Any of us who have had to search for a new job know that search is a full-time job. In this economy, it's more difficult to find the right job that's a good fit. For the older job seeker, it's even tougher and takes much longer than it did in the past. There are those of us who, in the past, may have easily found a job through a recruiter, a job posting, friend or want ad but times they are a changing. And maybe not... maybe they are as they've always been where being connected to others is important. But there are some measures the older job seeker can take to enhance the search. The job search stats reveal that 80% of the jobs are found through the people we know. When that impressive stat was revealed in 2009, I chuckled. You see, that is the same statistic of "where the jobs are" from 1982 when I was coordinating the San Francisco Examiner's Career's series. Remember, that was also a recession year. So that hasn't changed. What's also the same as it's been in the past is the verite of the old adage: it's who you know.
What I learned from my late "femtor", Sally Livingston, (she coined the phrase in 1982), is that the key to opening job doors is "it's who knows you". People we know are the key. What that boils down to: we must network like it's 2010.
The reason I gladly accepted an invitation to be the inaugural keynote speaker for Phase Two Careers is that I was laid off from my teaching position in San Francisco in one of the first massive teacher lay-offs in the country. It wasn't fun. Too many people believed George Bernard Shaw's "those who can, do; those who can't, teach. Oh Pshaw! He was wrong! How To Work a Room was the result of the career change workshops I gave in the San Francisco/Bay Area. Too many people were told to ask for time for informational interviews and bosses expressed their concern for productivity if employees gave these interviews. My advice: go to the professional association meeting in an area of interest and talk to as many people as possible during the No-Host cocktail hour. (That's what it used to be called before we called it the "networking reception" and turned it into a task).It would be a great opportunity to talk to many people and a good investment of time and money. When one of the participants who was VERY verbal during the workshop said she could never talk to people she didn't know, I realized that it wasn't enough to say, "Go talk to strangers," I had to write HOW to do it.
Here are a few points from my talk to Phase Two Career seekers:
1. Name tag on the right side...it's line of sight when shaking hands and makes it easy for others to remember your name. (From How To Work a Room®
2. Be active in online networks like Linkedin and Facebook where you can find old friends, former colleagues and classmates.
3. Be open to the "you never Know" philosophy because that allows for unplanned opportunities.
4. Be visible in all of your communities: attend alumni events, online seminars, Rotary, Chamber events, gatherings of friends/family/colleagues, fundraisers at church/synagogue/charities. Why?
You never know! Let me know if you do!
Susan RoAne is the premier authority on networking. She recently spoke at a Phase2Careers' event. She is the author on numerous books on networking including:
How to Work a Room
The Secrets of Savvy Networking FACE TO FACE: How To Reclaim The Personal Touch in A Digital World
