HBR Guide to Smarter Networking (HBR Guide Series) by Harvard Business Review

HBR Guide to Smarter Networking (HBR Guide Series) by Harvard Business Review

Author:Harvard Business Review
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press
Published: 2022-08-16T00:00:00+00:00


Creating Your Contact List

During my first 20 years as a search consultant, I tried to find time each day to help one person who was either without a job or keen for a new one. This made for some 4,000 meetings with job seekers, many of which I conducted in Argentina, as its economy was in deep turmoil. In 2001, for example, it suffered the largest sovereign debt default in world history, and annualized GDP fell by 30% coupled with a 300% currency devaluation. My advice during those daunting days: Come up with a list of 100 (yes, one hundred!) weak ties without making any contact. The rationale? First, simple statistics: The probability of any one person leading you to the perfect job will be very low, so you have to tap many to improve your odds. Second and even more important: Because of the “weak” nature of these contacts, it won’t be immediately obvious who can be most helpful. When you work to expand the list, you add quite unexpected people, including some truly great ones. Natural candidates for your weak-ties list include consultants, lawyers, auditors, suppliers, clients, as well as former bosses, colleagues, and professors, and so on. Some will be potential employers; others, sources. Look for ties in sectors that are likely to be stronger than most in the coming years and in which you would really like to work.

Next, rank everyone you’ve listed based on two factors: the attractiveness of the possibilities they can offer (given their company, role, and connections) and their willingness to help you (which depends on the quality of your relationship, even if it was limited or distant).



Download



Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.