« UpMo Research: Job Seekers Doom Chances Through Poor Networking
Fight Back! Five Blogs for Better Networking »

Research: Haphazard Networking, Neglect of Mentors Plagues Job Seekers

January 28, 2010 | Author: Matthew Pender | Filed under: The Networking Habit

Coming on the heels of a study revealing inadequate time spent networking by job seekers, UpMo released a follow-on study showing that the time job seekers actually do spend networking is often wasted.

According to new research from UpMo.com, an online career service based in Palo Alto, Calif, job seekers’ haphazard networking means that they often devalue their most important relationships

“One golden rule of a successful job hunt is: focus on the relationships that can truly drive your career,” says Allyn Horne, Senior Director of Research and Methodology at UpMo. “Nearly 8-in-10 jobs are landed through someone you know. However, that doesn’t mean you should try to connect with anyone and everyone—in fact, if you cast the net too far, you won’t spend enough time with the people who matter, and risk getting no results at all.”

UpMo analyzed LinkedIn users who accept invitations to connect from anyone – whether they knew the persons or not. UpMo, found that these individuals:

  • Waste opportunities from high value contacts: Nearly half (46.5%) say they only seek the help of mentors or colleagues once a year – if ever. “Who’s better qualified to speak to the quality of your work: those who know you best, who have supervised you or mentored you — or random connections?” asks Horne.
  • Are ill-prepared for the job hunt: Only 3-in-10 feel “very confident” or “extremely confident” that they could use their network to land a job within 30 days if suddenly laid off. “That really speaks to the quality of connections,” says Horne. “Mentors and colleagues are the ones who understand you best and have the greatest ability to identify positions that would be a good fit. And once they have found those positions for you, they are also the connections most likely to take the next step and make the all-important personal referral.”

The bottom line: being strategic in your communications planning is vital.

“If you are trying to network with everyone who simply pays attention to you, your ‘connections’ cannot realistically vouch for you,” says Horne. “The key is to focus on those who know you, who believe in you, and who can help make a difference.”

What should job seekers focus on? According to Horne:

  1. Feed your lions: In the job hunt, we all have “lions,” those high-value connections that will go on the hunt with you. UpMo lets you to upload LinkedIn contacts and group your “lions” in your Inner Circle, giving focus to your ongoing efforts.
  2. Plan your networking: Haphazard networking often results from a lack of planning. UpMo’s Action Plan can give you step-by-step directions to be efficient and successful in building high value bonds.
  3. Be clear and efficient in communicating your goals: Let your connections know you are on the hunt – but do it wisely. Don’t log into multiple sites to update your status. By using one service, UpMo’s My Musings messaging functionality, you can automatically update your Twitter account each time you post a message to UpMo. If you then have Twitter update your LinkedIn status, you now gain consistency and save time by using one source: UpMo’s My Musings. And with that time savings, you are now freed up to build those important relationships that will power your career.

Through January 31, UpMo is offering a 30-Day Money Back Guarantee for their career-building service - as well as a limited-time-only $5 monthly subscription price and a free book from personal branding expert Rajesh Setty on thriving in a down economy.

Share/Save/Bookmark

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 28th, 2010 and is filed under The Networking Habit. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

xygoxen

No comments yet.

feel free to leave a comment

Comment Guidelines: Basic XHTML is allowed (a href, strong, em, code). All line breaks and paragraphs are automatically generated. Off-topic or inappropriate comments will be edited or deleted. Email addresses will never be published. Keep it PG-13 people!

XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>

All fields marked with " * " are required.