Why Networking Is Still The Best Way to Job Hunt

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Author: Palms

He got a lead on his current job through a brother-in-law he doesn't often see, but whom he'd called when he began his job search. The in-law learned soon that his boss was hiring and asked for Mr. Handshy's resume. "It turned out to be a perfect fit for me, so his boss is now my boss," Mr. Handshy says.

Experts perennially tell us that networking is the most important part of any job search, and that we need to do it all the time -- not only at conferences and business lunches but also at family barbecues, PTA meetings and even the laundromat.

But it's easy to lose track of the point of all that connecting: At companies that keep track of such figures, as many at 40% of new hires come from employee referrals. So all that networking keeps you on people's minds when they hear about a potential job.

Sounds simple, but a few rules will help keep the process whirring, hopefully in your favor:

Referrals really do happen more casually than you might expect. Your college roommate's husband's friend is as likely to land you your next gig as your roommate herself -- but only if she knows you're looking for a job when she hears about one.

"We all have primary and secondary contacts in our network," explains Deleise Lindsay, a managing consultant in Atlanta for DBM, an outplacement firm owned by The Thomson Corp. The first line includes your immediate friends, family and colleagues. The second includes people they know who are in your line of work or are associated with companies you're interested in. "You want your primary contacts to network you into their primary contacts, so you can make a 'warm call' rather than a cold call to this company you're interested in," she says.

Honing a short pitch is also important. "The more you're able to tell people in a logical, concise way what you've done and what you're looking for, the more they'll be able to keep their ears open for you," advises Ms. Lindsay. "It's helpful to use words like, 'I really enjoy this,' or 'I'm really excited about that,' " she notes.

When Derek Scheips lost his job running a creative-writing program at a Midwest university, he moved to New York and sought free-lance journalism work while looking for corporate opportunities. "I figured out how to present myself in the least complicated way," he says. "I de-emphasized the teaching I did at the university and emphasized the work involved in running a program. And I said I wanted to use the same skills I'd been using -- research and writing -- in a different setting"

Eventually, a friend of his brother's mentioned in passing that his advertising firm needed copywriters and his brother passed that contact along to him. "I'd recently written an article about one of their major clients, so I could make the case that I understood business and knew their customer," said Mr. Scheips, who's been at the ad agency Wunderman (now part of WPP Group PLC) in New York for five years. "Still, I don't think they would have let me make that case for myself if I hadn't come in through someone there."

If asking others for referral help makes you skittish, keep in mind there might be something in it for them as well. Employers are increasingly using employee-referral programs, which give employees cash bonuses and prizes like Palm Pilots for recommending successful job candidates. At SRA, where 40% of newcomers are referrals, employees receive $1,000 each time the company hires someone they bring in.

"Candidates should ask friends and family, 'Does your company have an employee-referral program? Could you pass my resume along?' " says Kerri Koss Morehart, director of talent acquisitions and development at SRA. "If you're hired, they might get a great bonus," she notes, and won't mind helping you out.

At PriceWaterhouseCoopers, referred resumes "go to the top of the pile," says Mark Friedman, director of experienced recruiting. At SRA, the human-resources department prints referred resumes on blue paper (and all the others on white), so they stand out for the hiring manager.

"People working at a company don't always have time to keep up with the job postings," notes Jeanie Tooker, vice president for human resources at SRI International, a not-for-profit research firm in Menlo Park, Calif. She suggests job seekers regularly check online job postings at companies where they know people. Then they can get in touch with their contact to ask them about a specific job they know is open.

If you know someone who used to work at a company you'd be interested in, don't assume it's too late for them to help. Many companies, particularly professional-services firms, regularly call on alumni to help find people. Alumni, as well as employees, "know the company well and know who will be a good fit," says Cem Sertoglu, chief executive officer of SelectMinds, a company that manages online alumni networks for corporations.

One SelectMinds client, Ernst & Young, recently launched a candidate-referral program. If alumni refer candidates hired by Ernst & Young, the firm makes a $1,000 donation in their name to the college or school of their choice. "It's too soon to say how many people have been hired this way, but we're getting a lot of referrals," says Madge Nimocks, director of the firm's Americas Alumni program. And she notes, "We use the alumni network to point out stories on our Web site or to talk about changes at the firm."

Mr. Scheips says that anytime his boss mentions he's looking for new people, "inevitably within a few days I'll run into someone who says they're looking or their spouse or roommate is looking for this kind of job." He always invites them to send him their resumes. "I don't make promises, but I'm happy to pass it along," he says.

Still, he's often amazed that job seekers don't follow up, or send a resume not tailored to the particular job or firm. "It's hard for me to tell my boss, 'This person would be great,' if their resume doesn't reflect it," he says. So "if you meet someone who says, 'Send me your resume,' do it the next day, and first thing in the morning," advises Ms. Lindsay at DBM. That makes you appear enthusiastic and on top of your game.

Mr. Friedman says people often miss opportunities at PWC by not being assertive enough. "People will send their resume in a cursory way," he says. "They shoot it over by e-mail and say, 'Here it is.' They don't follow up to ask whom it was sent to or to ask about meeting more people at the firm, which would show they want to learn more about us."