Use your network, but use it cautiously. These contacts may be some of the most valuable you’ll make in your career. Guard them jealously and treat them with care, advises William J Morin

Schedule a good measure of rehearsal time before attempting high-level personal networking

One of the best avenues for exploring the hidden job market is networking — using your friends, acquaintances and referrals to scope out unadvertised job opportunities. Most job seekers use some degree of networking in their campaigns. Unfortunately, some of them — inadvertently or otherwise — are abusing the networking process, which may diminish its impact for everyone.

Abuse of the networking process can be as simple as contacting the same person too frequently or overstaying one’s welcome at an appointment. In many cases, abuse is simply overuse that results from poor planning and inadequate self-pacing in the job search. Successful networkers pace themselves by arranging calls and meetings at an easily managed tempo.

Hasty efforts at getting your message into the marketplace can lead to less successful meetings. Make sure you’ve given yourself reasonable time for self-appraisal and planning before taking up other people’s time. Schedule a good measure of rehearsal time before attempting high-level personal networking.

The Case of Vicky W
Vicky W is an example of someone who minimised the impact she sought by overextending herself too soon. Vicky had lost an excellent job in human resources because of a company-wide cutback. She was familiar with the networking concept, and immediately after being terminated, she prepared a list of people she believed would be most helpful in her search. She was popular and knew many people. Her list was long. Unfortunately, she didn’t spend the time necessary to appraise her strengths, achievements and marketable skills.

Vicky hastily set up appointments with top executives at both search firms and human resources departments. She left each of these meetings with three or four names, and she contacted each of those people immediately. Vicky was trying to do too much too soon without adequately defining the purpose of each meeting. She scheduled four or more interviews a day but didn’t organise or plan them properly. She attended too many informational meetings where there were no clear job opportunities. As a result, she became discouraged.

While she never lessened her pace, in effect, she lost control. Networking to her became a helter-skelter activity and not an organised and integral part of an overall job search. At the end of four months, Vicky had met virtually every human resources professional in her city. And finally she got a job. She had reached the point, however, of both exhaustion and embarrassment. Nonetheless, she had achieved her goal — or had she?

After 18 months in her new position, Vicky found herself unemployed again, in spite of a master’s degree and considerable talent. Although she received professional outplacement assistance, Vicky really needed to use her network again. Yet she was reluctant to do so given her previous experience. Her over-ambitious method of contacting people had disenchanted many decision-makers in her field. When they heard her name this time, they were justifiably leery.

Vicky’s predicament had little to do with her job skills or intentions. Rather, the flaws of her first campaign were hindering her new search. She had tried to see anyone who would agree to meet with her instead of focusing on key targets. Also, she should have been more direct in asking whether openings existed and in attempting to discover the identity of the real decision-makers.

Vicky also could have used the telephone more wisely. By finding out more information in advance, she could have saved herself unnecessary travel. Moreover, she learned from one of her contacts that she would have made a far better impression had she been more direct about seeking employment. That way she could have spent less time finding out about the company and more time discussing what she wanted and had to offer.

Vicky eventually got another, more suitable job. But she freely admits that her abuse of the networking process the first time around hindered her quest.

‘Nonabusive’ networking
Some people find networking easy to do. For those in marketing and sales, networking puts old, well-practised skills to use. For someone who has been a research scientist, however, the idea of making contacts to sell himself or herself is quite distasteful. Even senior-level executives find the prospect of “selling themselves” unpalatable. Recognising that networking is part of the “job” of looking for a job is a good stimulus to do it, and do it correctly.

One way to learn to network well is to begin with those people with whom you feel most relaxed. Start with someone you know on a first-name basis and are certain will respond. Remember to keep your interviews brief. When you make the appointment, mention that it won’t take more than 10 minutes. Then stick to that. If you find the interview going beyond that time, acknowledge that you’re running over and give your contact the option of continuing.

Also, remember to keep your interviews to the point. If you’re likely to forget questions, try keeping them in a notebook. During the interview, ask the person if he or she minds if you take notes, and use that opportunity to refer to your questions.

Learn the names of secretaries. They may be receiving many phone calls from you, and it helps to make them your allies. Immediately after your interview, send a handwritten thank you note. Don’t forget, these people are giving you the benefit of their experience and should be thanked for it. Use this as an opportunity to mention the positive work the company is doing, rather than reminding them of what you can do for them.

Try to turn an awkward situation around, if you must. Be honest. Joe B., for example, had been extremely persistent in trying to reach a key contact. To Joe, this contact was potentially so important to his career that he called too often. Finally, the executive did return his call — to reprimand him for pestering him. Joe apologised and told the executive he had called frequently because he was impressed by the company’s growth record and reputation and wanted to learn more about it. He wound up with the interview he’d been seeking all along. The lesson here is, don’t despair if you make a mistake in the area of “abusing” your network. Simply be honest and try to set it straight.

What all this finally means is this: Use your network, but use it cautiously. These contacts may be some of the most valuable you’ll make in your career. Guard them jealously and treat them with care. Many people become unemployed or need to make a job change more than once in their careers. The way you treat networking contacts the first time around will determine not only their immediate impact on your career, but also how much they’ll be available to help you in the future.

(The writer is chairman & CEO of WJM Associates Inc., a New York-based management consulting firm)