In the previous post we explained that the key to tapping the hidden job market is to become someone that hiring managers (and their colleagues in the industry) know and trust. In this post, we’ll explain the fundamental Job Hack that allows you to become that person.
This Job Hack is called Micronetworking. Or at least I call it that.
Most people think about job networking as making your way across a crowded room of people and chatting randomly with different people. If you’re the extroverted type, you love this type of thing, and if you’re introverted, you shudder just thinking about it. I call this type of networking Macronetworking, as you’re networking with a whole group of people at once. Well, I’ve got good news for introverts: You don’t have to do engage in this type of networking as part of Job Hacking.
However, Micronetworking is a key Job Hack that you must do. In Micronetworking, you have simple, scripted meetings with individuals in your industry and form meaningful relationships with each individual. You can have these Micronetworking meetings over coffee, or by phone if it’s not possible to get together in person.
For each person you Micronetwork with, you now have another person in the industry who is either a hiring manager who knows and trusts you, or is a colleague of one. Imagine that you end up meeting with twenty such people. There’s a good chance that each of these people know twenty other people in the industry. So now, there’s 400 people in the industry who when asked by a hiring manager for a recommended candidate to hire, may likely point to you.
At the time that you Micronetwork, you’re not banking on the fact that the person you’re meeting with is a hiring manager with an open position right now, but you’re creating an “ally” who may be made aware of future hidden-job-market position in the next few months. Each ally you create is the planting of a seed that may yield results in the future.
Once you’ve created numerous allies, the hidden job market works easily in your favor. Imagine that one of your allies is Latisha. When Anthony, a hiring manager, asks Latisha if she knows anyone who would be a good fit for his position, she refers you because you established a meaningful relationship in your meeting with her and she trusts that you’d be a good fit. Anthony then interviews you without interviewing anyone else, because why should he? He trusts Latisha and Latisha trusts you. Of course, Anthony will interview you just to make sure he likes you as well, but if he does, there’s no need to interview anyone else. You’ve managed to get the job before the competition was even made aware of it!
So, how exactly do you Micronetwork? How do you get people to do Micronetworking meetings with you? What if you don’t even know them? We’ll discuss this in the next post.