Networking for results...

Networking

Networking is key in any search these days but it is especially critical if you want to move out of your current industry into another, or from one job group into one you have not worked.

Just sending resumes out in these cases is often futile because the HR person reviewing your resume only sees the skill sets and industry experience on your resume and not your potential. If your skill sets and industry experience does not match the job description often your resume is discarded.

The best way to find a job in this situation is through networking. But, don't limit your outreach to close friends and current colleagues. Cast your net much wider and reach people beyond your immediate circle. Here are three steps to do that:

• Broadly define your network. You have more contacts than you think. Consider friends from church, friends in Rotary or Lion clubs, former classmates, former colleagues, clients, and community acquaintances. When you make a contact, ask for introductions to others. Especially ask for introductions to people in companies that you are interested in.
• View discussions as learning opportunities. Don’t scare your friends away. Approach these meetings as conversations, not interviews. Ask about more than jobs. Ask about the industry, how to succeed, and how to position yourself.

Keep good records. Connecting with many people can be complicated. After each meeting, write down what you learned and what you'll do as a result.

Counter offers ....good idea??

You are not happy with your current employment situation and have decided to find another opportunity. And now, you have a good job offer with a great company and are ready to give your employee your two week notice Something to think about before walking in your bosses office is what if they make a counter offer

Or maybe you are thinking about using a potential employer's job offer to get your organization to counter and pay you more money? Stop

Using another job offer as a bargaining chip seems so attractive, but it often ends badly.

If you want a raise, then negotiate it on your own merits--or prepare to move on.

Here's why:

1. Employers often make counteroffers based on the needs of the moment ("We can't have Joe leave right now! We have that big project next week")

But once the initial need passes, you may find your relationship with your employer--and your standing with the company as a whole--has fundamentally changed. Now You're seen as the one who was looking to leave. You're no longer part of the inner circle, and you might be at the top of the list if your company needs to make cutbacks in the future.

2. Even worse, the company might want you to stay to give them time to search for a replacement, figuring that it's only a matter of time until you start looking around again. You might turn down the offer and accept your employer's counteroffer only to find yourself pushed out soon afterward. In fact, the rule of thumb among recruiters is that 70 to 80 percent of people who accept counteroffers either leave or are let go within a year.

3. Remember, here's a reason you started job-searching in the first place. While more money may be great, more often, there are also other factors that drove you to look: limited opportunities to advance, dislike of your boss, boredom with the work, lack of recognition, crazy workloads--whatever it might have been. Those factors aren't going change, and will likely start bothering you again as soon as the glow from your raise wears off.

4. Even if you get more money out of your company now, think about what it took to get it, there's no reason to think that future salary increases will be any easier. The next time you want a raise, you might even be refused altogether on the grounds that "we just gave you that big increase when you were thinking about leaving."

5. Don’t think the new employer will consider you again. If you go all the way through their hiring process only to accept a counteroffer from your current employer, then the former is going to be wary of considering you in the future. If it's a company you'd like to work with, you might be shutting a door you'd rather keep open.

I may have been discouraging about counteroffers but there times where accepting a counteroffer makes sense and works out? There are always exceptions. But it's a bad idea frequently enough that you should be very, very cautious before doing so.