BEHIND THE SCENES (Part 1)

Behind the Scenes (part 1)

I always encourage job searchers to stay in touch with their network and the recruiters they like.  Some do a great job of it while others don’t.  Here’s what happened the other day.

Brent sent me an email to remind me that he is still in the job market and he doesn’t want us to forget about him.  We try to stay in touch with candidates but it’s hard sometimes and things move quickly.  We have over 21,000 records in the database.  I do it by driving a list and by sending a quarterly newsletter.  Unfortunately things fall through the cracks.  I encourage people to stay in touch with their network, recruiters, influencers, ex-coworkers,  etc. by scheduling meetings, sending email updates, phone calls, etc.  Prioritize and set the communication medium according to importance and what your network contact prefers.  I’m an email guy so I encourage them to send emails.  Again, some do and some don’t.  Most of my high level candidates don’t send updates regularly.

Brent’s was short and sweet and it included an updated resume.  He mentioned (in his 4 – 5 line email) that he just added some software recognition experience to his resume.  When I get an update, I look at what we have going in contract and I look at the searches we are working on.  Right then.  We have a great database and each of the recruiters do a full search when we get new positions.  However an update can put a candidate top of mind immediately….at least for me.

I don’t mind if it’s just a quick email  or if it’s a well thought out page or two.  Send a new one every 4 – 5 weeks.  Pretty soon you have a big network that is current and up to date (on you)!  One of our director level (F,P&A) candidates does a really nice periodic update and I always think of her when we get relevant positions.  Her updates are great but a short one is ok too!  Bottom line – I think of her.  And now I’m thinking of Brent. 

I think people don’t do this because 1) they are afraid they will bug their contacts and 2) they might be uncomfortable because it’s hard to “sell” yourself and ask for help.  Most people don’t mind a quick email.  Ask them when you meet them if you can stay in touch.  Your best contacts might want to go to lunch or coffee once a month.  Or tertiary contacts might like an email every couple of months.  Prioritize by who can help you.  Also don’t forget to always ask what you can do for them. (See Part 2 below)