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Professional networking
is not about handing out or distributing resumes. There is a time and place to hand out your resume and
that time and place is not when you are establishing professional connections.
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Key activities associated
with professional networking: - Meeting new people every day.
- Referrals.
- Phone
conversations.
- Informational meetings.
- Face to face contact.
- Talking to company presidents, owners and
key leaders.
- E-mails requesting meetings.
- Associations with professional groups.
- Participation in volunteer
activities.
- Attending business expos and career fairs.
- On-line networking groups, i.e. LinkedIn.
- Networking
groups, i.e. OPNETX.
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Key career search activities: - Resumes and cover letters.
- Search descriptions.
- Use of on-line job boards.
- Filling
out applications.
- Waiting for a response.
- Talking to HR departments.
- Waiting for job opportunities
to be advertised.
- Checking the help wanted section of the newspaper.
- Working with an outplacement service or
career counselor.
- Researching companies.
- Reading books about networking or attending “how to”
networking seminars.
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Reality: - 80% of available career opportunities are not advertised.
- Companies prefer to hire people that are
known, that can be trusted and that have been referred by a reliable source.
- The average career search for someone making
$40k is 4 months, for each $10k increment up add 1 month to the search time.
- The best way to have someone read your
resume is to have them request to see it.
- 80% of HR time in the hiring process is the process of elimination and
screening; only 20% of the time is focused on the interviewing and actually hiring.
- Finding people with the
right skills and qualifications is extremely difficult for most companies.
- A traditional method of recruiting employees
can be very expensive in terms of advertising and man hours used.
- Companies that need to hire people needed those
people yesterday.
- Successful companies are always looking for the best talent available.
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You can’t ignore
the steps needed in an effective career search. A well constructed and professional resume is the cornerstone
of any successful career search. Too often people concentrate over 90% of their time on career search
activities and less than 10% of their time to networking.
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The challenge
is to apply the 50/50 rule. Spend 50% of your time on career search activities and 50% of your time on
professional networking. Stop sending out resumes and get out there and connect with the people who will
lead you to and offer you your best opportunity.
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