From my last post you know that my job was eliminated in January of this year. Now that I'm fully employed again I want to share what it means to really help someone who is looking for a job - whether they've been let go or are fully employed and searching out new opportunities. The reason I want to share is because while today you may enjoy full employment, you may one day need this kind of help. Helping others in their search is the best way to help yourself.
Most important, don't ask someone who has been let go how their job search is going. When you're busy looking for a job you have no idea how it's going until you actually land an interview and then get a job offer. Until that happens all you know is you're doing what you've been told works and keeping at it until something happens. It's a lot like fishing and when you're out there everyday and not getting any bites it gets stressful. Instead, ask them how you can help and then be prepared to follow through with that help.
One of my favorite people and a good friend said "I can't wait to help you!" when she found out about my job loss. We would meet for lunch every couple of weeks and I'd talk about what I was doing, who I'd networked with, and where I'd submitted resumes. She gave me my first real opportunity with another friend of hers who had an opening that was a good fit for me. She would ask me questions "Did you follow up with...." and "Have you talked to....". I really looked forward to meeting up with her and now that I have a job I miss our meetups!
Another friend messaged me on Facebook with a job opening at his company. This was super helpful and I really appreciated it. I wasn't a good match for the job but he was actively keeping an eye out at his company for opportunities, and probably not just for me, but for all of his friends looking for a job.
To be the most helpful you need to keep an eye out for the opportunities available at the company where you work. Are they a good match for your friend(s) who is looking? If there's an opportunity, do you know the hiring manager? Do you know the internal HR Recruiter? Can you find out the salary range for the opportunity? If your friend wants to pursue this opportunity are you willing to walk their resume to these people and put in a good word for them? Several years ago I had a contractor working for me who wanted a permanent position. I didn't have an immediate opening in my department and I felt this person was too good to see her walk out the door. I had seen a job on the company career site in another area that was a great match for her. She was definitely interested and after finding out all of the information and sharing with her, she decided to apply. I emailed the hiring manager with a letter of recommendation and attached her resume. She got the job and a large part of that was just getting her in front of the hiring manager so she could showcase her skills.
The most challenging part of job searching is getting a human being to physically look at your resume. When you apply for a job on a company website these days its going through an ATS (Applicant Tracking System) and a program using an algorithm is sorting through the resumes submitted matching key words from the job description to them. If you haven't done a good job tailoring your resume for that job you aren't going to come up as a match for the position and you're not going to get an interview let alone a call. That's why it matters who you know.
The next thing you can do to help someone searching for a job is to think of all the people you know and where they work. The job searcher might be looking at a job at a particular company and you know someone there who can help get their resume in front of the hiring manager. Arranging introductions to who you know is extremely helpful. I introduce people using multiple methods - the messaging features on LinkedIn and Facebook help with people you might not run into or talk to all that often. I reach out and ask if I can introduce them and if they say yes I send a message to both folks with the introduction. Then the job searcher and the contact can figure out how to meet up and share information. This is a mini-interview for the job searcher because they're now asking a new acquaintance to clear a path to the hiring manager.
The job searcher has to do their part of course - getting their resume together, actively searching company websites for current opportunities, and then following through on meetups when they've been introduced, but you are one of their best resources in the job search. They need your help.
If you're the person who has just been introduced to a job searcher, you've been given the opportunity to pay it forward for any help you've had in previous or current job searches. You can make a huge difference for someone in the job hunt and now that you know them, do all the things I just described above.
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