21. Job Search Strategy: Networking Tips and Examples
Mar 06, 2024
This episode of the Job Search Series focuses on activating your network to help land interviews for your dream job. I share what worked for me, and provide examples and stories to inspire you to take action and tap into the power of your network.
I need your help! I am currently creating an exciting new coaching offer and I need your help! I want to make this the most incredible program out there, which is why I am doing Market Research. I am looking to speak with 10 stay-at-home moms who are ready to step back into the workforce in 2024.
What to expect: 20 minutes over Zoom, I ask you a bunch of questions and take tons of notes, And as a THANK YOU for your time, I’d love to gift you with a 20-min career clarity & strategy session on exactly what to focus on in your job search in 2024.
Again, this is completely PITCH-FREE. I simply want to do market research.
If you or someone you know is a great fit for this--send me a msg at Christina@hernextchapters.com or a DM on LinkedIn. Can’t wait to chat!
This episode of the Job Search Series focuses on activating your network to help land interviews for your dream job. I share what worked for me, and provide examples and stories to inspire you to take action and tap into the power of your network.
I need your help! I am currently creating an exciting new coaching offer and I need your help! I want to make this the most incredible program out there, which is why I am doing Market Research. I am looking to speak with 10 stay-at-home moms who are ready to step back into the workforce in 2024.
What to expect: 20 minutes over Zoom, I ask you a bunch of questions and take tons of notes, And as a THANK YOU for your time, I’d love to gift you with a 20-min career clarity & strategy session on exactly what to focus on in your job search in 2024.
Again, this is completely PITCH-FREE. I simply want to do market research.
If you or someone you know is a great fit for this--send me a msg at Christina@hernextchapters.com or a DM on LinkedIn. Can’t wait to chat!
Hi and welcome to her next chapter's podcast. I'm your host, christina Cole. I'm a mom of three and soon to be an empty nester. I'm also a certified HR pro who restarted my career after being a stay-at-home mom for over a decade. I created this podcast to connect with moms who have an empty nest on the horizon and are wanting to redefine their identity outside of motherhood, which might include a job search. On this show we'll have raw conversations about our ever-changing roles as moms. We'll hear from women who restarted their careers and share tips for a job search after a career break. So if that's you, you're in the right place. Friend, let's get started. Hi, friends, and welcome to this week's episode of her next chapter's.
Speaker 1:
I'm excited today to talk about networking. We are continuing the job series of episodes. If you missed them, episode 19 was on clarity, so some exercises on helping you get some clarity on what you want to do next, because I know for myself as a stay-at-home mom I wasn't quite sure, so that's a good one to go back to. And then episode 20 was specifically on resumes, basically a whole masterclass on the resume for the career gap, job search, and actually I'll put a link in the show notes for a free resume template specifically for stay-at-home moms. You can download it and it's fully customizable and the format is all there and laid out for you, along with instructions and tips and advice, even some examples. So take a look at the show notes if that's something that would be helpful for you All right. Well, today, like I said, the focus is going to be on networking to get your next job. So I think the best way to start the conversation is to kind of share some of my experience and how this worked for me and how important and valuable my contacts and connections and network support was when I returned to work.
Speaker 1:
So I, as I've shared on the podcast, before I worked in human resources. I had 10 years of a career when I left to stay home with my kids full-time. I was a director of human resources, leading the team of six, and even though I had all of that experience, I was really struggling in getting any traction in my job search. I knew as an HR person and I knew as a recruiter that customizing my resume for each position was critical and I knew that as a stay-at-home mom with my career gap, I really needed to sell myself in the cover letter. And the other thing I didn't just apply to anything and everything. I was very selective about the roles that I chose to apply for. I only applied for things that I was really excited about and that I knew I was qualified for. So I was very selective. I customized my resume, I customized my cover letters and the results Well, they weren't that good. I got absolutely no traction with that at all. I mean, I'm talking zero interviews, hardly ever even a rejection letter, and I gotta say it was incredibly demoralizing, just really struggled with my confidence. Like, did I even make the right decision to put my career on hold to take care of my family full time? Even though I know that was the best decision and the right decision? It was just really kind of depressing and frustrating to not be welcomed back to the workforce. So I knew I had to change what I was doing. What worked for me that I want to really share in detail with you all today was changing my strategy to where I started talking to people, a lot of people. I reconnected with my former colleagues. I asked for recommendations and introductions. I told my friends and my neighbors about my desire to return to work and, of course, I continued to customize my applications for jobs that I was excited about. So the results I got five initial interviews. All of those came from a network, and out of those five interviews I received a job offer and I accepted it, and that was my return to work and I got a job that was perfect for me, and I got it through the help of my network.
Speaker 1:
Anyone job searching can benefit from focusing the majority of their time on connecting with and nurturing their network, but this is especially true if you've been out of the workforce for an extended period. That's you, my state or mom friends. Why is the network so important? So you know the expression. It's not what you know, it's who you know. My friends, there is a lot of truth to that. I would amend it a little bit, though, and say it's both what you know and who you know, because just because you know the right people, if you don't have the right skills and background and aptitude, you're not necessarily gonna get the job just because you know someone. But if you have all the you know, what you know is what they need and you know the right person who can introduce you, that's where the magic happens. And the other thing, not only just the introductions, but it is estimated that 60 to 80% of jobs aren't even advertised. And how can you tap into these opportunities? That's really where your network comes into play. That's all about who you know. So do stay at home moms even have a network.
Speaker 1:
I know when I was home for all those years it wound up being 13 years altogether I didn't think I had a professional network anymore. It had been so long that you know, I lost touch with my coworkers over the years. The thing is, I did have a network. I just needed to learn how to tap into it. I wanna share with you how, the connections that in my network that helped me score those interviews when I was still a stay at home mom and this is these are the five interviews that I talked about. So one I was a family of my son's baseball team. They invited us to dinner at their house just our two families.
Speaker 1:
It is between Christmas and New Year's and I think I've told the story in the podcast before. This feels like deja vu. They, you know, as normally happens around that time of year, conversation, something like what are your new year's resolutions and I had shared that mine was to go back to work. Well, what are you going to back? You know what are you gonna do? Well, human resources. That's my career and I'm excited to get back to it. And I'm like, oh, do you know? So-and-so, she lives down the street and she's the VP of recruiting at the hospitals. I'm like, no, I didn't know that, didn't know her. So they made the.
Speaker 1:
My friends made the introduction for me to the VP of recruiting and we had a conversation and she's like you know what? We have an opening that I think you'd be really good for and that resulted in me interviewing with the hiring manager, with several people. Actually, I wound up having three interviews. I was one of two finalists and, unfortunately, the physician. Well, we're fortunately infinity, look at it. But I didn't get the job.
Speaker 1:
But that experience of interviewing and going all the way to the final round, it just really prepared me. You know I got to practice interviewing in person and you know those high stress situations and refining my interview stories and answering all those questions and just really keeping a lot of confidence and that's what helped me land the job that I did get about a month later. So had I not had that experience, I probably wouldn't have done as well interviewing for the job that I actually took. And again, that was just a family on my son's baseball team. If you've got kids that are involved in sports or scouts or music drama band, whatever it is, you probably know an entire team worth right, an entire team of parents that you're on the sidelines with two of your kids on. You just never know who they know, right, even if, like the person who gave me that introduction, she's a stay at home mom who would have thought that I'd get a recommendation and an introduction to a great career opportunity from another long-term unemployed state or month.
Speaker 1:
So these others I'll just go through really quickly. There's a fellow scout parent who worked at the library where I applied. I sent my resume and cover letter to her with a request for her to forward it internally, which she did. I interviewed there. There was a parent of a student that I coached who had a first-level contact on LinkedIn. She reached out on my behalf within a half an hour. I was being asked to send my resume directly to the CEO, the area director of schools, who knew me as a volunteer from the interview committee for our school's new principal. She forwarded my resume on to the school district's HR team and I interviewed there and then an executive nonprofit leader who I used to work with. He provided a glowing recommendation to a peer organization of his, to their HR team, and that was during the recruiting process for the job that I wound up getting.
Speaker 1:
There's five different examples, and this is me as a long-time standard mom. I had five people who were able to introduce me, to make connections, make recommendations, and I bet you have those people in your network too. And I want to go back to all of these five stories that I just told you about, these five interview success stories and the fact getting the interview is a success, right. What do they have in common? Well, I talked about my job search with these individuals and I asked for help At that back to that dinner party. If I hadn't brought it up because, honestly, it took a bit of courage to say it out loud, because then I knew that they'd be asking me a few months later how's it going. And so it took some courage. But had I not brought that up at that dinner party, I would have missed out on that opportunity to interview for that job and to go all the way to being a finalist and I would have missed out, even though I didn't get the job. I would have missed out on all that interview experience as well. It's just really important just to be talking about it, because you never know who's going to have that introduction for you. All right, so in this episode I've shared what worked for me and given a lot of examples and stories, because that's how I learn. I hope it's inspirational and helpful for you to hear them.
Speaker 1:
Next week, I'll dive into ways you can tap into your network. In the meantime, I need to ask you for some help. I am currently creating an exciting new coaching offer and I need your help. I want to make this the most incredible program out there, which is why I'm doing market research. I'm looking to speak with 10 stay-at-home moms who are ready to step back into the workforce in 2024.
Speaker 1:
So what you can expect it's 20 minutes over Zoom. I'll ask you a bunch of questions and take tons of notes and, as a thank you for your time, I'd love to gift you with a 20-minute career clarity and strategy session on exactly what to focus on in your job search in 2024. Again, this is completely pitch free. I simply want to do market research. If you or someone you know is a great fit for this, send me an email at Christina at hernextchapterscom, or you can also send me a message on LinkedIn. I can't wait to chat. Thank you so much for listening today. I hope this episode hit home for you and, if it didn't, well go easy on me I'm still figuring this all out and if you haven't already, be sure to connect with me on LinkedIn and say hello so I can personally thank you for listening. Until next time, remember, your story is uniquely your own and your next chapters are ready to begin.