Networking is still one of the most successful ways to get a job. Unfortunately many job hunters find this strategy confusing and/or intimidating. If "it's who you know" that makes the difference between a successful job search and a failed one, they are convinced that they are destined to fail.
In fact, networking is not just who you know but who you can meet. It can occur informally: at the coffee shop, on the train, at the health club. One successful finance executive made an important connection while she was working out on the treadmill. After striking up a conversation with the person running next to her, she discovered that they were both interested in buying a franchise and ended up becoming partners and buying one together.
In another case, an optometrist struck up a conversation with the man sitting next to him on a cross-country flight from Chicago to San Francisco. As fate would have it, the man was a marketing executive for an optical company. They exchanged numbers. The man passed the optometrist's resume along to his boss and a job offer resulted.
While it may sound like serendipity (what are the odds of an optometrist sitting next to an optical company executive), you never really know where a conversation with a stranger may lead. Even if the optometrist's seat mate had not been in a related business, he might have known someone else in the business and faciliated a meeting.
Of course you don't have to rely on the kindness of strangers. You can also network (read: talk) to people you know who might be able to help you. Even if your friends and neighbors work in completely different industries or job roles, they may know someone who knows someone who can be of help to you.
Still not convinced? Maybe you are the kind of person who doesn't feel comfortable asking your friends and acquaintances for help. If so, you need to develop a more focused networking strategy. Look for professional groups where people in your industry or profession congregate, attend conferences and seminars where you can meet people in related arenas, or join some of the on-line social and professional networking communities. Networking is a necessary part of almost every job search and successful career.
Rather than allowing yourself to be intimidated by the process, you need to figure out what works best for you - or, in some cases, what is the least uncomfortable way to meet and talk to people. You don't have to be an extrovert to implement a networking strategy. You just need some basic social and communication skills along with a committed effort.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
The Infernal Elevator Speech
If a job search is a self-marketing campaign (which it is, by the way) then the "elevator speech" is the 30-second commercial that gives a quick overview of who you are. Although I'm not sure exactly where the term comes from, some people think that it originated in the political arena because many of the important decisions made on the floor of Congress are made "within the span of an elevator ride" as a staff aide briefs the Senator or Congressperson on a bill seconds before they have to vote on it.
If this is true, this is exactly why I hate elevator speeches. Just as a Senator or Congressman cannot possibly make an important decision based on 30 seconds of information, job hunters cannot possibly present themselves effectively in 30 seconds. No matter how polished your speech is (and, in some ways, the more polished the more ineffective), it almost always sounds like an advertisement. Of course it's not really delivered in elevators and there's no hard and fast rule that it has to be 30 seconds.
Rather than an "elevator speech", think of it as a short presentation about yourself and, like all presentations of self, it should be crafted with your specific audience in mind. In other words, customize, customize, customize. To me, it makes more sense to think in terms of a "consultative selling" approach rather than a speech. In consultative selling, the seller does as much listening as they do talking - the idea being that you won't be able to persuade someone to buy your product or service unless you know what their needs are. And, to find out what their needs are, you are going to need more than 30 seconds - which brings me back to why I don't like elevator speeches.
Let me use myself as an example. In my career, I wear many hats. I am a career counselor who helps adults with career transitions. I am also a job coach who helps clients with resumes, job search strategies, interviewing, salary negotiations. And I am a psychotherapist which means that I can assist with emotional and/or psychological problems - both personal and work-related. I am an executive coach.
I teach college courses in psychology and business management. I write books on work-related topics. I present seminars and workshops. I make radio and television appearances. I provide expert witness testimony in divorce cases.
If I ran into you on an elevator (or any other place) and tried to tell you all of this in 30 seconds - or even a minute - you would probably tune me out after the first five seconds because it would be too much information for you to absorb too quickly. On the other hand if I know, for example, that you are an attorney I might focus in two seemingly disparate ways - first on the fact that I provide career counseling to attorneys and secondly that I have been doing some expert witness work with attorneys. As you can see, this focus pulls from the beginning and the end of my so-called speech and eliminates the whole middle section.
In another scenario, let's say that I bump into a professor or a college administrator at the coffee shop. Obviously I would talk to that person about my teaching experience or some of my work with career services offices at universities. If I were to deliver my speech in a vacuum - without knowing who I am talking to - it would not even occur to me to mention my work in university career counseling centers and yet, that is a rather extensive part of my work history.
My point is this: You can't sell yourself in a vacuum. And you certainly can't do it in 30 seconds which means that you need to develop a job search strategy that enables you to network - or talk - to people in a more in-depth and interesting way.
Job-hunting is not speed-dating. It takes time, energy, commitment and - in my opinion - a qualitative approach. When people "talk at" me rather than "to" me, I tend to tune out. And I think others do too. So take the time to "talk to" rather than "at" and lose the whole elevator speech.
If this is true, this is exactly why I hate elevator speeches. Just as a Senator or Congressman cannot possibly make an important decision based on 30 seconds of information, job hunters cannot possibly present themselves effectively in 30 seconds. No matter how polished your speech is (and, in some ways, the more polished the more ineffective), it almost always sounds like an advertisement. Of course it's not really delivered in elevators and there's no hard and fast rule that it has to be 30 seconds.
Rather than an "elevator speech", think of it as a short presentation about yourself and, like all presentations of self, it should be crafted with your specific audience in mind. In other words, customize, customize, customize. To me, it makes more sense to think in terms of a "consultative selling" approach rather than a speech. In consultative selling, the seller does as much listening as they do talking - the idea being that you won't be able to persuade someone to buy your product or service unless you know what their needs are. And, to find out what their needs are, you are going to need more than 30 seconds - which brings me back to why I don't like elevator speeches.
Let me use myself as an example. In my career, I wear many hats. I am a career counselor who helps adults with career transitions. I am also a job coach who helps clients with resumes, job search strategies, interviewing, salary negotiations. And I am a psychotherapist which means that I can assist with emotional and/or psychological problems - both personal and work-related. I am an executive coach.
I teach college courses in psychology and business management. I write books on work-related topics. I present seminars and workshops. I make radio and television appearances. I provide expert witness testimony in divorce cases.
If I ran into you on an elevator (or any other place) and tried to tell you all of this in 30 seconds - or even a minute - you would probably tune me out after the first five seconds because it would be too much information for you to absorb too quickly. On the other hand if I know, for example, that you are an attorney I might focus in two seemingly disparate ways - first on the fact that I provide career counseling to attorneys and secondly that I have been doing some expert witness work with attorneys. As you can see, this focus pulls from the beginning and the end of my so-called speech and eliminates the whole middle section.
In another scenario, let's say that I bump into a professor or a college administrator at the coffee shop. Obviously I would talk to that person about my teaching experience or some of my work with career services offices at universities. If I were to deliver my speech in a vacuum - without knowing who I am talking to - it would not even occur to me to mention my work in university career counseling centers and yet, that is a rather extensive part of my work history.
My point is this: You can't sell yourself in a vacuum. And you certainly can't do it in 30 seconds which means that you need to develop a job search strategy that enables you to network - or talk - to people in a more in-depth and interesting way.
Job-hunting is not speed-dating. It takes time, energy, commitment and - in my opinion - a qualitative approach. When people "talk at" me rather than "to" me, I tend to tune out. And I think others do too. So take the time to "talk to" rather than "at" and lose the whole elevator speech.
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