Many people think that the best way to get a job is to ‘broadcast‘ their resume to every job board in existence. A friend of mine who was looking for a new job thought a good day’s work was spending her time searching the job boards. I would tell her “what a waste of your good networking time”.

I’m not saying that online job search is not useful, but I agree with Alison Doyle who stated in her post “Yes, it’s easier to just put your resume online and wait, but, you probably won’t have a line of employers knocking on your door. In fact, you may be lucky if you get any serious responses.”

What I advocate is that you use online search as one method along with the many other job search techniques and strategies. Focusing on the job boards alone as the “be-all and end-all” is sure to bring you much disappointment (which is a feeling I doubt you want to spend much time with, especially while in job search mode…right?)

So, what is it that makes people give job search networking the cold shoulder so often? I find that what really keeps people from getting out and networking in the world is not that their opinion of networking as an activity that is openly ’selling’ oneself – but another underlying issue altogether… fear. They are afraid to put themselves out there, don’t know what to say or how to represent themselves and worse, don’t want to face rejection head on. What if know one finds them interesting or worse, does not want to engage in conversation with them and they end up just standing there doing nothing – bored and vulnerable?

I agree, those thoughts would frighten just about anyone away from networking. So, if that’s what is holding you back here is one thing you can do to warm up that ‘cold shoulder’ negativity towards networking and chase away the fear factor.

Develop a great quick introductory pitch (also known as “the 30 second commercial” or the “elevator pitch” – the kind that can answer the classic starter question just about everyone uses when they encounter a new acquaintance… “So, what do you do?” And I’m not just talking about having a pitch like “I’m an engineer” – and leaving it at that. That’s not interesting at all and doesn’t leave much room for generating interesting questions. It’s so short and quick that it is almost a conversation ‘ender’ vs. a conversation ‘starter’. You’ve got to tell them something that will peak their interest and stimulate curiosity in order to generate more conversation with you. Think…”what is it that I offer?” and then start out with that.

A short introductory pitch is a great way to break the ice and will enable you to feel more comfortable when you walk into a room of strangers to begin networking. There is no fumbling around about looking for a job and being out of work - no, your pitch focuses on what you bring to the table, know matter who you are working for (or not) at the time. The fact that you’re looking for a position currently can come up in the conversation after they hear more of ‘who’ you are and what your value add is.

Once this conversation starts and more is uncovered, when they do find out our currently seeking new opportunities it is far more likely that they will give you a lead.

For more good tips around networking and building strong personal and professional connections I highly recommend reading The Connect Effect by Michael Dulworth. And check out our links page for a number of online networking sites you may be interested in.

P.S. Be sure you have your own personal business card to hand out at your meetings…please do not use an old business card from a previous employer and cross off the phone number and email and rewrite in pen. This is a sure way to go into the ‘not a referral’ pile.

Posted by Robin Ogden – FiredUP Careers

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