“Private Networking” ? ? ? What Would YOU Do?
Gentle readers, I need your help on this one. . . Sometimes I have clients who are currently working in pretty good, high paying jobs for well know companies in town. These clients have come to me to learn how to market themselves and network for a new position with another company. The problem: if their current employer finds out they are search for a new position, they may be given the opportunity to turn that job search into a fulltime endeavor before they are ready to do so (i.e. they may be “let go”). That’s probably not a good thing.
We all know that networking is the most effective method of finding a position. But how can someone network for a position, while keeping the fact that they are looking for a new position “private”?
This is particularly a challenge in a small market like Portland, where people are only separated by one or two degrees! Please leave your comments here and let’s help our other readers figure out how to find THEIR perfect career position for this time in their life.
I have seen this done successfully, where the job seeker contacted only his most trusted colleagues and friends who were not affiliated with his current employer. The networking contacts must be discreet, and they must be willing to put extra time and effort into the matchmaking process, to ensure the job seeker’s privacy.
Comment by Peggy Dorf — December 10, 2007 @ 9:29 pm
Two things that will make their search more fruitful: be a model employee and schedule. By model employee I mean when they leave the employer is head over heels willing to provide glowing recommendations. Many times employers can tell you are looking by how satisfied you are with your current engagements.
Now, on to schedule. If indeed the clients you are working with are high paying then they are more likely highly visible positions. Additionally, we hope that they realize they can perform their job without utilizing the protestant work ethic that got them there (50-60 hours per week), at this point in their career. Upon that realization, the job search schedule will have to be exercised outside the work schedule. Would also suggest having a private email that is forwarded somehow to a cell phone/pda out of respect for the corporate resources being utilized for personal reasons.
Example: Work 8am to 12pm, lunch 12pm – 1pm (NETWORKING), Work 1pm-5pm, 5pm-bed (Networking). The schedule should be moulded to the personal needs for each person (family, life, networking, current job).
Critical idea: never talk about the fact that you are looking for work, this is a common error of networkers. Just stick to what you WANT and what you are GOOD at and what you ENJOY doing, the rest will come to you.
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Andrew Beach
Real Estate Broker & Referral Magnet
andrew@listed2sold.com
Prudential NW Properties
5 Centerpointe Drive Suite 150
Lake Oswego, Oregon 97035
tel: (503) 684-2153
fax: (503) 626-5653
mobile: (503) 320-4410
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p.s. Of all the people you know who do you
think might move next? Thank you for your
generous support when you phone me with family
& friends selling, buying or investing in real estate.
Comment by Andrew Beach, Breakfast Club — December 11, 2007 @ 9:07 am
Peggy and Andrew got it right with their suggestions: be discreet, use only trusted colleagues outside your employer’s circle of influence to pursue your networking objectives; strategically use time “off the clock” to meet your networking objectives; and be a superstar in the office so your current employer has no excuse but to provide a glowing review of your work.
Here’s some additional advice to consider:
1. Do your job search somewhere either at home or out of the office (where you’re email, phone, and internet usage is not monitored by an employer)
2. Setup a Google Alert (google.com/alerts) to sniff out new opportunities posted by potential employers of interest. Just make sure the alerts go to your personal (non-work related) e-mail address.
3. Use a personal phone number on your resume.
4. Read Joann Lublin’s article in the Wall Street Journal about “How to Network Without Sabotaging Your Own Job Hunt,” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119672504225112393.html
5. Make networking an ongoing priority while you’re gainfully employed. As they say, the best time to job-hunt is when you don’t need one. Thus, be cordial to headhunters that contact you from time to time to stay in touch, you never know when you might want their help.
6. Take on work-related projects that make you highly visible in your industry (or the industry you want to be in, if possible). This is a great way to meet new people in your target industry via events, trade shows, industry association participation, interaction with strategic partners, and volunteering in the community.
7. Employ a professional “shadow networker” to network discreetly on your behalf. Sounds a little Hollywood, I know, but I’ve actually met people who make a living doing this. Seriously, they work with clients who either need to be discreet, or just need the help getting the word out and connecting. To find someone like this, you might put an anonymous ad on Craig’s list to recruit someone with industry knowledge and sales experience and have them sign a confidentiality agreement to get out there and network for you. Good candidates might be someone else who’s looking for a job in your field but at another level, a graduate student in your field, or a retired person with lots of industry knowledge and charisma. Just like any hired gun, you would give them your networking objectives and you can screen the contacts they make a decide how to follow up. Sounds crazy, but sometimes it pays to think outside the box.
Good luck!
Noah Brockman, MBA
Business Development Consultant
PointMan Consulting LLC
http://www.PointManConsulting.com
http://www.PortlandSpeedNetworking.com
Comment by Noah Brockman, Portland Speed Networking — December 11, 2007 @ 1:33 pm
Excellent Ideas Noah, thanks so much for your input! Sean
Comment by sharry — December 11, 2007 @ 2:10 pm
Great feedback from Peggy, Noah,& Andrew.
I myself was in this very position not too long ago. I was already doing quite a bit of networking.
However, it was only a few trusted colleagues that knew I was looking for a change.
Yes you want to stay a superstar until you leave. And not just for the glowing reference.
But it speaks volumes about you and your professionalism.
You want to make just as good of an impression on the people you network with as you do prospective employers. You never know who is watching and where that great opportunity will come from.
Comment by Casie Allan-Bova — December 12, 2007 @ 12:02 pm
In addition to the excellent suggestions above, as somome who was in recruiting in the IT sector for several years, I would suggest finding a reputable firm to shop you around. They should be using a “scrubbed down” version of your resume that contains no contact info or identifying employment info. It can also be done without a resume being submitted to prospective employers. Agencies should have non-disclosure agreements with the clients that should protect you from them releasing your info to anyone.
LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) is a good tool for getting your resume seen with out the inpression that you are looking for a job. Good recruiters use it as a place to find “passive” candidates. It is free to set up an account and it gets seen by a ton of people. It leans more to the IT sector than other areas but is expanding rapidly. Sean is on and can send you a connection to link up that will greatly improve your visibility.
If you are able to scrub your resume enough to still show your skills and worth, you can post to Monster and HotJobs with a fair amount of anonymity. Most employers are looking at these two sites more than places such as CareerBuilder. Many are doing their own recruiting from them in addition to using agencies.
Hope this helps and happy searching!
Comment by Maia Chase — December 16, 2007 @ 1:57 pm