When it comes to job searching, professional networking is a critical component of success. Ideally, you make initial connections with people through LinkedIn (maybe even after meeting them in person or at an online group event). While this is a great start, there is value in building relationships beyond that initial connection. A 1:1 meeting can significantly strengthen a networking relationship​ and help you learn how you and your new connection can help one another succeed.

So what exactly is a networking meeting? Back in the day, I remember hearing people talk about doing "informational interviews." In short, if you were interested in having a particular job or working with a specific company, you would contact an organization or individual and ask if they would meet you for an informational interview. In this 1:1 meeting, which could take place via phone or in person, you might learn about the company, what they are looking for, skills to acquire, and more. It also allowed you to start to build a relationship with a company--or a possible advocate in the person doling out said information. 

Fast forward to now. Today, a networking meeting is typically between you and another person deciding to spend a half hour-ish together. This meeting, sometimes called a coffee chat, could happen virtually via Zoom or in person, often over coffee.

If you're job searching, the typical focus will be on how to progress in your job search. Someone may agree to a networking meeting because you have things in common (like a field of work, background, professional goals), because they are generally committed to helping people when they are job searching, or because you have a mutual acquaintance to ask that person to meet with you to help you out.

Whenever you have an opportunity to meet one-on-one with someone, remember that you are taking part in a type of informal interview. Whenever I meet with someone in career transition, my goal is to help them figure out their next steps, offer advice (if they ask and are interested), and give them ideas on further steps they might take, including who they should speak with next 

While I go in with this idea, the amount of help I'll provide also depends on how this networking meeting goes. Ideally, we have a good, productive conversation, and I think to myself, "I totally want to help this person more."

If the meeting goes well, I'll refer them to specific resources that might benefit them (like a networking group they might want to join, a company to check out, someone to follow on LinkedIn) and even put in a good word for them to have a networking meeting with someone else who might get them closer to their goals.

In addition, if it goes REALLY well, this is a person who I'll refer to others for openings, pass on job opportunities, and maybe even hire someday. If the meeting doesn't go well, I'll share a few resources, but I may not be willing to help them as actively moving forward. 

Remember, any interaction you have with people will impact their desire to help you in the future.

Here are a few best practices for networking meetings:

• Thank the person for meeting with you and for their input.
• Let the person know your goals for the networking meeting.
• Let the other person talk. Remember, you're there to learn from them. Be sure to listen to what they have to say!
• Ask them for the advice they wish they had received.
• Ask them for their recommendations on the next steps you should take.
• Ask them what you can do for them. Remember, they typically meet with you because someone they value asked them or they genuinely want to help. Be sure to return the favor!
• Be ready to help that person in the future--whether it's liking one of their LinkedIn posts, sharing a post they made, or helping them promote a job opening they have. Be a good LinkedIn/professional networking neighbor. 
• Send them a quick thank you message afterward and reiterate any next steps you talked about.
• Follow up with anyone who they introduce you to. Even if you end up not doing a lot with that connection, be sure to be professional about it all. 

When people talk about how they "networked" into a new job, typically, that means they leveraged their initial connections to help make inroads with new contacts, who helped them get closer to a new position.

​The holy grail of networking meetings is when the person you meet with agrees to introduce you to someone else they know who could help you. That process repeats until you're talking to a hiring manager or influencer who can help you get an interview for a job. Having good networking meetings is a critical step in that process.

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Whether you're actively job searching or just trying to build your professional network, sharing content on social media is a great way to demonstrate your value. By identifying topics that people with your professional focus care about and sharing related content, you will help people associate your name with those areas of expertise. 

While regularly sharing content is valuable, it can also be time-consuming. Here are three tools I regularly use to organize and streamline this process.  

On LinkedIn, you will share some content that you directly create. This might include a post about an event you attended, your career news, or your observations on a given topic. When it comes to LinkedIn, most of my content includes articles on critical topics of interest, with some introductory commentary framing the value I see in the article. 

This means I need to locate and collect those articles to post them as needed.  

One way I locate helpful content on each topic is to set up a Google Alert for keywords or phrases relevant to my professional skill set. Each Google Alert sends you an email with new online content regularly. Here are a few examples of what Google Alerts you may want to set up:
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• As a project manager, you may set up alerts for keywords like these:
  agile, change management, project management, scope creep, Gantt Chart.
• As a salesperson, you may set up alerts for keywords like these:
  social selling, prospecting, lead generation, territory management.
• As a learning & development specialist, you may set up alerts for keywords like these: instructional design, e-learning, facilitation, training needs analysis.

After you identify the keywords for topics that people in your industry talk about, create alerts to keep a steady stream of content coming to you. 

Flipboard serves two essential purposes. First, you can follow exciting topics and see content other users share. Second, you can use Flipboard to create magazines on a given subject area and bookmark content that interests you for later use. 

Here are a few ways you might find content to save in a Flipboard magazine: 
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• As a project manager, while scanning a newsletter from the Project Management Institute, you read an article entitled "Top Five Causes of Scope Creep." You save the article in your Project Management magazine for later reference. 
• As a salesperson, one of your team members mentions an article they found on Hubspot about sales prospecting techniques you should use according to data. You Google the phrase and save the article you find to your Prospecting magazine to review later.
• As a learning & development specialist, while reading through blog articles from your favorite talent development blogger, you run across a great article  about the importance of choosing the right graphics for an e-learning course to minimize learner cognitive load. You add it to your Instructional Design Best Practices magazine to share on LinkedIn or with collegues at a later time.

Gathering possible information to post when you run across it, organizing it, and making it easy to access will save you a lot of time figuring out what to post.

While the other two tools are about finding and organizing possible content to post, now let's look at a tool to schedule those posts.

There are several tools available to help you manage social media posts. Currently, I use Buffer. This online platform has a free version that will enable you to manage posting on up to three social media platforms. When my goal is building my professional network and job searching, I focus on LinkedIn. 

Buffer enables you to create, schedule, and update posts as needed. When searching for a new role, I may post as often as daily. When focusing on building or maintaining my network, I may post once or twice a week. The Learn More section includes recommendations on how often and at what times you may want to share content for the greatest impact.

Creating  A Post

When I create a post to share an article, I often include the following details:

• A short statement framing up the article I'm sharing.
• A link to the article.
• One to five hashtags to drive viewership.
• Optional: a call to action.

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Here are a few examples:

• As a project manager, you might post the following:
  
  I'm a project manager who leads enterprise-wide software implementations and focuses on keeping my projects on time and within budget. Part of that is staying clear on what is "in scope" and "out of scope" for projects.
  
  Check out this article on the "Top Five Causes of Scope Creep" for a reminder on root causes and how to manage them. Number three is the one I battle constantly: http://www.scopecreeparticleurl.com
  
  #projectmanagement #scopecreep
• As a salesperson, you might post the following:
  
  As a high-performing salesperson, I'm always learning new ways to find new potential clients. This article from HubSpot outlines data-driven sales prospecting techniques you should add to your overall prospecting strategy: http://www.salesprospectingarticle.com
  
  What is your go-to strategy for prospecting?
  
  #sales #prospecting #pipelinebuilding #sellallthethings ​
  
• As a learning & development specialist, you might post the following:
  
  If you've ever taken online compliance training, I'm sure you've seen courses where the content is not aligned with the graphics. Why in the moment, those "group of people in suits with their thumbs up" pictures may just seem oddly placed. In reality, those unrelated pictures make learning harder. This is due to the additional cognitive load required for the learner to grasp the information. 
  
  To learn more about cognitive load and how to manage it well, check out this article: http://www.cognitiveloadarticle.com 
  
  ​#learninganddevelopment #instructionaldesign #elearning #cognitiveload​  

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

One of the benefits of having connections on LinkedIn is that you can directly send them messages without having a paid subscription. However, this feature has also been used poorly on several occasions. Let's look at how to use LinkedIn messaging effectively to continue building professional relationships and provide some guidelines for how to use this feature well. 

To have a valuable professional newtork, make sure those relationships are mutually beneficial. Networking is about give and take. Make sure that you are adding value along the way. This includes sharing useful content, congratulating people on their accomplishments, and answering one-off questions when people ask for advice. In short, be a good LinkedIn neighbor. If you give more than you take, your LinkedIn connections will be more likely to help you when you need it.

When directly contacting your LinkedIn connections, make sure you are not overfocused on asking for favors. It is important to provide value first. Here are a few types of messages that give more than they take:

• Wishing them a happy holiday
• Congratulating them on a promotion, job, degree, personal milestone, or accomplishment
• Thanking them for sharing useful content that helped you personally
• Thanking them for helping people in general
• Checking on them to see how they are
• ​Telling them it was nice seeing them at an in-person or online event
• Following up on a previous topic of conversation
• Offering help on one of your areas of expertise
• Sharing a resource, article, or piece of information that would benefit them

Make sure you are not THAT PERSON who only reaches out when they need a favor. 

Asking for help is an art. First, you need to be willing to ask for help. Next, you need to craft your ask in a way that you have a higher likelihood of getting that help.
Here are a few significant issues I’ve seen from people attempting to ask for job search help:

• Connect and pitch
• Making a big ask early on
• Making a vague ask
• Making an ask that is disproportionate to how well you know someone
• Making frequent asks
• Being aggressive in asks
• Re-asking too many times
• Not being able to hear no
• Being angry if they don’t get what they want

Here are a three questions that may not get you much of a response:

1. Can you get me a job at your company?
2. Can you introduce me to people?
3. If you hear of any openings, let me know.

​Why are these not good asks?  For one, these are big requests that require a lot of effort to do well. For example:

1. I’m not going to magically get you a job at my company. Being hired isn't quite as simple as that. 
2. I’m also not going to go through my list of professional contacts, prioritize who I think you should meet, and facilitate multiple introductions.
3. I will also not be your personal job searcher and send you roles—partly because there is no guarantee that my assumptions based on our past experience working together will align with your current job search goals. ​ ​

Here are a few better asks, but may only work with connections who you know very well and who you have helped in the past:
​

• Would you review my resume?
• Would you review my LinkedIn profile?
• Would you refer me for a position at your company?
• Would you pass my resume on to your connection, the hiring manager?
• Would you meet with me for 30 minutes to discuss [a professional topic]?

​These requests are specific, which is better, but each is still a sizeable request. The first two may be time intensive. The next two involve your connection putting their reputation on the line to recommend you for a role. The final one requires a block of time on your connection's calendar. Depending on our interactions prior to these requests, their response may vary from “of course!” to no response at all. 

Again, remember to make sure your asks are aligned with how well you know one another. 

Asks are better when they are more specific and less time intensive. It’s also helpful if there is context. Here are a few asks that are more likely to get responses. The requests earlier in this list are more likely to get a response.
​

• I just made a job search post on LinkedIn. Would you be willing to visit the post [link here] and like, comment on, or share this post to help me boost my signal?
• I’m considering applying for the Associate Project Manager position with Super Cool Company. How do you like working there? Would you recommend it as a workplace?
• I am working on a career transition from being a software trainer to a project manager. What do you like about your current role as a project manager? What skills would help me in that role?
• I am working on a career transition from being a software trainer to a project manager. I see you’re connected to Alonzo Johnson, a project manager with Super Cool Company. Would you be willing to facilitate an introduction between us on LinkedIn?
• I’m considering applying for the Associate Project Manager position with Super Cool Company. As I get my application materials together, I’d appreciate your insights on the company and how to position myself for success. Would you be willing to have a 15-minute phone call sometime over the next week to talk?
• I’m considering applying for the Associate Project Manager position with Super Cool Company. As I get my application materials together, I’d appreciate your insights on the company and how to position myself for success. Would you be willing to have a 30-minute virtual coffee zoom meeting sometime over the next week?
• I’m considering applying for the Associate Project Manager position with Super Cool Company. As I get my application materials together, I’d appreciate your insights on the company and how to position myself for success. Would you be willing to meet for a coffee at the local coffee shop of your choosing? The first cup is on me!

Remember, when you are asking for help, people will tell you no. More likely than telling you a direct no, they may just not respond. Ever. Keep in mind that job searching, like sales, means that you're going to hear a whole lot of no on the way to that one yes you need. When you need a specific thing, it's useful to ask multiple people for help to give you a better chance of getting a response. It's also not personal. We're each on LinkedIn using it to varying degrees and all trying to accomplish our own goals. 

Making sure that you are making the relationships mutually beneficial will make it much more likely that people will respond to you and want to lend you a hand when you need it. 

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Contingency planning is not the most upbeat topic. It's all about making a backup plan just in case something terrible happens.

Instead of predicting doom and gloom, let's update our planning approach and focus on opportunity readiness.

Opportunity readiness is about thinking about who you truly are, what you want your work life to be, and living into that future. When you step into that role of being the CEO of you, your focus shifts to what you want to be and positioning yourself for that success.
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If you've done that, you'll be able to identify what an amazing opportunity is for you--and be ready to go for it!

Even when you like your current company, position, or coworkers, sometimes you might hear about an opportunity that could be the right next step for you in your career. Here's what that might look like:

• A former colleague is launching a new company and asks if you would be up for building the marketing presence from the ground up. 
• A recruiter who interviewed you for a previous role just let you know about a job they thought would be perfect for you--and you agree. 
• You learn from an announcement at a professional development meeting that your dream company just posted a role with your dream job title. 

In each of these cases, you weren't actively looking for a new role. However, once you heard about the opening, you realized it might be just the thing you were looking for and found out more!

Opportunity readiness is a part of career resilience that may not always occur to us. When people are not actively job searching, sometimes they neglect to make new networking connections, keep in touch with people they know, update their LinkedIn, or update their resume. However, these are EXACTLY the things to prioritize. 

Knowing what you want, staying in touch with your network, and always evolving your skills will position you to move quickly when the time comes. 

Your resume is the main document potential employers want to see. Even if someone contacts you about an opening, you’ll need an up-to-date resume to be considered. This document needs to summarize who you are as a candidate as well as your most relevant skills, work history, education, professional affiliations, and accomplishments. This is where you can shine!

Keeping your resume current is a crucial first step. Including details on your current role, adding newly earned credentials, and highlighting recently used skills can help you shine. Getting a resume out the door within a couple of hours can improve your chances of being seriously considered. It's also a great way to help the person who connected you with the opportunity feel even more sure that you're a great fit!

LinkedIn is your professional billboard to the working world. It is an all-purpose marketing tool where people can view information beyond your resume, see which other people and companies you may have in common, and read the content you share in your posts.

When people are gainfully employed, they often stop fine-tuning their profiles and interacting with their professional connections. Taking time to polish your LinkedIn profile and posting content on your areas of expertise is a way to remind people of you and your professional value. In fact, continuing to be active on LinkedIn may very well be why someone contacts you about what might be the perfect opportunity for you. 

A great way to remind people of who you are and what you're good at is by posting relevant content. Sharing a picture of you leading a training session, or an article about a great new way to optimize a project will help people associate you even further with your skillset. 

Your work samples, often called your portfolio, are a way to demonstrate the skills you mention in your resume or LinkedIn profile. These work samples should give the hiring team an idea of your process and finished product examples.

Creating a portfolio is not something that most people can quickly throw together. There are several steps, including identifying your overall portfolio goals, developing or selecting work samples, positioning each work sample to showcase your professional capabilities, and determining the technological aspects of how you might set up your portfolio. Since some employers may require a portfolio before seriously considering you for a role, pulling this together and updating it as needed can help make you success-ready. 

As you complete interesting projects,remember to add those to your portfolio It' s nice to have your portfolio grow and change as you evolve your skills.

What do you think would prepare you to move quickly on an opportunity if one presented itself? Include your thoughts in the comments.

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

Life is challenging when nothing out-of-the-ordinary is happening. It's even harder when you're going through an unexpected job change. While I'm a fan of self-reliance, I also know how important it is to find your people and support one another as you go through challenges. You're not weak for needing people. You are strong because you know the value of building and leveraging relationships to help get you through trying times. 

I have found that people genuinely want to help. In many cases, though, they might not know what you need. Not only is it vital that you seek out help when you need it, but you need to figure out what type of help you need. 

Once you have a better idea of what you need, make sure you don't expect one person to fill all of these roles. Think about who could help you in each area and reach out to them. 

LinkedIn is my goto tool for building and managing my professional network.  It's importan to make sure your LinkedIn profile represents you well, and that you showcase your experience and the value you bring to others, and to a new role. There is also an art (and a process) to asking people in your professional network in a way that is mutually beneficial. 

By Brenda L. Peterson, The Layoff Lady

The same stories you use in your resume to showcase your skills and the results they generate can also become the answer to commonly asked interview questions. Instead of answering with no plan and hoping for the best, you can use a model, like CARL or STAR, to structure your answers and get to your point more quickly.