Off the Clock

Informational Interviewing has been called “the secret job search weapon” or “the ultimate networking tool”. An informational interview involves talking with people who are currently working in the field in which you’re interested (or even at a particular company) so you can gain a better understanding of the industry or the actual job - and to build a network of contacts in that field. Done effectively, it’s brilliant! Done poorly, it’s painful for all parties involved!

Clients are often reluctant to do informational interviewing - for many reasons. Some clients think it’s asking for a job - others are terrified at the prospect of asking a stranger for information. On the flipside, it’s also true that many professionals are very hesitant to grant an informational interview to someone they don’t know. I think the root cause of these hesitations is that many a job seeker has abused and misused the informational interview.

Here’s a success story from an actual client that I want to share:

Joan participated in one of my career groups about 18 months ago. Since then, she’s been transitioning out of her current job, hoping to find something in a different field.

She took the suggestions and ideas I provided to the group regarding “informational interviewing” and she starting working on expanding her network. Boy, did she!

Joan’s been at it for about 18 months, diligently following up and continuing to build relationships. This week, she’ll be interviewing for an ideal position she found through her network. She’s convinced that “informational interviewing” works, even though she was a little skeptical at first.

Actually, Joan is the poster child for How-To-Effectively-Expand-Your-Network-Through-Informational-Interviewing. Here’s why she was so effective:

• She focused on building relationships over a period of time, rather than having it be a one-shot deal.
• She started with people she already knew, and worked from there.
• She masterfully targeted a job fair to make contact with a specific organization. She focused on building the relationship first.
• She learned more about the people she interviewed by asking good questions and focusing more on them, than on herself.
• She left every informational interview letting them know that she was exploring career options because she was in a career transition (very low key - she never asked for a job, hint, hint)
• She gave herself enough time to do it - she didn’t expect immediate results. It took her roughly 16 months to build it to the point where she was seeing the results she wanted.

Keep your fingers crossed that all goes well this week. If not, I’m sure her network will come through again!

Just last week, I had two new clients who came to see me out of sheer frustration with their bosses. Both have decided to move on. I cringe every time it happens, because the employees usually don’t want to leave, they just see it as their only option.

The specifics of my new clients€™ situations are very different, but there are plenty of similarities too:

• Not being recognized for their contribution
• Not getting sufficient direction or having clear goals defined
• Having to manage an authoritarian management/leadership style
• Not getting credit for above-and-beyond accomplishments
• Being micro-managed (although this definition varies from individual to individual, I’ve noticed!)

If you’ve been in the world of work for a while, you’ve encountered a poor manager. What’s so ironic to me is that their managers probably have no clue that they’re so ineffective. If you€™re a manager and this is hitting home, get some outside help to help you build your management skills. Hire a coach for some intensive one-on-one support. You€™ll feel better, and your employees will be more grateful than you’ll ever know.

Don€™t be one of them: 92% of managers rate their office performance as excellent or good. Only 67% of their employees agree. (Source: NYC-based Hudson recruiting firm).

Definitely a resource when you’re “off the clock”…

www.stumbleupon.com

Use with extreme caution due to its highly addictive nature. Poke around a bit. You might even find a career idea you hadn’t thought about before.

Leigh Anne had had four second interviews, with no subsequent job offers, when it occurred to her… Something was happening when her references were checked. She wondered what was being said. Something just wasn’t “right”… She had left all of her prior employers on good terms (so she thought) so she was stumped.

Leigh Anne decided to take action. She hired a reference checking service (the one she used was www.myreferences.com) and found out that indeed, one of her former employers was saying less-than-flattering things about her. He even inferred that she had been fired rather than laid off. She was shocked. She was angry. She contemplated hiring an attorney.

Her first impulse was to contact her former supervisor and discuss the situation. But, based on what she knew about his personality, she thought it just might make the situation worse.

Instead, she worked around it. She stopped using him as a reference - which was tricky - because it was her most recent employer. She regrets that it took her so long to make the connection between the reference-checking and the lack of job offers. Not a surprise - but none of the potential employers shared the negative feedback with her.

Do you know what your references are saying about you? If you don’t, I’d suggest you find out sooner rather than later!

You’ve been toying with the thought of changing careers or finding a new job, but…

• What if I don’t like it?
• I can’t afford it
• I won’t make any money
• I don’t have the time
• I don’t want to go back to school
• I don’t know what I want
• I’m not a good networker

Sound familiar? They sound so rational. They sound so real. They sound so logical. They show how responsible you are.

Bad news: They are actually FEARS masked as EXCUSES. Good news: You don’t have to wait to get over your fears to make a change. Actually, that would be a very, very bad idea. It can take a very long time to overcome your fears. Don’t expect to get past the fears in order to make a career change.

You might have to make the change despite the fears.