Unemployment is at an all time high. Colleges churn out new grads and you've just been laid off. And it's been 35 years since you finished college. The few jobs that are advertised have so many applicants it's easy to get lost in the resume shuffle. How can you find unadvertised jobs so you're not fighting to get noticed? NETWORK.
I know, you've heard all the stories about how to do it, but here's why you need to do it. Unadvertised jobs are filled by people who network. It's when the phrase 'it's not what you know it's who you know' is a real truism.
Unlike many younger workers, you're in the better position when it comes to networking, face it, the longer you live, the more people you know and the greater the depth of skills you have to offer an employer. And the longer you've worked the more contacts you have.
If you wait for jobs to be advertised you will be fighting off all those eager and hungry young things and your resume is likely to be one of thousands a prospective employer receives, not to mention dreads reading. The first place HR managers look is in house, this won't help you. But after that they let the people they work with know they're looking to fill the position. Here's where your networking pays off--one or more of these coworkers are most likely to know YOU! Remember, more than 70% of jobs are not even advertised and are filled by "word of mouth," so your chances of knowing about a new job depends on 'who you know.'
All of a sudden you jump to the top of the class, knocking over all those sweet young things as you head into the coveted job interview phase. Not only that, if someone has recommended you to Human Resources it's the equivalent of a pre-interview personal or business recommendation depending on how you know the person. You still have to qualify for the job, but if you have good skills and present yourself well you have an excellent chance of landing that job. And the HR manager? He doesn't have to read all those thousands of resumes that Career Builder or Monster.com just sent him.
You've just made his life so much easier they are predisposed to like you.
One job seeker in their mid-fifties I interviewed found the job because their hairdresser was talking to another one of her clients and this HR manager happened to mention he was hiring for a research position. The hairdresser knew her other client was in the middle of a job search--BINGO! The HR person gave the hairdresser their business card, the hairdresser gave her client a call to suggest she send a resume into Mr. Smith at Company Jones and passed on the HR person's business card. Two weeks later she had two very happy clients. Serendipitous? You bet. Could a similar thing happen to you? It won't if you're not networking.
When you network you are investing time in your future. Best of all, networking if free. Not even the cost of paper for a resume or a stamp for an envelope or paying for your online service. The moral of the story? God gave you a mouth for a reason...use it!
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