Recommended reading: Highly Effective Networking

March 28, 7:32 AMEntry Level Careers ExaminerHeather Huhman

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The following is an interview with Orville Pierson, author of “Highly Effective Networking: Meet the Right People and Get a Great Job.” The book is available on Amazon.com.

Heather Huhman: In your book, you discuss the four goals of networking. What are they?

Orville Pierson: The four goals of networking are:

Gather information. The more you know about potential employers, the better choice you’ll make on which to pursue. You want to know who they are, what they do, how they do it, how they treat their employees, who your boss would be—and anything else you can find out. This information also makes you more effective in pursuing them and a more knowledgeable candidate who does a better job in an interview.

Get the word out. If you’re not currently employed, let everyone know you’re looking. You want them all to know what kind of jobs and employers you’re interested in, and what you have to offer them. What you’re offering might include specific experience or education. Or, it might simply be a burning—and well-informed—interest in working there.

Meet insiders. People who work where you want to work are your very best source of information. They can also introduce you to the Decision Maker, your next boss. If you talk to someone currently in a job more or less like the one you want, they can tell you what to say—and not say—when you talk to the Decision Maker.

Make the Decision Maker aware of your interest. Actually meeting them is best, of course, even if that’s only for a minute or two standing in the hallway. But, having a current employee—or someone else that they know and trust—put in a word for you is also very useful. Your central message to Decision Makers is: “I am very interested in working for you the next time you have an opening.”

Please notice that “get a job” is not a networking goal. Achieving those four networking goals puts you in the right place with the right information. Then getting a job is not so difficult. Networking allows you to get in touch with the Decision Maker before that person is ready to announce an opening. That means that you can be first in line on the day it happens. Or, maybe even the only person in line.

HH: You also discuss systematic networking and its four steps in your book. Can you please explain?

OP: The four steps of systematic networking are:

Make a target list of employers you’d like to work for. This allows you to be proactive. Without it, you can only be passive, sitting and waiting for someone to respond to your postings and e-mails. And random, rather than laser-focused on getting what you really want.

Discuss your list with everyone you know. People always wonder what to say when networking. The most useful conversations are about your Target List. Show it to all of your personal contacts. See what they know about the organizations on it. Ask for names of additional organizations. Remember, it’s not about openings. Not yet.

Get introductions to Insiders at your Targets, and to additional people who might know something about them. Ask for these when discussing your Target List. Accept introductions only when the “matchmaker” is totally comfortable making them. 

Get with friends and go through their Facebook or LinkedIn pages with them to locate people you might want to meet. But, be sure to actually talk to the new people. E-mail alone is not good enough.

Meet Insiders at your Targets. Tell them how very interested you are in working there. If this is true and you can say why, based on the information you gathered, you’re automatically an above-average candidate. Tell them how you really, really want to join them the next time there’s an opening. 

Follow-up and tell them this again. And again. After a while, they’ll believe you. After a while there will be an opening, and you’ll be well positioned for it.

HH: What are some common networking myths?

OP: My network is too small. Most job hunters start out saying this. It’s simply not true. I’ve worked directly or indirectly with thousands of people. Everyone has a network that’s large enough. You just have to know how to use it. I wrote a whole chapter on this in my book because it’s so important to see how big your network really is and how to best use it.

My network doesn’t include the right people. Again, most people start out saying this. But, the “right people” aren’t usually Mr. Bigshot or Madam President. The “right people” are those who have information on any of your Targets. You don’t know who they are until you show them the list. 

Your parents and their friends might be useful. And, your friends and their parents. The older someone is, the more people they’ve met.

HH: You discussed three kinds of network connections in “Highly Effective Networking.” Can you please explain?

OP: The three kinds of network connections are active, dormant and passive.

Active. These are the people on your speed-dial or Facebook page. You talk to them often. They’re easy to talk to. You don’t know if they have useful information until you show them your Target List. So, be sure to talk to them.

Dormant. These are people who used to be active contacts. But, they’re not on your speed-dial because you haven’t talked to them for a while. Some of them are well worth talking to. Think about who you have in this category, and try some of them.

Passive. These are people that you have some clear common interest with, but you’ve never met them. An example is someone you never met even though they were in your graduating class at school. This is more of a long-shot, but there’s a good chance that some would talk to you and have useful information.

Look for those with multiple common interests—same college or even high school—as you, close to your age, and they now work where you want to work.

HH: How exactly does networking help individuals land internships and entry-level jobs?

OP: Virtually all experts agree that networking is the single best way to find a job. In tough times, it’s even more important, since fewer job listings are posted and published.

Because you meet people and get introduced to people, networking is about who you are as a person—not just about what’s on your résumé. This is particularly important for internships and entry-level jobs because no one has had time to build a powerful résumé. So who you are can be even more important than what you’ve done. Personal qualities—and genuine informed interest—are the trump cards that never show up on a résumé.

In the end, people hire people. Not résumés. Not job titles. Not GPAs. And, they’d usually prefer to hire someone they were introduced to rather than a total stranger. Use networking, and you can be that person.