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Part Three: Network-bombing

June 18, 2008 | Author: Promise Phelon | Filed under: Musings

And if time is so essential, why are we “resume-bombing” and asking for recommendations as if time were in surplus? A few weeks ago a former employee asked me to post a recommendation for her on a professional networking site. It took me half an hour to write. And I did it at six in the morning so she wouldn’t have to wait too long. Yet afterwards, I got no “Thanks, Promise.” No nothing. I even had to follow-up with her to ensure my recommendation was posted. Along the same lines, how many times has someone asked you to make a difficult connection on their behalf, yet never closed the loop or did the PIVOT—a return to the place where you started?

For a set of skills so essential to our professional success and the new, non-linear, constantly changing careers we’ll all enjoy, you’d think there would be a clear set of best practices, training courses, tests and certification. No—anyone can get a Facebook or LinkedIn account. But that’s all there is: a collection of tails and experiences of failed or botched connections. Most networking is a waste of time—if not yours, then theirs:

  • A forwarded resume without a compelling reason to forward it further.
  • A speed networking event where everyone you meet is, like you, looking for work.
  • A busy calendar of networking lunches with everyone you know and love.
  • A decision to reinvent your career by leveraging your old professional network.
  • Attendance at a conference … you’ve scheduled no meetings ahead of time, hoping to make connections the day before or when you arrive.
  • A wandering, agenda-less conversation with a contact who has no value to add.
  • A mentor relationship in which you assume you’re strictly there to learn and absorb their intelligence and wisdom.
  • A job search that begins when you see your name on the reduction-in-force list, get your pink slip or put in your two weeks’ notice.

According to research we just completed, most people spend less that two hours networking per week. Now if you’re one of the many and 70% of jobs will come from your network, what kind of opportunity are you leaving on the table?

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