Can you do TOO MUCH networking?!

Can you do too much networking?

After all, we job search coaches urge candidates to network, network, network: whether via Zoom or in person, whether 1:1 or in large groups, it’s critical, we say.

And networking is given credit for 60%-80% landing new jobs.

It’s true: it IS all of that. The human connection is more critical than ever today when technology seems to dominate so much of the search process: it will, if you let it.

But is it possible to do too much “contacting”?

I didn’t think so until a few years ago, when I met Josh, a between-jobs marketing manager in job search for about 3 months (not his real name).

A contact of his recommended we meet, so I was at the designated Caribou Coffee, hoping to learn how I might help him.

When he arrived and we shook hands, his handshake was almost like he was going through the motions. He barely smiled. As we sat down I noticed he was jumpy and fidgety, his eyes darting about.

When he talked, he was racing through his “commercial” and his list of target companies.

He kept rubbing his face as if trying to stay awake.

Finally, I gestured a “stop” with my hand, and asked: “How ARE you, really? How is all this going for you?”

He paused. “You’re right…I’m exhausted…you are my 12th in-person networking meeting this week and I have 2 more tomorrow.”

I couldn’t hide my shock: “What?!”

I quickly calculated the time involved, the energy one needs to summon for each contact meeting whether in person or via video chat, the post-meeting TY note and ongoing follow up, endorsing others while asking for endorsements for himself…and how could he have so many meetings and still keep up with applying and updating his resume and profile, posting on LinkedIn, researching companies and teams, while still living a normal life with his family?

And shook my head.

“Sometimes I do 15 a week…that’s always my goal”, Josh added. OMG.

He complained that it was not proving to be “the panacea you coaches and even recruiters always talk about”, because he’d had very few requests for his resume and no “real” interviews from all those meetings.

I replied, “I think I can help you best by giving you my impressions of what you’ve said so far, and how you can make some adjustments that’ll help you. How does that sound?” He was open to that, so we talked.

He realized he was sounding rushed and harried and exhausted but didn’t know how else to do “all this networking”.

Which was the problem. As it often is with job hunters because they focus on what leads they’re hoping for instead of the relationship…they are looking to hunt instead of plant seeds and harvest.

Here’s what I said to him and what I’d say to you:

  • First, I’d recommend no more than 5-7 one-on-one networking meetings a week, whether in person or via video chat. That would enable you to really focus on those people and how YOU can help THEM. And focus on follow up and taking each connection more seriously as a beginning to a relationship.

  • Pace yourself – don’t do all 5 in one day. Spread the meetings out across the week.

  • Mix it up – mix in brand-new contacts with second meetings, and with friends you’ve lost touch with. Each one of these has its own energy demands on you so you can vary it to better pace yourself.

  • Know what you’re after: OTHER CONNECTIONS. You want to leave with NAMES. Think you’re after “hidden leads”? Most openings aren’t hidden today. BUT, you can learn of plans to hire early in their process by doing these referral meetings, becoming someone they’ll invite to apply: as I say, “get known so you can get nominated”.

  • I don't recommend using “one page networker” tools as much any more because people don’t know what to do with them as they don’t hang on to paper items very long today. And they look too much like a resume. Instead, emphasize with contacts that everything about you is on your LinkedIn profile. They will likely go there anyway before your appointment with them. So keep your profile fresh with comments using the language of your field, on others’ posts, and post some of your own. Don’t make updates and changes and then forget about it, keep it alive and interesting and conversational so that your expertise shines through.

  • Make it clear that while yes, you’re in job search, you are expanding your network on an ongoing basis, so this is about getting to know what it is that THEY need. Say this when you are making the appointment, say it in the meeting, say it at the end, and say it in any follow ups. And mean it.

Through the person who referred Josh, I heard he landed a new role, great news.

I hope it was in part because he did effective networking, based on relationship, and enough to energize his search, instead of too much “networking for leads or who you know who might have leads” which exhausts a search.

And keeping it in balance with all other search activities, so that you stay positive and keep up your energy.

He deserved that.

And so do you.

Why I do client resumes myself instead of farming them out

I'm a certified career coach practitioner who does my clients' resumes myself. There are career coaches who don’t like doing them, seeing them as a “document” that needs editing for dates, titles, keywords. And if they’re not writers, well, why not have someone else do it. So they hire “someone” to do it.

A company President I talked with earlier this year had his resume done by a service that is recommended by one of the biggest business magazines in the world, probably a marketing partner. When he saw the resume a few weeks later, he felt uneasy about it: it wasn’t “him”. It made general statements about company President “responsibilities”, had nothing about his achievements, said nothing about how he led companies or what he was like to work for, and it was visually unappealing. Seeing the awful result, he asked the randomly-assigned “writer” about his qualifications. Answer: “I was a CEO of a tech company”.

Sorry, not a valid qualification.

As well-intentioned as that former-tech-CEO-now-“resume writer” might be, he is probably getting paid $25 an hour to churn out resumes that are based on boilerplate material. And you can bet companies who hire non-coaches like this are going to be using AI instead of humans very soon – and the result may actually be better!

So others may “send it out” to get the resume done. But for me, it's an exercise in which I partner with job hunters. It involves deep discussion of success stories, motivation, career goals, values, personality, interests, skills they love using and similar. It’s deep listening time; if the candidate sounds low on confidence, I remind them of what they have done that has been astounding and tell them it's not bragging to talk about it, it’s informing the hiring manager.

If the candidate is angry I reflect that back to them and we talk about how they can defuse those feelings so they can keep moving forward. If they have not worked in a while, we talk about how to answer the inevitable question, “So what have you been doing?” with something that’s related to the open job.

Only a trained human who’s worked with thousands of real, human candidates can do things like that. Not AI. Not a hobbyist who means well. And not a paid-by-the-hour “resume writer”.

Any of my clients can tell you that the resume is thus far more than a history and keywords document; it's a statement by the candidate -- that lands interviews. It is “them on the screen”. Dates, titles, and keywords flow from this.

In 1 or 2 one-hour-long sessions, I quickly get to know their work selves deeply. They feel heard. Feel they are putting themselves forward, and better understand how it’s not “bragging” to tell their stories, but it’s really about being informative with the person who needs to make the hire. And to show them their new resume in a few days. The candidates says “Until now, I couldn’t talk about how I fit the job; now I can.”

It’s so satisfying to keep learning how to help my clients, as technology changes and the hiring world keeps changing. In response to the changing world, I continually make changes to format, wording, and more. And add to the coaching topics like “how to use AI to find target companies that fit you.”

Thus they come back for updates and send me their friends and family. I've worked with some clients 3-4 times over the span of their careers, and it’s wonderful (and fun!) to see them grow and progress, especially if it follows their career plan.

That’s why I love this work: each client is refreshingly individual. No two of you are alike. Each of you connects with the world in your own, individual way. The result for me is endless learning, constant challenge, continued engagement with meaningful work, work I do that helps families.

So have someone else do a client’s resume? Not a chance. I’ll continue to selfishly enjoy doing them myself, thank you!

In job search DO THE UNEXPECTED!

You have nothing to lose by breaking through the facelessness of job search.

"You mean I can really do ____ with my resume?"

"Is it OK in job search to ____?"

"I thought you weren't supposed to ____ in job search."

"On my resume what should I do about margins, font, similar?"

"But what will they think if I _____?"

I get these and other questions from candidates about job search. They reveal a fear of not doing the job search "right", an adherence to many unwritten rules.

That's not surprising given the myths and legends around job search, the newest being that AI is going to take everyone's job (not true but as always, keep adding to your professional skills).

I say, BREAK THE RULES especially today when so many of you in job search report that they get no response to your resumes and usual job search approaches. You have nothing to lose by breaking through the facelessness of job search.

Now I'm not talking about doing anything unethical or bizarre. And networking is STILL the best way to "get known and get nominated" for that open position. But here's what I've learned from my successful clients (success means getting interviews after revamping their resume): do the unexpected. Color outside the lines.

Approaches to try, some designed by candidates in search, some by me:

  • Applying for the job after the deadline. A client saw a great job but the deadline was the day before. She applied anyway with her new more powerfully clear resume, and landed an interview. She's in their hiring process now. The deadline never came up for discussion. They like her and so far, want to hear more. Lesson: it can't hurt to try because the door may only appear to be closed.

  • A client is a fan of a podcast led by a guru in her field. She watched 10 episodes, then decided to contact each episode's expert guest, asking them to connect with her on LinkedIn. Her message: "I found your comments and expertise to be very helpful at this stage of my career. Let's connect now and perhaps talk in the future?" Almost all replied and all replied positively. (If you're a speaker or podcast guest, you always wonder if anyone heard you...so how refreshing that she was in touch with them. They must have been delighted so it's no wonder they replied!) Lesson: remember that experts and "top voices" are real people who are open to connecting and even helping.

  • A new grad who's a TikTok enthusiast has done a TikTok resume and is posting the link to it on LinkedIn, and I'll share it once she does. But now she wants to get the attention of her top target company. We talked about some novel ways of getting their attention: "Why not do another video, post it on Instagram and other platforms, this time with the reasons they should be talking with you? And why you want to work there, why you've chosen them? Use their hashtag in your post so it grabs their attention." Sure, she's made phone calls and is networking on LinkedIn with people who work there. But a TikTok that is about THEM? That will get her a response! Lesson: keep trying but do something fresh and personal.

  • I've written about this approach before: Jack, a client, was 61 and in sales. With the help of a programmer friend, he programmed an iPad to play a video about him as soon as you opened the cover. It was a simple presentation in that it was really just a sequence of images, and it included very short sample success stories, many photos of him on the job and in his volunteer role, and keywords, in a quick-cut style and less than two minutes long. He then hand-delivered the iPad to a company where he dearly wanted to work and which had an opening, asking that it be given to Mary Smith (not her real name), Director of Sales.Within hours, he received an email from Mary Smith. "Your video was fantastic and the iPad is making its rounds throughout the whole company. When can you come in for an interview?" He had the interview, which he believes he never would have gotten by submitting a typical resume. While in the end both parties decided it wasn't a fit, he at least had a very personal chance to tell his story. (And he got his iPad back.) Lesson: take a risk, and you'll be more likely to get to the next step.

  • My clients really like one feature of my resumes which includes adjectives about them given by current and former co-workers and colleagues. Will you find that section in others' resumes? No. And that's because even many career coaches like to do what's done before: it's safe. But I'm convinced human features like this short section show the candidates as more whole, more likable, and human to the hiring manager and team members -- and that all has strong appeal. Lesson: Even within the confines of a resume, do something fresh and thought-provoking that shows you are a fit.

Why does all this matter?

These and other unorthodox approaches -- comment below on those that have worked for you! -- do something subtle yet powerful: they communicate that the candidate believes in themselves. That confidence makes them appealing to the hiring company.

So get your target organization to say "WOW!" to you: do the unexpected in your search. It will pay off by you being noticed. And more likely to be invited in.

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