackets have a sweet spot—the optimal place for the ball to strike for success. However, some of the most difficult shots to return are those tennis balls hit from odd places on the racket. It might have been unintended by the player but still successful. I had one tennis coach who jokingly called that getting your full money’s worth out of the racket. I suggest that if you are only looking for the sweet spot in your job search, you might not be getting “all your money’s worth” out of what you have to offer. You might need to try something different. Some suggestions:

Accountability groups—the synergy of the group drives you to action. Find one in a local job club or form one with others you know who are in search.
Boards of directors—even if only in your head. Instead of interpreting job search results by yourself, do it from the filter of a pre-chosen group of people you admire. You can even arrange for an actual board of directors to give you advice and feedback.
Use family members and friends as an accountability group by e-mailing them where you are in your search. Outline highs, lows and areas where you are trying to improve. This not only holds you accountable but it keeps their inquiries from making you uncomfortable. It puts you in charge.

QUOTE

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” Albert Einstein

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.

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

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

Share and Enjoy:

MINOR BUT IMPORTANT POINTS

Jill — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:09:39 +0000

I’m devoting this weekend to a training program, so I thought I’d take an opportunity to post a brief reminder about an important point. So many of us in transition are unhappy that we don’t hear back from HR and that our messages seem to disappear into a black hole. There may be several reasons why HR is not returning calls, but I want to have you think about the messages that you leave. I just received a voice mail from someone who left an unintelligible phone number. I know my hearing is not the greatest, so I had a relative with superb hearing listen; he said that it seemed as if two digits were missing. We all know our phone numbers, so when we get to that part of the message, we probably take a deep sigh of relief and just rattle off the number. I suggest you write out what you are going to say, so that you don’t ramble or have to call back because you have forgotten something vital. Speak your name and phone number distinctly. It is helpful to say both name and phone number at the beginning and end of the message. This way the recipient doesn’t have to listen to a very long message twice if your name and number weren’t written down at the beginning. Don’t assume that Caller ID is available to provide your number.

Your e-mail and voice mail are important links to those who have jobs to offer. Does your e-mail system let you know when a message is undeliverable? If not, do you double check to see if you have the address correct?

Is your voice mail message professional? A least favorite is, “I am not here. You know what to do.” Is your message brief and to the point? I am sure your children are charming but not on your voice mail message if you are in search mode. Your religious holidays are not of interest to the caller. If you have a choice, make and receive calls from a land line because it can be clearer. And finally, be very aware of background noise whenever you make a call or leave a message: turn off the TV and stereo, and step out of the room if there are other people around chatting away. The only sound the other party should hear is the sound of your own voice.

QUOTE

“If e-mail had been around before the telephone was invented people would have said “hey, forget e-mail-with this new telephone invention I can actually talk to people.” www.thinkexist.com

PLEASE COMMENT

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

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

Share and Enjoy:

LETTING GO OF FEAR CAUSED BY LIMITING BELIEFS

Jill — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 23:47:34 +0000

When I watched the snowboarders on the brink of the half pipe, I couldn’t imagine myself in that situation. How many of us before networking, before an interview or before sending off a resume, feel as if we were about to descend to the half pipe with our feet strapped to a board and with millions of watchers in person and on TV? Yet, we are not being televised, no one is critiquing us and we won’t get physically maimed or injured. However, our own thoughts can make what we need to do seem insurmountable.

There is real fear of danger and fear imposed by self-limiting beliefs. If we are asking ourselves “what if” type of questions, then it could be that fear caused by self-limiting beliefs is beneath them.

What if I fail?
What if I look stupid?
What if I say something stupid?
What if the recruiter thinks I am stupid?
What if I am older (or younger) than the recruiter?
What if the economy is so bad that I never will find a job?

If you are uncomfortable or stuck in some aspect of your job search because of self- limiting thinking, try writing the words that have been going through your mind. (E.g., I am so stupid. I always make mistakes. I am not good enough. No one is going to hire me.) Then ask if these negative words are really, really true in all instances. Ask how it makes you feel to think these words. Ask if you would use these words against a friend or loved one. If these words you frequently say to yourself are not 100% accurate, make you feel crummy and would never be used about a loved one, THEN STOP THINKING THEM. An interesting book on the topic is Loving What Is: Four Questions that Can Change Your Life, by Byron Katie. You might also check out Katie’s web site, www.thework.com for helpful information and exercises about this.

For some of us, negative words from childhood or school stick in our minds and become “truths” that we live by. These voices in our heads which diminish us or keep us from success could be called saboteurs or gremlins. Stress (and many aspects of job search can be stressful) really activates them. When you notice that you are caught up in negative circular thinking, try the following:

Notice—simply notice. Become aware of the here and now. Notice your breathing, the tension in your body and where it is.
Breathe deeply several times. Feel your emotions.
Tell the voice to go away.

The first two suggestions are from a good book on the topic, Taming Your Gremlin: A Surprisingly Simple Method for Getting out of Your Own Way, by Rick Carson.

QUOTES

"Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine." Emerson

"What you think of yourself is much more important that what others think of you." Seneca

“It is of practical value to learn to like yourself. Since you must spend so much time with yourself you might as well get some satisfaction out of the relationship.” Norman Vincent Peale

PLEASE COMMENT

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

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

Share and Enjoy:

WHAT NOW?

Jill — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 20:54:10 +0000

You have business cards, your Networking Brief and are ready to deliver your beautifully polished Personal Commercial. Now what? You network. However, of all of the aspects of the job search, the one I hear the most negative remarks about is networking –and yet it should be the most fun. Unlike the job interview, you are not asked unexpected questions. Unlike sending your resume into the abyss, you get to actually talk to people. Unlike salary negotiation, you don’t have to discuss money. So what’s the problem?

I believe the problem is the informational interview. Outplacement agencies and job clubs push “networking” and teach this technique. It is stressed that you are seeking information, not a job. For some of us that would be disingenuous because we are not seeking information, we are seeking a job. Not all of us are going to do informational interviews in which we ask a contact to meet us for lunch or coffee. Some of us are not at the place in our career where our contacts are free to meet for lunch or coffee. Networking is the big picture, and the informational interview is just one part of that picture. Informational interviewing seems to work well when you want to learn

about a type of career before you switch to it,
about an industry,
or about a particular company.

But even if we don’t do informational interviewing, we all can network by choosing a method that works for our personality and needs. For example, I have heard of those who have:

Used a tag line under an e-mail signature about the type of job being sought.
Had an accidental interview on a plane when the person sitting next to her asked what type of work she did. Her seat mate happened to be the CEO of a hospital. (Thank goodness she had her Personal Commercial polished.)
Contacted others through LinkedIn or from his contact list for information about a company. “Who do you know at xyz company who can help me get my resume noticed?”
Asked contacts for names of recruiters. The recruiter pays more attention when you have been referred.
Attended meetings in their current or desired field. (Bring business cards and copies of the Networking Brief.)
Asked family, friends and contacts to be their eyes and ears about openings in a desired field or at a desired company.
E-mailed contacts to let them know with wording from the Personal Commercial what is being sought and how the contacts can help. (You might attach your Networking Brief to the e-mail because it is specific about how you can be helped.)
Asked contacts if they know anyone in a desired firm who can let them know what it is like to work there.
Done public speaking on an area of expertise.
Volunteered in a field of interest.
Gone to local job search groups and then had coffee or lunch to better get to know someone else in transition. This person does not necessarily have to be in your field. (Once when in transition I had coffee with a man who was interviewing to be COO of a company where I had applied to be the HR Manager. If he had landed that position, I would have been a shoe-in.)

Please share with me your networking ideas and successes.

Some suggested books that have information on networking:

Change Your Career: Transitioning to the Nonprofit Sector by Laura Gassner Otting

In Transition: From the Harvard Business School Club of New York’s Career Management Seminar by Mary Lindley Burton, Richard A. Wedemeyer

Rites of Passage at $100,000 to $1Million +: Your Insider’s Lifetime Guide to Executive Job-Changing and Faster Career Progress in the 21^st Century, by John Lucht

What Color is Your Parachute? 2010: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-changers by Richard N. Bolles.

QUOTE

“…when it comes to finding out about new jobs…’weak ties’ are always more important than strong ties. Your friends, after all, occupy the same world that you do. …Your acquaintances, on the other hand, by definition occupy a very different world than you. They are much more likely to know something that you don’t.” (Page 54, The Tipping Point: How Little things Can Make a Big Difference by Malcolm Gladwell)

PLEASE COMMENT

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

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

Share and Enjoy:

OTHER NETWORKING TOOLS

Jill — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 19:20:47 +0000

Here are two useful tools for networking and job search.

Get a business card. Early in my career search, I found myself in the embarrassing position of writing my name and contact information on a yellow sticky note to hand to a potential contact. Your business card can be a simple one with your name and contact information on it. You do not have to include your address. Instead of a title, you put your function under your name. For example, Human Resources Professional, CPA, Engineer, IT Professional, Administrative Professional, Electrician. This correlates to the function you used in the summary of your resume and in your personal commercial. You can get them professionally printed relatively inexpensively or even do them on your home printer.
If you haven’t joined LinkedIn, do so. LinkedIn is free, and I have seen it be very helpful to clients. It helps you develop and manage your network of professional connections—people you know or should know in your field of interest. Just as important, LinkedIn lets you create a profile for yourself that communicates your value to those contacts. Your profile is one more way to let the world know what you do uniquely well. It is worth spending some time writing it. Then, when you start to build your network, you can ask friends and co-workers to write a recommendation for you. You might also then do the same for them.

I will write about the Networking Brief next week and include a sample.

QUOTE

“More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet no MBA courses are given on the subject.” Peter Drucker

PLEASE COMMENT

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

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

Share and Enjoy:

HOW TO WRITE YOUR PERSONAL COMMERCIAL OR ELEVATOR SPEECH

Jill — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:56:52 +0000

The format is simple. I suggest you write out your personal commercial, using the following points:

You introduce yourself. Hello, my name is….
Tell the person who you are by function, not by title. Perhaps use an adjective to describe yourself in this function. For example, “I am a trend-setting web designer…” So begin by using the words, I am….
If relevant, say why you are no longer working for your prior firm or why you are thinking of leaving your current firm. (You will be asked this at some point by friends or during an interview, so get comfortable with stating this.) Make it brief and non-judgmental. You might refer to my earlier blog on the Leaving Statement to see how this works
Say something interesting about your experience or successes that will hook the listener.
Say what you are looking for in a new job and how the listener can help. This can include where you want to work.

Once you have written the words, it’s time to practice the commercial. Call your voice mail to record it and then play it back to see how it sounds to you. Try it out on family members and friends and ask for feedback. When you are happy with your personal commercial, practice it until you can give it gracefully whenever needed. Practice in front of a mirror. Record it without your notes and listen to how it sounds. Re-record until you can deliver it smoothly.

As a side note, you might find that you will also use portions of the personal commercial in e-mails to contacts to let them know how they can help you.

SOME NOTES:

Express your value.
Speak with confidence. If you are sure of your value, your listener will believe in that value.
Make it short. This is not a history of your life.
Do not improvise. If you do, you will talk too much.
Be professional and upbeat. Don’t let this be about the sadness of what you may have lost.
Once again: practice, practice, practice.

AN OFFER

I will help polish, at no charge, the personal commercials of the first three readers who contact me at jill@careercoachjill.com. This would be for a session of no longer than 55 minutes. To be considered, you must include in your e-mail a copy of your rough draft and your contact information.

MY PERSONAL COMMERCIAL

My personal commercial follows and I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you for help in achieving my goals:

Hello, my name is Jill MacFadyen. I am a certified life coach who specializes in helping my clients find satisfying careers, jobs and lives. My clients are given support in all aspects of career search from “what do I want to do when I grow up” to how to be successful in their next position. One client even reported an improved golf game, a surprise. I would appreciate your referring to me those who might be less than satisfied with their job, work or life.

PLEASE COMMENT

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

QUOTE

“Practice means to perform, over and over again in the face of all obstacles, some act of vision, of faith, of desire. Practice is a means of inviting the perfection desired.” Martha Graham

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

Share and Enjoy:

Are You Sure I Have to Network?

Jill — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 00:25:00 +0000

“…the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.”

–Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

I am reusing last week’s quote because it is so powerful and because it is also apt for this week’s topic about networking. If one is committed to something—like finding a job—one tells others about it.

To put it simply, networking works. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be conversational. It doesn’t have to be scary. It can run the gamut from telling the local butcher that you are looking for a job to conducting informational interviews and everything in between. I think it is especially important after you have applied for a position you would really like. Then certainly ask contacts if they know anyone at that firm who can help you.

The days when people were embarrassed about looking for work are long over. I had one wonderful client who used as a tag line after her signature line on e-mails, “Looking for a Project Manager Position.” That certainly is networking and you will have to decide if it works for you or not.

In next week’s post, I will outline the steps to writing a 30 second personal commercial—also referred to as an elevator speech—which is the first step. For right now, I would like to give you two examples:

Friend A told me of her dream job. Shortly thereafter, I called Friend B about a different topic and Friend B mentioned that her firm had a need for skills that fit Friend A’s dream job and for help in finding a project management employee. I called Friend C to see if his wife might be interested in the project management position and he said that he was having trouble filling positions for his firm and he needed someone who would fit Friend A’s dream job skills. So in two serendipitous phone calls, I had two possible leads for Friend A.
A client in another state had been a bookkeeper for an automotive credit company for decades. She is a quiet woman who didn’t think she would like to network. However, we prepared her 30 second personal commercial and had her practice it until it just flowed. She went to the local grocery store where the deli manager while slicing ham asked why she was there in the middle of the day. She replied with her personal commercial which ended with the words, “at this point, my ideal job would be as a bookkeeper for a local car dealer within five miles of my home.” He responded, “You want I should have the VP of Sales from the Caddie dealer down the street call you?”

You never know who knows the right contact. So you help yourself by spreading the word. However, “the word” has to be sincere, positive and upbeat. It cannot ramble. If you are still feeling negative or down about your situation, go back and read some of the earlier posts.

PLEASE COMMENT

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

QUOTE

"... the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too."  Goethe

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

Share and Enjoy:

THE NEW YEAR HAS ARRIVED

Jill — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 23:22:18 +0000

“…the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too.” –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

This is a powerful quote. We’ve all had the experience that when we truly set our minds to do something, to make a commitment to an achievement, that things suddenly seem to fall into place for us, to help us along the way—what Goethe calls “Providence.”

In looking back on my many years and many friends, and all my reading, I am not sure that any of us really commits to New Year’s goals. We only say “I am going to be kinder to my kids,” or “I am going to quit smoking, or do better at work.” But have we made a commitment to these goals? Until we do, Providence will not help us, and our goals will go by the wayside.

So how do you commit to a goal, to something in the future, yet-to-happen? I think our usual methods are inside-out: we want the behavior to happen, but we have not readied ourselves. That means that it is more likely we will fail to achieve our goals, which sets us up for disappointment in ourselves and puts more stress on an already pressurized cauldron. But there is a way to prepare for pressure-free success. And it starts by striving to appreciate ourselves. The first step is stopping the “monkey chatter” of self-negative talk. That means looking out for it even in the way we set our goals.

We tend to frame our goals in ways that presuppose we are imperfect and need to change. What if, instead, we liked ourselves so much that we wanted to responsibly take care of ourselves? That’s the meaning of “appreciate ourselves.” If we can make that commitment to ourselves, then “I am going to lose weight” becomes “I’m choosing now to eat nutritiously,” and “I am going to quite smoking” is now “Smoking hurts me and my family, and it’s time to stop doing that.” With our commitment in place, we may just find that Providence is at hand to supply the help we need to reach our goals.

PLEASE COMMENT

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

QUOTE

"... the moment one definitely commits oneself, then Providence moves too."  Goethe

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

Share and Enjoy:

TEXT VERSION OF YOUR RESUME

Jill — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:17:10 +0000

There are times when you need a text version of your resume to paste into an online database. If you are told to “copy and paste” your resume into a little box on a web site, you use the text version. (If given a choice, do use the upload or browse button to attach the regular version of your resume instead.) A text version of your resume means that:

Everything is left side justified.
There is no bolding.
There are no bullet points.
It is a plain vanilla version.

If you try to paste your regular version when a text file is needed, bullet points may come out as question marks or the number 7. Spacing becomes jumbled. This is not the impression you want to give to a potential employer. If you create one text version, you have it on your hard drive and don’t have to fuss with changes anytime you need to use it again.

To create a Text file, try the following:

Open your resume
Click File, Save As
In the Save As Type Box, select: Text Only or Plain Text.
Rename document
Now open this text file document
Check document and make minor changes. Remove any heading for page two as you don’t know how this version will be viewed or printed by the recipient. If you have used a table, there might be some extraneous symbols that need removing.
Save it to use any time you need a “cut and paste” version of your resume.

These directions are for PC users and I would enjoy hearing from Mac users about how they handle the need for Text versions.

See sample that follows. sam_smith_text_example[1]

PLEASE COMMENT

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

FUNNY EXAMPLE FROM A RESUME

Experience: “Child care provider: Organized activities; prepared lunches and snakes.”

Read more at: http://jobmob.co.il/blog/funniest-resume-mistakes/#ixzz0YGOtn621

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

Share and Enjoy: