1) Be on the radar of many different people in many networks…
Don’t only connect with decision makers who may want to hire you for their organisation.
As a LinkedIn user, for instance, connect with more than 1 contact per company you want to be working for. You will make yourself too vulnerable in case your contact’s situation changes – which will be the case sooner or later.
Or: how do you create your fans inside an organisation?
Meet and greet as many people as possible. Genuinely. Enjoying it. People have networks, big or small, homogeneous and diverse. In that sense, every one-to-one meeting is always a one-to-many meeting as well. What would you like people to share about you to their networks? Every talk is a trialogue.
Job searching is about high quality AND high quantity contacts: expand your networks with more than decision makers only. You don’t always know who knows who.
2) …and stay on their radar
How will you make sure you will stay on all these people’s radars?
At the end of the meeting, did you agree with your counterpart what will be a call for action (‘When can we talk about x again on the phone?’, ‘How would you like to pursue our talk the coming time?’,…)
Do you send personal, customised follow-up e-mails the same day you’ve met someone (again)?
Do you introduce your contacts to networks, information, knowledge that is useful to them?
Do you give?
3) Power pose briefly before any crucial meeting
Watch the TED clip with Amy Cuddy
4) Create a compelling offer
To what extent did you prepare yourself for a job interview? Did you do your online desktop research, browsing through the organisation’s website in detail, gather info in advance about the persons you are meeting?
What do you know already before a first job interview about the organisation’s strategy, successes and challenges, the ‘smell’ of the place (=the organisational culture)?
Do you have then some compelling offers in your sleeve that would make you the applicant they wish for? Can people see, or even touch your previous projects and work experiences?
5) ‘Be the change you want to see in the world‘
Be the applicant people want to see. Give them a taste of what you’ve got during the hiring process in terms of attitude and expertise.
If you’re applying for a job as a proof reader, make sure your written communication is impeccable. How do you render that the skill ‘performing with precision’ is important for you?
If you’re applying for a job with a focus on people management, what impression do you leave behind nurturing relationships with your future employer?
When I’m talking to a future customer for the first time in a meeting room, I occasionally draw something on a flip chart and briefly show my expertise as a facilitator.
Make people hungry to work with you, walking from contacts to contracts on a rather pleasant, joint journey.
Good luck!
Peter
PS 1: First question to ask yourself, job searching: what do I want?
PS 2: All the above can be relevant for every ‘front-office’ situation you are in
