Archive for Networking

Social Media Spammers: Why I Won’t Buy Your Stuff or Give You Free Help

May 31st, 2019

Okay, you are on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, etc., and you are a jobseeker, need some career advice, or are a business owner. How do you develop a relationship with someone you don’t know? Well, right now the way many are trying to develop that rapport is by spamming connections the moment we accept their invite, and often with multiple “InMails” attempting to sell us something or get free career or business help. 

As a business owner, and as someone who provides help to jobseekers and business owners, I am sensitive to the need to cultivate business or garner valuable networking contacts. On the other hand, no one likes the person who just wants free help or tries to get you to buy their service or product from the get-go. The issue has become so obnoxious on the business side (people wanting to sell me products or services) that I have resorted to providing a free coaching moment or a very nice refusal via the particular social media venues InMail or messaging service. Here are the two things I say, depending on the situation:

Coaching Moment Email:

I know you are anxious to build your business or career and would like to offer you a free coaching tip to help you expand your network in a way that cultivates a relationship. I truly appreciate your inquiry but will tell you that networking is always and will always be about establishing a bond with the other party first. Networking is NEVER ABOUT YOU or your needs, but the other person. It works because you are offering them something of value that has nothing to do with your work or what you want. It’s also not an item or article you or a person you are in business with created. This “value” could be a networking contact you think might be useful to them (outside of your business partnerships), a referral, tip, hint, lead, etc., to open the door to an initial conversation, and then you can approach them after a real affinity is developed, but not until then.  
Linking with someone and immediately asking for referrals, business or connections without the foundation of a relationship is no different than walking up to someone on the street and asking them for any of the above. It is the rapport that builds trust and gives a person the proper context to offer help, and it is both give and take. 
While I understand the reason for the InMail, many won’t be as understanding, and it could ultimately work to alienate you instead of creating a connection. Since I coach people on how to network, I wanted to share this free tip with you. I am hoping this will assist you in building a dynamic and worthy network of connections and create a true rapport with others that could lead to your next opportunity. Best wishes and many blessings, Karen Silins

Nice Refusal:

I am very happy in my current business, and love what I do, and do not desire to increase my workload at this time. I greatly appreciate your inquiry and wish you many blessings in your business. Karen

Believe it or not, most are very kind about it or don’t respond, though we remain connected. Sometimes they even reach back out to let me know they are changing their approach. However, I did recently get a response from someone saying. “I know you are a business woman!!  But I would be a jerk for not sharing this!!! Can’t you afford three minutes to help your clients, etc., etc.” Hmm, snarky and unpleasant – not going to get my positive attention that way, oh, and I disconnected from you. This whole exchange started with a common ruse of “I need your help, can I get a few moments of your time” or something similar. My colleagues and myself must respond to these requests, as it could be a person wanting to discuss services or just has a very quick question that we can help them with, but too frequently it is a spammer. Nevertheless, the initial trick of needing my help is not an introduction to do business. No relationship has been developed.

Remember, the acceptance of a connection is not an tacit invitation to start asking people to help you without formation of at least an initial rapport. Immediately sending out an article, white paper, software trial, etc., that you, your friend or business upline/connection authored is not a proper way to cultivate a client either. The resource or other help you provide must always be external to what you want to sell or the advice you seek. Furthermore, the initial contact email or InMail saying you are looking to connect with “like-minded” coaches, business owners, or wanting to learn more about my business, etc., is not a relationship builder either, it’s just spam if all you want to do is sell them something. 

Know that wanting help or business immediately and for free from a new contact is improper and will definitely get you uninvited/unfriended from many a social media connection. Finally, please consider that you are taking people’s valuable time when you ask them to read your marketing email or want help, but in no way want to repay them for the help. Furthermore, the supposed “I will pay you later after I get a new job or you just have to see this business venture I am offering you,” is not a payment. In most cases you are chasing away leads and losing links to others because many of my colleagues, clients and acquaintances just delete you. That is no way to run a business or a job search. Help yourself by helping others first, and be of value, it will result in your business and/or career thriving!

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses. After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm. Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers, executives and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals. She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, executive/career management coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 20-50+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area. She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Business Coaching, Career Management, Careers, Job Search, Networking, Opinion
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Get Your Job Search Up To Speed

January 30th, 2017

Get Your Job Search Up To Speed

Let’s face it, being in a job search is difficult.  However, not doing necessary tasks or leaving portions of your job search unfinished that can help you get a new job is even worse.  You could literally be losing out on new job prospects, contacts who will recommend you personally, and wasting a great deal of time doing personal “stuff” instead of actually job searching.  So, what’s left unfinished or undone in your job search preparation?

–Have you completed your LinkedIn profile?

–Do you have a quality LinkedIn picture?

–Do you mind your manners and what you post on Facebook, Twitter and other social media?

–How about your friends on Facebook, Twitter, etc., are they minding their manners, and staying away from inappropriate pictures, political postings, constant complaining, or other overly opinionated sharing?  Have you checked?

–Do you plan your job search out daily or weekly?

–Are you spending five to eight hours a day on your job search, or instead doing “honey-do” and “around the house” projects and errands?

–Are you tailoring your resume and cover letter to the jobs for which you apply?

–Are you writing personalized thank you letters for all in-person interviews and any lengthy phone interviews with decision-makers?

–Are you searching your local business journal for companies hiring currently or in the near future, information on companies for interviews, networking opportunities, and new companies to target?

–Do you go to networking events in your area and cultivate contacts in person?

–Do you attend local job fairs?

–Have you volunteered to help a local organization to both get out and meet new people (network) and to add new information to your resume?

The list of items you can accomplish that can positively impact your job search can seem endless, but many are actually very simple.  You need to, as the Nike ads say “just do it.”  Put together all the pieces of your job search puzzle and get back in the game!

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Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses.  After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm.  Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals.  She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 30-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area.  She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Job Search, Networking
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Wonder Why Your Networking Is Not Working?

July 12th, 2016

 

Wonder Why Your Networking Is Not Working?

People, including experts, make networking so tough, and such a formalized process.  We write entire books on how to network.  It’s really quite simple – have a conversation, and remember that networking isn’t about you in a job search or a business interaction; it’s about you talking with another human being.  Just talking, we can do that, right?

We have so many opportunities to network in our daily lives.  Parties, weddings, funerals (not during the ceremonies mind you), church or other religious institution gatherings, and of course, networking events.  We should start promoting networking as a state of mind, not a process or methodology, or something only done on special occasions.

Wonder Why Your Networking Is Not Working?I recently had a business person in my Your Business Plan:  The Entrepreneurs Compass six-week program say the following “I attend networking events all the time and I can’t seem to get any leads.  I go there with the intent of getting business and just never get any decent contacts.”  My answer:  Stop going with the intent of getting a client, and start going with the intent of helping someone else.  I would tell a jobseeker the same thing.  Stop going to a networking event and trying to “get” something out of it, and start giving to others.  My course attendee was needless to say stunned at my comment and then the lightbulb went off.  She realized the entire strategy of going to an event to “acquire” a contact or new business was too much pressure on her and the other networker.  I explained that when our focus is on what we want, we communicate it in body language, our voice, and very likely the verbiage we use.  All we are saying to a potential contact is we want, want, want.  Not the most attractive communication approach.

When you take your eye off of yourself in a networking situation, and offer a fellow networker a tip, pointer, referral, potential contact, job or business lead, or just give someone a little guidance, that kindness will always come back to you in a positive way.  I’m not talking about getting the crystals out and singing “Kum-Ba-Yah” here, but when you give you truly receive.  Not only do you receive the knowledge that you helped someone else, that help to another always seems to return to you as help when you need it.  Remember the “practice random acts of kindness” idea – it works!

Wonder Why Your Networking Is Not Working?The other two tips I offered to the business person in my seminar were more for people who tend to be on the shy side.  First, take someone with you to an event, and even better, someone who is outgoing and let them do some of the work.  Trust me, those of us who aren’t shy will be glad to help, and you may be assisting another jobseeker or business owner network too.  Second, if you are alone, don’t feel as if you must go make a formal introduction to anyone initially.  Instead walk up close to a person on the outskirts of the event that like you is probably shy, and say the following:  Wow, there are more people here than I expected, or… there are fewer people here than I expected.  If they talk back to you in a friendly way, CONGRATULATIONS, YOU ARE NETWORKING.  Now introduce yourself and start a real conversation.

Wonder Why Your Networking Is Not Working?This isn’t rocket science, we don’t need more books on networking, but instead we need to as career and/or business coaches to show our clients how simple and empowering it can be once they step slightly outside their comfort zone.  In particular, we must emphasize this is an ongoing process with people you know, people you need to reconnect with, and people you have yet to meet, and can happen in most any social situation.  Putting people first makes you a better person, and I have found once my clients get a taste of that success in building relationships they want to continue the pursuit.  Who knows where that can lead?

 

Karen Silins is a multi-certified, award winning resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses.  After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm.  Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals.  She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, blogging, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 50-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area.  She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Categories Business Coaching, Job Search, Networking, Personal Branding
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Sources of Job Leads

April 29th, 2016

Sources of Job Leads

 

Advertised positions constitute a small percentage of the jobs that are available at any given time. Because running ads and screening the high volume of applications that come in can be an expensive and time-consuming process for employers, many companies prefer to hire from within or to hire individuals who have been recommended by one of their existing employees.

To find out about unadvertised opportunities, you will want to let people know that you are looking for work, and the type of job and company you are most interested in.  Tap your personal network – friends, relatives, neighbors, former employers and colleagues, fellow members of your chosen religious institution, volunteer associations, clubs and other organizations, even your doctor, dentist, and other people you talk to from time to time.  Most people know at least 200 other people, so just because someone doesn’t work in your industry doesn’t mean that he or she doesn’t know of someone who does.

Many teenagers and young adults get their first jobs through connections, such as parents, teachers, siblings, friends, parents of friends, relatives, neighbors, or coaches. This tactic can work for you too!

Some businesses, particularly in the retail and restaurant industries, rarely advertise jobs because they receive so many applications on a regular basis that they are able to select people to interview from the applications they have on file.

Job fairs can be an excellent venue for meeting a large number of potential employers at one time and to network with other attendees.  Go to every booth and network with the recruiters and those standing in line, since each one of the recruiters attending may know of positions within and outside their company, and each attendee may know of companies hiring.  Some organizations attend these events or hold their own job fair in order to collect a large number of resumes they can refer to when a position becomes vacant, not for immediate employment.

If you’re unemployed, find out what programs and services are available in your community. The staffs of these organizations usually have good employer contacts, and sometimes employers can receive a wage subsidy or other benefit by hiring someone through such a program.

 

This article was co-written by Karen Silins and Janet Barclay, and their information is included below:

Karen Silins is a multi-certified resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses.  After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm.  Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals.  She keeps current regarding trends in the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 50-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area.  She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

Janet Barclay is a former employment counselor who helps career practitioners and other solopreneurs to maximize their online presence by creating websites and blogs as well as providing blog promotion, proofreading and editing, content management, and WordPress technical support services. She can be reached through her website OrganizedAssistant.com.

Categories Job Search, Networking
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How to Stop the Excuses and Start Networking

May 19th, 2015

 

How to Stop the Excuses and Start Networking

Networking

You hear or read about it every day as a jobseeker – you need to network to get a new job!  The biggest issue is not what you know, but what you are doing about it, because most people find networking downright overwhelming despite understanding its importance in their job search.  Here are 10 of the reasons people don’t or won’t network:

–I’m uncomfortable introducing myself to, and talking with, someone I don’t know (shy).

–Fear of rejection.

–Expecting networking to work like magic, and giving up when after a couple of networking events, I don’t have a new job.

–I don’t have time.

–I can do all my networking online now.

–I can find a job without networking if I just apply to enough jobs online.

–I like my privacy.

–I have no idea how to network.

–I have no idea where to find networking opportunities.

–I don’t want to ask others for help or a favor.

Do any of these sound familiar?  So, how do we overcome the “land of excuses,” here are eight suggestions to try:

First, I recommend getting a networking buddy; a friend or acquaintance that may also be looking for work.  This person should be outgoing and comfortable talking to strangers, and may already be experienced in networking.  Your buddy will introduce you to others, and get you used to the process of having a networking conversation.

Second, privacy does not exist anymore to the extent it did before Google and 9/11, so don’t be afraid to let people know where you might have worked or what you do.  Remember, there is no need to give them your address, Facebook account password, and driver license, you are merely having a conversation.

Third, use a networking business card with your name, specialty/job title, email address, telephone, and LinkedIn link.  You can print them via Microsoft Word yourself.  Having a personal business card allows you to control what information is given out, and to get business cards/contact info from networking contacts.

Fourth, networking online is fine, but don’t become a hermit only looking through social media venues for contacts, when that face-to-face meeting will get you more “bang for your buck.”  Furthermore, just applying for jobs online over and over doesn’t work for most jobseekers, and is again relying on online efforts only to get you a job.  Combine your online and in-person efforts and your job search success will accelerate.

Fifth, look at your local business journal (all large cities have them), local LinkedIn groups, and other local publications for networking opportunities throughout your area.  You can also go online for articles and check out books at your local library on networking to get more comfortable with questions you can ask, tips on introducing yourself to others, and how to keep a conversation going.

Sixth, remember that networking is NOT ABOUT YOU, but how you can help the other person.  This approach should leave you feeling less anxious about networking and trying to “impress” others.  Always provide some information that might help the person you are networking with, like a company you hear is hiring, the name of contact you have, other networking events around town, or even how to create their own networking business card.

Seventh, we are all busy, but truly we all make time for what we really want or need to do.  If you want to network you will schedule that time into your job search.

Eighth, you will not get great contacts at every event.  Not every person you meet will “love” you and want to hire you or help you in some way to get a new job, and yes, it can be hard to ask for a favor.  Networking will not work like magic within the first two or three events you attend.  The old saying “Rome wasn’t built in a day” is still true and very much applies to networking as relationships aren’t built in one event.  Give networking a try; be yourself, be polite, go into it with an open mind and relax, and it will ultimately pay great dividends to your job search.

Karen Silins is a multi-certified resume writer, career, business and personal branding coach working with individuals and small businesses.  After graduating with degrees in education and vocal performance, she made her own career transition into the Human Resources realm.  Karen left Human Resources to become an entrepreneur and help jobseekers and fellow entrepreneurs achieve their goals.  She keeps her pulse on the resume writing, coaching, HR, small business and marketing industries by working daily with individual clients on resume development and career coaching, consulting for small businesses in business plan development, marketing, hiring and overall HR processes, and providing 50-70+ seminars and workshops annually to a variety of organizations in the greater Kansas City area.  She can be reached via her website at www.careerandresume.com.

 

Categories Networking
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