In this video, I speak about the mistake of not staying in touch with your network and how to fix it.
Hi, I'm Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter. I'm a career and leadership coach. And I used to work in executive search and did it for what felt like 100 years. And it was 40 plus. And I want to talk with you about the mistake that people make when networking. And that is not really staying in contact with people with whom they've had a relationship. Now, early in my search career, I lived with a woman who was the first woman commodities broker at Merrill Lynch. And she was great. I didn't fully appreciate how good she was either professionally or personally, I'll skip the personal stuff. But she was a great networker. And this was at a time, of course, where automation was primitive, you know, no one had PCs, and your sent mail-- like US mail. And she was just really good at staying in contact with people from her past. So she would do a lot of different things. So she would forward articles that she thought might interest them. She would refer people to them that she thought might be helpful to them as part of their work. She would meet with them and take down great notes and follow up regularly. The big thing was about staying in contact, and she wasn't out there always pushing, saying I've got a trade for you. She was really building a relationship where they shared common interests. She would always be gracious in her conversations with them, and thank them for making time and a whole host of other things. You know, there's a lot of good stuff that she did, but the most important thing was never losing contact with them, which is the big mistake that Job Hunters make. These days, it's much easier to share articles with people because you're sharing a link most of the time. And to drop a quick note, say, "hey, it's been a long time. Your name came into my mind. I thought it was just dropping a quick note to you and see how you were." You may get a curt response and that's okay. You haven't been in touch with them for a while. And then it becomes staying in contact. And you can stay in contact by saying you know, "When you and I worked together." or "When you, when I spoke, you mentioned such and such," or "I knew you're interested in (fill in the blank). And I just thought. . . I had mentioned I saw this article, I thought I would share it with you. Hope you find it useful." And leave it at that. And you do this, not every week. But the idea is to stay in contact with them. This way, you're Top of Mind in people's thinking. Remember, you'renot just simply networking, when you're looking for a job, you're networking BEFORE you're looking for a job. You're you're planting seeds so that at the time you need someone, you can ask them for some help. And that makes it so much easier because the relationship has been preserved. So I hope you found this helpful. Don't make the mistake of losing a network. It's very costly. And if you're interested in more advice, you can visit the blog at my website, TheBigGameHunter.us or you can schedule time for a free discovery call or schedule time for coaching because, frankly, I'd love to help Follow me on Linkedin at Linkedin.com/in/TheBigGameHunter. Mentioned that just saw the video. I like knowing I'm helping some folks. And I'll just simply say I'd love to help you. Have a terrific day and most importantly, be great. Take care.
Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter is a coach who worked as a recruiter for what seems like one hundred years. His work involves career coaching, as well as executive job search coaching, job coaching, and interview coaching. He is the host of “No BS Job Search Advice Radio,” the #1 podcast in iTunes for job search with more than 2200 episodes.
