Ask For AIR!

Most people in search of a new job have heard of the importance of networking. Yet too many don’t do it, and many who do, don’t do it well.

Each year, HR Research firms study “Source of Hires” for individual companies and for broad averages across industries…where did the companies get the people they actually hired the previous year?

Consistently, while these studies find that organizations by far get the most candidates through their online postings, only a fraction (often a SMALL fraction) of their actual hires originated from an online application. The majority of actual hires come from proactive recruiting by their internal staff, outside recruiters, job fairs, campus recruiting, internal hires, and most significantly…various forms of networking and employee referrals!

The Harsh Reality of Online Applications

Why such a poor result from online applications? There are multiple reasons, and the statistics have actually been getting worse the last few years…

• A resume / online application can NOT effectively demonstrate someone’s culture fit for the organization, likability, communication skills, and many other factors that go into determining a good fit for the organization. Its primary utility is to show prior experience and skills. A poor resume MIGHT be from someone that is actually a great fit. And a great resume may be a dud. There’s no way to know for sure.

• Online postings are receiving very high numbers of applicants… PARTICULARLY remote positions, as they attract applicants from all over the country. Once a position is posted online, it’s public information and MANY people apply for all kinds of jobs whether they are qualified or not. There’s always a great deal of competition, and even if you’re a great fit your application can get missed in the sea of others.

• A Recruiter or Hiring Manager that is receiving a number of applications can review them all and consider the ones that look best. However, at that stage, all those people are simply data on a screen. They know nothing about the true fit of that person to their organization. However, if someone from within the organization lets them know about someone that they spoke to, or someone calls and names an employee of the organization that referred them, it feels like a better connection than just the data on the screen. They are usually immediately considered more seriously.

• For all the new tools and technologies available to companies and recruiters, they often have made things more difficult for applicants and miss great people for the organizations.

Clearly, Networking IS a critical part of an effective job search!

Often, when people are sold on the idea that networking is important, they begin reaching out to everyone they can, tell them ALL about themselves, and ask if they know of an open job. The problem with that is the people being asked are not walking job boards, and they generally are not even aware of what is open in their own companies. Most people WANT to help, but don’t really know how.

All they think about are potential jobs, and when they can’t think of anything they either say…

“If I hear of anything, I’ll let you know!” – which sounds encouraging, however, almost never produces any kind of results.

Or they say…

“Check our website for postings, and apply for anything that looks good.” – back to square-one.

As soon as they understand you’re in a job hunt, those are the only two options they can think of.

Ask for AIR

Instead of asking if they know of a job, your networking will be much more successful if you instead ask for AIR! AIR??? What does that mean, and will THEY know what it means??? AIR is simply an acronym for YOU to remember what to ask for… Advice, Insight, and Referrals.

There are multiple benefits to this approach…

• You get them off of thinking only about whether they know of a job, and get them thinking about other ways they may be able to help. They may not know of open positions, but they would probably have some advice for your job search, insight into culture and challenges in their organization, and other people that would be worthwhile for you to talk to!

• By asking for Advice and Insight FIRST… you get them to do the majority of talking. It’s human nature that when you are respecting their knowledge and wisdom, and interested in them talking, they like YOU more! When you are doing the majority of the talking, telling them ALL about yourself, they are not as interested, and are far less likely to give you referrals to the best people they know if they think you’ll dominate the conversation with that referral as well.

• Effective networking is following a trail of breadcrumbs from one person to another until you eventually find yourself talking to someone that knows of the right opportunity. Asking for Referrals keeps giving you more breadcrumbs to follow. Sometimes it feels like this process is spinning wheels without much in the way of results. However, it only takes ONE right person, and often the lead comes from someone you thought would be the least help!

But… you may be thinking that if they’re doing the majority of talking, they won’t know everything they need about your skills and experience to be able to spot the perfect opportunity for you. The reality is… 99.99% of the people you talk to won’t spend that much time thinking about you! It’s a harsh reality, but if you’re honest with yourself, you’re unlikely to put in all the time and effort in consideration for them either.

When you’re rambling on about your entire career, however, you are exasperating their patience and they won’t want to inflict that on their best contacts either. A very brief (30 seconds or less) explanation of what you do and what you’re looking for is best. If they want more, let them ask and then you can answer their questions… concisely!

Your aim with each contact is to build a relationship and gain an advocate for you to others. They will MOST likely to do that for someone they like, who values their input, who comes across professionally, and is respectful of their time.

Scripture tells us in multiple places the importance of listening over speaking:

• Proverbs 12:15 – “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.”
• Proverbs 18:13 – “To answer before listening is folly and shame.”
• John 1:19 – “My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.”

So, ask more questions than doing the telling!

Questions to Consider

So how can that conversation go? Here are some questions to consider…

• “As I’m looking for a new opportunity I’m always open to good Advice!”
• “When was the last time you had to look for a new job, and what worked best for you in that process?”
• “How did you land your job here?” (USUALLY their answer will be something other than “applied online and got a call”. Once they realize they didn’t get their job through an online application, they will be less likely to recommend that to you.)

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• “Any Insight into your company would be appreciated.“
• “What have you enjoyed most since you’ve been here?”
• “What areas of the organization or functions have you seen doing the best?”
• “What challenges have you seen?”
• “How would you describe the culture?”
• “Are there certain kinds of backgrounds, or industries, or traits they like to hire most?” (all of these questions give you “inside” baseball that will make you appear much more informed than other candidates if you do get an interview for an opportunity there)

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• “In my search, my job is following a trail of breadcrumbs from one person to another until I’m talking to someone that may know of the right opportunity. I’d be grateful for any Referrals you may have of other people that would be worthwhile for me to talk to.”
• “Who else in your organization would be a good contact for more insight as well?”
• “Who else do you know in my field or industry that might be the next breadcrumb on my trail?”
• “Who do you know that just seems to know a lot of people themselves? Those are usually great connecting points for me.” (Give them multiple questions so they can think of different ideas for you.)
• Also, HOW you ask is important. “Who do you know?” is MUCH more likely to get you a helpful response than “Do you know anyone?” which is easier for them to just answer with a “no”.

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You MIGHT have several conversations in a row like this that don’t seem to produce much… or anything at all. However, you have to think of your networking like a batter in baseball…In Major League Baseball, if someone has a .300 batting average, they’ll probably end up in the Hall of Fame someday! That’s an impressive feat. However, it means that 7 out of 10 times they step up to the plate, they strike out!

You won’t have success with each conversation, and you might have 6, 7, or 8 in a row that produce nothing. However, many people quit then, and think their situation is different and networking doesn’t work for them. NOT TRUE! You have to keep going, and you might find the next few conversations are highly productive and you MIGHT just hit a home run!

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Harry Urschel has over 30 years experience as a Recruiter and currently is an independent Retained Executive Search consultant and Executive Outplacement Coach. He also leads the Minnesota Crossroads ministry out of Grace Church in Eden Prairie.