Do you find yourself unhappy in your job or jobless at the moment? In this situation, your network of connections is one of the most important avenues for finding a new job. These resources include your friends and family, along with your professional relationships. If you’re going to seek out these people for help, here are a few tips.
Be organized. Whenever you ask for help from others for anything from watching your kids to introducing you to a potential job lead, practice asking for what you want. It’s not that people don’t want to help but they’re busy with their own lives, so if you give them a specific direction, they’re more likely to follow through. For example, you could say, “Do you know three people I can call in the banking industry to talk about job openings?” Even if that person doesn’t work in the industry, they might know some people who do.
Have patience. When you ask people that you already have relationships with for job leads, give them enough time to do some research for you. Don’t expect they’ll have the perfect lead lined up for you the next day. After all, these are relationships you already have in place so you need to treat them respectfully. If they never get back to you, perhaps send a gentle reminder that you’re still looking for a job and wondered if they thought about your request.
Send them a thank you. If your friend or connection does come through with a great job lead, send them a nice thank you, like some flowers or a gift card. Also, ask them if you can help them with anything regarding their career or otherwise. It’ll be the thought that counts when following up. Remind them from time to time that you’d like to reciprocate the favor.
When you approach friends or family or your sphere for a job connection, of course it’s important to be professional with your request. Don’t be hurt if they can’t come through for you, and as a rule, ask a lot of people for a little rather than a few people for a lot. You’re more likely to get a positive result if you don’t apply a lot of pressure and come to them professionally and with reasons why it’s important that you make this job change. Most likely, the people close to you care about your well-being and will do what they can to help.
