I just added two new blogs to my blogroll: Weinberg on Writing, and Secrets of Consulting. You may be wondering why.Writing cover letters is a non-trivial matter, and too many candidates do a poor job. Learning to write better, especially for something as important as cover letters, is one of those Good Ideas.
A couple of weeks ago, when I participated in Jerry’s consulting skills workshop, we discussed making contact at length. That’s when I realized that the making contact skill and the networking skills we discuss and use as consultants are the same as people searching for candidates or jobs.
These two blogs are not directly applicable to hiring–but you will find useful tidbits on them that you can use as you search for a candidate or a job.
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April 14th, 2006
I just spoke with someone who’s looking for a project/product management job in the Boston area (my area). He hasn’t been attending local dinner meetings of the PMI or the PDMA or any other professional society, so I suggested he start.
Making contact with people, networking, is the single most important a hiring manager or a candidate can do to start the search (from either side). Meeting a person, seeing that person face-to-face provides the hiring manager or candidate subjective and objective data that an email or a phone call just can’t do.I have a few guidelines for me when I meet people. (I developed this little checklist because I’m a hopeless geek and can appear rude when I’m not thinking about the other person.)
- Keep a smile on my face. If I’m distracted by my drive or work or the kids, I’m not going to look approachable and/or relaxed. I want to be approachable.
- Use a firm but brief handshake. I hate those limp-fish handshakes, and they bring out the child in me–I want to grip the other person’s hand harder and longer. (Go ahead, shake your head. I am
So I use a firm but brief handshake so I don’t do the macho thing with the other person.
- Hug the other person if they start it. I’m very lucky and have had a wide network of people I’ve met and worked with over the years. We have personal friendships as well as professional relationships. So we hug. But I’m geeky enough that I have to wait for the other person to start it.
Making contact–real human contact–with someone is a skill that every hiring manager and candidate needs to develop. You may not need a checklist. If you do, yours may be different from mine. But make human contact with everyone you meet, and you’ll find sourcing or searching for a job much easier.
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April 14th, 2006