By Rob McInnes, © Diversity World, January 2004
It is good to have other people helping you in your job search.
Like any other search, your chances of success are increased in
proportion to the number of people involved and the various skills,
perspectives, and experiences that they bring.
In the realm of employment, we refer to this as “Networking”.
In fact, it is widely-recognized that Networking is the most
effective strategy for securing employment. In most surveys that I
have seen, over 50% of employees credit Networking as the reason
they got their job. In the one survey that I read that had posed
this question to employees with disabilities, Networking was still
credited by more than 50% of the respondents. In a 2001 survey by
the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), 61% of 566
employers that were surveyed and 78% of 466 job candidates that were
surveyed ranked Networking as the most effective job-search tactic.
Despite its undisputed importance, Networking is the one area of
job-search that is often poorly attended to. I suspect that this is
because many of us are uncomfortable putting ourselves “out there” –
being vulnerable – admitting that we need help. I have an
acquaintance who is a job developer. For years he taught people job
search skills – and the paramount importance of Networking. What did
she do when she lost her job? She sent out hundreds of resumes and
sat at home for weeks – waiting for responses. Even though she had
taught Networking skills for years, the thought of doing it herself
paralyzed her.
Networking needn’t be scary or intimidating. Essentially, is
little more than drawing other people into someone’s job search. It
is wide open to imagination, innovation and creativity. It can be
fun and exciting. Personally, I think we are all overdue for a book
on “guerilla Networking” – unconventional methods for tapping into
the job search resources of other people. Here are several from my
experience…
VOLUNTEER JOB SEARCH COACHES
A few years ago, when I was running an employment service for
people with disabilities, I realized that many of our job seekers
had poor personal networks and had to heavily rely on the networks
of their Employment Specialist or Job Developer. In most cases the
networks of my staff usually did not include people with connections
in the specific profession that the job seeker was interested in. In
fact, because they were in social services, most of my staff had
very limited personal connections with the business community at
all. That issue gnawed at me until it dawned on me… we could recruit
well-connected business people to become part of our job seekers’
networks! So, a new program was borne – one which had us recruiting
people from the business community to become temporary personal job
search coaches for our job seekers. It was a wonderful success!
(Incidentally, despite skepticism from some that employers would not
be interested in participating, the response was so enthusiastic
that we had more volunteers than we could use.)
VIRTUAL NETWORKING
I once met a young woman who was blind and, at the time, working
at a job she loved. Several months later, I received an email from
her. She explained that she had been laid off due to a downsizing of
her company and was now looking for a new job. She invited me to be
part of her personal online networking group. Intrigued, I readily
agreed. I subsequently learned that I was one of about a dozen and a
half people that she had recruited for her network. She began by
emailing each of us a copy of her resume, an outline of her goals
and aspirations for her next job, and a request for any advice or
leads. After that, we all received a weekly update from her – a
report on the advice and leads that she had received from us (and
how she had followed up on them), job applications that she had
submitted, interviews that she had attended, etc. – always inviting
more comments, advice and leads from us all. It was a brilliant and
engaging strategy – her weekly updates kept her quest fres h in our
minds – and the reports on her activities often sparked new ideas
and advice from us. If I remember correctly, it took about 6 weeks
for her to land her new job.
GUESS WHO’S COMING TO DINNER
I recently had a phone call from the parents of a young man with
a disability. They were extremely disappointed with the employment
services that their son was receiving from their local
rehabilitation agencies. They were confident that with his skills,
aptitudes and work ethic he was highly employable – if the right
employer would just look past his (visible) disability. Since the
local agencies hadn’t proven to be very successful in helping their
son, they told me that they were anxious to do whatever they could
to help him find a job – and they asked for my advice. “Dinner”, I
said. That, of course, was greeted with a moment of stunned silence
on their end of the line. Continuing, I gave them a little insight
into the importance of Networking and I suggested that they plan to
host a dinner party for about a dozen of their acquaintances who
would be invited to join them in an evening of brainstorming
potential employment opportunities for their son. I suggested that
they co nsider, in addition to personal friends, inviting people
from a wide variety of occupations and interests – their banker, the
minister from their church, someone from a service club they might
belong to… in short, a very eclectic crew that represented a broad
cross-section of their community. I recommended that they be very
clear about the reason for their invitation and that their son
should be part of it (unless he chose not to be). We also discussed
how they might follow up with the group and keep them involved. I
don’t know if they ever followed through; but they certainly grew
very excited with the concept.
We know conclusively that networking is the most effective means
to find a job. We know that the success of networking is tied to the
quality and quantity of the individuals that make up that network.
While many people with disabilities do have extensive personal
networks that include well-connected and influential people – many
others do not. Many people with disabilities have been excluded from
the opportunities that typically enable folks to form extensive
networks in the social, educational, recreational and business
realms of their communities. To improve the success of their job
search efforts, people with disabilities and their allies need to
effectively leverage the power of their existing networks and, when
necessary, to creatively expand and enhance them.
