Your Job Search Network Should Include Friends and Family

Tips on Finding a Job >> Use Your Personal Job Search Network

Nearly everyone I know has gotten a job through a "friend of a friend" or a family connection at some point in the past. I know I have. When you add up all of the people you know, and them factor in all of the people they know, you end up with an extended job search network that might be your path to success.

So what do you do? For starters, you just send a quick email out to all of the people you know -- the people you're close to anyway. This might include family members, friends, previous coworkers and colleagues, previous bosses, neighbors, or anyone else you can think of. You'd be surprised who might have useful connections!

This is what a job search network is all about. It's people helping people. At some point, we have all been in a position where we needed the help of others. So don't be embarrassed about asking people for help. If they are truly you're friend, or if they truly care about you in some other way, they'll be glad to help in any way they can.

Tap Your Network Early

I always tell job hunters to make this one of the first steps in their job search process. There's a very good reason for this. It could be a big shortcut, and it could make the rest of the process unnecessary. If you tap your personal job search network of family and friends, and somebody knows somebody else who needs the kind of skills you have, then you could possibly skip the entire job hunting process. So do this first.

Here's how to go about it:

• Send out a short email to let people know you're "in the hunt" for a new job.
• Tell them you can copies of your resume, if they need to pass them along to anyone.
• If somebody has a possible lead for you, contact them on the phone to discuss it.
• And don't forget to send a thank-you note if somebody gets you an interview.

Your personal job search network is probably more powerful than you realize. Add up your friends, family members and colleagues, and you've got an extended network that could number well into the hundreds or thousands. It only takes you about ten minutes to send an email to these folks, to let them know you're searching for a new job. So do it!

Learn More: This blog post is part of an ongoing series of lessons. Visit the table of contents page to get more tips on finding a job.