The Networking Paradox!

With the high-tech RIFs now going viral, many professionals are waking up to a new reality of finding themselves promising opportunities in their allied field. Some top players are leaving even when they know that they are secure in their current company, perhaps after they move to a more stable team. The reason for their exit is not that they are in imminent danger, but that the outlook for their ongoing growth is grim, with some high-ticket players having to sacrifice their paycheck to help their employer have a more stable future in these uncertain times. In the wake of these layoffs many companies have not only frozen salaries, but some have also even reduced them across the board. 

One of the common avenues professionals leverage in moving to a new employer is their own network, some even going back to their college or early-career days. Although it is an advantage to have a large network, much depends on what kind it is.  Many have first-level connections in their LinkedIn profile mostly stemming from their close working relationships with their past colleagues and associates they know from business conferences and meets (“mixers”). Then there are LIONs on LinkedIn, with huge networks of mostly, “street people,” anyone who can click a link is in their network! 

First connections stemming from your historical associations can create an illusion of getting you easy access to their higher-up in their current companies, but the problem you face with their connections is that their view of your value proposition is rooted in what they knew about you from the past—sometimes going back even decades. If you are looking to move ahead as you pursue new openings during this carnage you may suffer a disadvantage by relying on such connections. 

For example, let us say that you are a senior director in your current company and see yourself as being able to get another role in your current company, even with these deep cuts and lay-offs. You have been promised a VP promotion, but it is getting right-shifted due to your company’s ongoing struggles even before this downturn.

Obviously, you deserve to land a VP job in your next company, but your reference internal to that company—a long-standing buddy in your network that you have tapped to get yourself viewed favorably by the higher-ups there—is only aware of your contributions from your early career with him, when you were an individual contributor.  Now you are pursuing a much higher, VP-level landing. Your reference’s bragging about your programming and computer skills going back 25 years is not going to help your mission. In fact, it may even interfere with it!

So, what are some of the ways you can leverage your network to help your current mission? 

Here’s a list:

1.     Build and expand your network to have both broad and deep reach within your area of work. This is commonly known as the “T” approach, as the letter suggests both broad and in-depth expertise. Keep building your network, especially when you are doing well and when times are good.  

2.     Seek out “outsiders” to join your network. These outsiders include noted professionals in areas allied to your immediate area of work as well as those well outside of it. For example, if someone in the high-tech space is specializing in edge computing, find experts in edge computing, cloud infrastructure, DevOps, IoT, and related areas on the one hand, and connect with those who are on the business end of these areas, and with those in totally different areas: manufacturing, pharmaceutical, biotech, and entertainment, on the other. 

3.     Attend events and forums in areas outside of your own space. So, this hypothetical professional, whose expertise is in edge computing is well advised to attend conferences and events in mobility, IoT, Blockchain, and other such areas. Try to connect the dots among these specialties and your own expertise in a way that allows you to participate in solving their problems, now with a different perspective. 

4.     If some area of work outside your vertical is of interest to you because of its nascency in your area of play, learn the vernacular of that field and find its rising stars to connect with. Join LinkedIn Groups that specialize in those areas and start participating in their forums and discussion groups. Soon, you’ll become increasingly more visible in this emerging field, making it easier to explore new opportunities in that area of work.

5.     In building a new brand image for yourself in a field you are now trying to penetrate, start by contributing material in that field. Of course, writing original blogs in a foreign area is not easy, but a good proxy to original authorship is making thoughtful comments on blogs of authors who are known in that space, especially when a particular blog enjoys wide readership. Yet another way to penetrate a new field is to repost well-trodden blogs or write-ups curated with rich comments that you provide as a preface to them. Readers often forward such comments to their network, and you become associated with that blog’s success, even though you did not author it. 

6.      Regardless of your need and its urgency you get better results from your network by giving it more than taking from it. I get constant requests from LinkedIn members to connect with me. Requests that say, I want to join your network because I want to grow my influence, often get my short shrift. But requests that refer to one my blogs and provide some insight to enrich that further or why they liked what I wrote often join my network because I see them as adding value to what I do. Merely joining someone’s network adds little or no value to either party. 

7.      Making thoughtful comments on a well-positioned blog can also open new doors that are otherwise closed for you. One of my clients was trying fruitlessly to apply for open jobs at one of the groups at a FANG company for more than a year. Once he saw a blog by one of that group’s managers he was targeting. We worked on crafting a thoughtful comment on his blog and put some effort in it. The author was impressed enough with that comment that he asked one of recruiters to contact my client. So, use your creativity to reach out to the right decision-makers, who are otherwise inaccessible. 

8.     Another way to access influencers, especially in your own network, is to ask for advice and not job leads or their help in a job search. Everyone likes to think that their station and the wisdom that comes with it is their currency. Tapping into it will not only make you access valuable information you need, but also create enough goodwill with them for it to be of help in your current job search or future needs; never underestimate its power.

9.     Relying on your network alone to promote you without a commensurate effort in developing your verbal message with a strong, story-telling résumé and an equally strong LinkedIn profile is unwise. Many believe that their network connections alone will help them open new doors and promote them to access target decision-makers. 

Although this can work in some cases, there is no proxy for a good résumé and a strong, searchable LinkedIn profile. Why? Primarily because even if your contact can promote you to the hiring manager or recruiter, once they show interest, your résumé or LinkedIn profile is what they typically circulate among those interested to rally around you. Merely relying on the word-of-mouth is myopic. Always have a strong verbal brand that precedes and follows you with these tools. This is the networking paradox most are not aware of.

10.  Once a connection is made introducing you to the decision-maker, thank your contact and take charge. Contact the decision-maker directly to follow-up and set up the next step. Do not further bug your contact if things do not progress or fall apart for any reason. Let them know what happened and do not blame anyone for the outcome. If you succeed in your effort, make sure to thank your contact. 

 Networking is the sine qua non to keep you in front of your professional ecosystem. Even with its limitations it is a boon to anyone who is looking to establish their brand in a positive way. 

Good luck!