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Develop a
Contact List
To Help Land That Job
A good contact list goes hand in hand with networking.
As simple as it
sounds, there are some key aspects to consider when developing this
career
resource tool.
Once you begin networking and developing your list of people you know,
it doesn't end there. You need to put this to use.
You should reach out to people you believe might have a good job lead.
If you don't have a close relationship with the person (e.g. you met
the person through someone you know), you might not be sure how to
approach them.
Here are some useful
tips for building contacts:
- Introduce yourself and let them know how you
obtained their name. It
is great if you have a mutual friend or association you can refer to.
- If possible, briefly state your common
interests (e.g. both of you
are alumni of a local college, or you have similar backgrounds).
- Briefly state what it is you require of them.
- I like to use the
approach..."as an expert in your field, I was hoping to gain some
advice on what it takes to become...".
- Try not to take up too much of their time or
spill your entire life
story.
- If you do the introduction right the first
time, there will be
future opportunities to get into more detail.
- Always thank them for their time.
- Don't forget to leave your contact information.
- How best they can
reach you.
- Make it as easy as possible for contacts to
help you.
- Explain
exactly what it is you want.
- Don't use lines like "Do you know of any jobs
that I would be a good
fit for"?
- How would they know without more information?
If you meet with a contact or exchange emails, you always want to
follow up. Once again, don't come across like a stocker, but don't sit
back and let time pass you by either.
Remember that people have very busy lives and often cannot reply to
emails and letters right away. A follow up is a good way to thank them
again for their time and let them know how much you value their advice.
Develop your
contact list to track your network of career resources. It
should:
-
Be organized. I prefer a spreadsheet, but
whatever works best for
you.
- Contain job title of person contacted.
- Include the name of their company (and
location).
- Detail how to best reach them. (e.g. phone
number, email address,
mailing address)
- Contain dates you corresponded with them.
- Contain a brief overview of what was discussed.
- As your list grows,
it is important to track what you said and to whom.
- You'll look foolish
if you ask for something again...after already receiving a response.
It's important to update and maintain an accurate contact list. You
will need this as you continue your career search.
Contacts may also
come from a career
employment search on a company's website, job
fairs
or through various online
job sites.
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