Stop Filtering Your Network

I often work with clients on building a powerful network that will tap them into the hidden job market.  (The hidden job market is the large percentage of jobs that never make it to a formal job posting.)

 

I will ask them to come up with a list of people they can network with.  Often they get stuck after a dozen names.

 

Why is that?

 

It’s because they are unconsciously applying filters to the list.  When I say “come up with people you can network with”, they might interpret the assignment these ways:

• Come up with people I think can provide great help in my search.
• Come up with people at senior levels in companies I might be interested in.
• Come up with people I have talked to within the last year.
• Come up with people I have worked with AND with whom I have stayed in touch.
• Come up with people who are in the type of job I want to land, or who are in a position to hire for that type of job.
• Come up with people working at my target list of companies.

 

Those all may eventually be good ways to prioritize their list.  But until they first write down their list, all of these are filters that restrict their thinking and limit the list they come up with.  And when they are done with that smaller list, they feel like there’s no one left to network with.

 

This filtering is counterproductive.  It’s similar to what I wrote about recently regarding this quote from James Altucher:

 

“If you can’t come up with ten ideas, come up with 20 ideas.”

 

Before you start doing any filtering of your potential networking contact list, brainstorm as many people as you can think of, even those who you doubt could ever be of any use.  Include:

• Past work colleagues
• Consultants and vendors you worked with
• Childhood friends
• Fellow alumni
• Members of any organization you ever belonged to
• Relatives
• Friends of the family
• Parents of others on your child’s sports team
• People you met once at an association meeting, course, or local event
• Members of your religious organization
• Anyone you can think of with whom you have any connection, however tenuous

 

Only after you’ve completely exhausted your list should you start to do any filtering.  And the filtering you then do is not to knock people off the list, but rather to prioritize when and how much effort to put into connecting with any particular person.

 

You never know who might be able to help you, so don’t focus on excluding anyone.  Sure, spend more time and energy trying to connect and meet with those who seem best positioned to help you, but when you have time available in your calendar for more meetings, keep working down the list.

 

My friend Marty Latman loves to tell the story of how once when he had just been laid off, he went to get his hair cut.  His hairdresser asked how he was, he told her what happened, and she started asking him about his background.  Before they were done, she asked if she could connect him to another client, who was a senior executive at a bank.  Marty said, yes, the executive expressed interest in meeting, and Marty quickly landed a new senior-level role.

 

One of my early clients had moved to NYC knowing no one except the person she moved with.  She was seeking a role at an educational publishing company, and had a background as a teacher in Florida.  She was having a pre-theater dinner in Times Square, and got chatting with the couple at the next table.  It turned out the woman worked for one of the major educational publishing companies, who were looking for someone to help with their Florida district.  The next day my client had a 20-hour-a-week job lined up.

 

You never know which connection might lead where you want to go, so stop filtering them out!