-Job security is a huge concern.
Between massive layoffs,
waiting for the other shoe to drop,
and the lack of clarity around whether or not our industries
will survive this pandemic,
there's a lot of pressure to think about what's next
or maintaining what you have professionally.
But how do you network in quarantine?
I talked to a career expert to get some advice
on how we can socially expand our networks
while also under lockdown.
I'm Nicole Ellis, and this is "Coping with COVID-19."
-The thing about networking is that you really want to do it
when you don't need it.
So, you still need to approach it under that guise.
And what that means is that the very first outreach
that you do with someone can't be about your job search,
even if it feels like that's 100%
what you want to talk about.
So, at a time like this, during the pandemic,
it would be asking people how they're doing
and really just taking the focus off of yourself,
and it will seem like, well, you're missing an opportunity,
but the idea is that you should have a back and forth,
and at some point, maybe even later in the same conversation,
you can then turn it around to what's going on with you --
ideally, the person asks you --
or it can be the very next conversation.
-In this environment where, you know,
millions of people are getting laid off
or filing for unemployment,
you know, despite best practices,
there is this sort of sense of urgency around like, "Okay.
I need to figure out my next step, my next move."
What would your advice be for people that are
in that kind of situation or under those circumstances,
where they don't necessarily feel like
they have the luxury of stretching a relationship
to two conversations to kind of get to the point.
-In that case, I would say
you're really running two job searches --
the urgent search, where you really need to land
something to get cash in the door, and your ideal job.
-What would be your advice in terms of navigating
or gauging who's someone to talk to right now
for the short game versus delaying that?
I think a lot of us know a lot of people,
but don't quite know where to start
when you're grasping at straws
or feeling like you're operating from a space of scarcity.
-I would not try to remember
who your connections are from memory.
I would go, line by line, through your résumé
and through your LinkedIn
and through all of your social media
and actually look at your phone contacts
and really remind yourself who you know.
Especially with experienced professionals,
we tend to forget that we have a bigger network than we do.
I would make a list of two types of people.
One type would be the people that really like you.
You might think that they don't have any influence
over a hiring decision.
Maybe they, themselves, are not working, and you think,
"Well, there's no way that they can help me in any ways,"
but you know that they're a fan of yours.
They've always been a personal supporter.
They always take your call, and really telling them
that you have an urgent situation
and being candid about what your situation is.
The second list of people would be people
that you know are in hiring positions.
They are senior people, or they tend to be people
who really know a lot of people
and are very, very good connectors,
and you know that about them.
So, you can still do some of those cold calls.
You can still go after your dream job,
but I would do it in parallel with some of the things
that are going to be faster.
I think at a time like this, where we don't have a live,
physical connection,
just connecting a more emotional level,
I think everybody appreciates that,
and it also shows that you're aware
of what's happening around you,
and it's not just all about your job search or about your career,
that you are reaching out and really connecting with people,
asking them how they're doing, and that you care,
and that's going to be very refreshing
when people are anxious and distracted and incredibly busy.
-So, it sounds like a piece of this is not to rush it,
to let human connection really kind of garner
that relationship piece
and establishing thoughtfulness before kind of going in,
expressing your interest professionally.
-100%.
This pandemic is an opportunity in the sense
of really showing how confident and how secure you are.
When people around you are anxious,
if you can be the candidate
who can show some calm and exude confidence
when everything around is going badly,
that's very noticeable to employers,
and people will want to be around other people
that make them feel like, "Yes, this is going to be okay."
So, to the extent that you can really demonstrate
that kind of calm
and just confidence that things will get better --
that's actually going to help you
and differentiate you as a job seeker,
and that's something that's very attractive to employers.