Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from the most recent session with Debbie Ellis, President of the Phoenix Career Group.
Debbie is good at keeping her finger on the pulse of the job market. According to Debbie, things are starting to settle down and there are indications that things will start looking up in 2010, but competition at the senior level is going to continue be tough and companies are moving more slowly with new hires.
That said, Debbie also notes that networking and maintaining your personal brand are still the best strategies for career advancement. She recommends five general steps for proactive networking:
- Build a list of from 10 to 50 companies you have identified as a good match for your professional value. Make sure these companies are a good fit for your functional expertise and your personal and professional brand, as well as a cultural fit and a fit with organizational structure.
- Do your homework. Make sure you have a solid understanding of the company’s objectives and their problems. Discover who within the organization has the authority to hire you for the position you are interested in, even if they don’t have an opening posted. There are any number of groups you can use to identify stakeholders, including friends, family, alumni, and professional contacts.
- Develop targeted solutions for each candidate company. Look at the organizational challenges and provide two to five solutions as to how you would address them.
- Earn the access to the hiring authorities. It’s often easier to find phone numbers than e-mail addresses. Make a call. It’s best to call around 9:00 a.m., around noon, or after 5:00 p.m. when the gatekeepers are gone. This approach is more proactive than e-mail and gives you an opportunity to present your value proposition directly.
- Once you have access, demonstrate your value by providing specific information. Also be sure to listen! Listen to how they describe their challenges and then help provide options. Then follow up with additional information.
As Debbie notes, the key is to find out what the potential customer wants and then give it to them. Of course, this approach takes a little work, but isn’t the outcome worthwhile?
