I love you and you love me

Posted by Jim Stroud

January 8, 2008

For the benefit of those who do not have 3 year-olds who worship a purple dinosaur named “Barney,” the end theme for his TV show is “I love you and you love me. We’re a happy family…” If you hear this song more than once it will infect your subconscious and cause you to sing it ad nauseum at home, at work, or in elevators while people point and whisper. Eventhough the song is simple; the principle is very beneficial when applied to hunting down jobs.

To multiply your efforts, cover more ground and appear in front of more companies than you thought possible, you need to retain the services of a small sales force. A sales force that will market your skillset to as many companies as possible. As any sales guru will tell you, it’s all about the numbers! You have to get the word out about you and a trained sales force can do the job.

But wait a minute! I hear you thinking to yourself, “Hey Jim, get a clue! I’m out of work! Hello…” To that I would reply, “So what?” Not having a budget to pay a sales force to source job leads for you is no excuse not to have one. I dare say that you have it well within your means to run a sizeable organization without the necessity of money or spectacular credentials of any kind. Let me prove it to you.

How many people do you know that are out of work? Two? Three? I dare say that today you can probably name 10 people who are without a job. However, for the purposes of this example, I will go with the number 5.

• STEP 1: Pick 5 people that you know to be out of work. It does NOT matter what kind of work they do, only that they are looking for a job and do not do the same thing you do. Preferably these are people who have been just laid off, although working with individuals who have been searching for a while would work well too.

• STEP 2: Create a fact sheet detailing what each person does in general. You may also want to list the name of companies they have worked for. Especially if they are from Fortune 500 companies! (Check out the sample below. It does not have to be fancy, just functional.)

SAMPLE
• Clark Kent - Reporter - Daily Planet, Time Magazine, CNN
• Matthew Murdock - Lawyer - Nelson & Murdock, King & Spalding
• Felicia Hardiman - Makeup Artist - Turner Entertainment, HBO Productions
• Tony Thompson - Claims Adjuster - MetLife, Prudential, Humana
• William Slaton - Business Development - IBM, AFC, Coca-Cola, Yahoo

• STEP 3: Take the fact sheet with you to each interview and at the conclusion of your interview, ask the recruiter if you can take a few seconds to inquire about other positions. This is when you ask the recruiter if they have specific needs that meet the skillsets of those in your job-finding network.

Be advised that a software engineer from Yahoo would be of more interest than someone who was a software engineer from a generic company no one has ever heard of. Eventhough said software engineer may not be the top of the line and the other guy is, simply because he stepped out of Yahoo makes him more attractive to a recruiter. (Not saying its right, just the way it is.)

• STEP 4: If recruiter has a specific need for someone in your network, then advise the recruiters of that person’s name and that said person will be in contact with them shortly. You want to make sure that you get credit for the referral! More on that in a bit…

• STEP 5: Via email, phone, message board, etc. touch base with your network of jobseekers and advise them on where you have been and find out about their travels too. The more useful information you can relay with each other is:

• What company you have been to
• What departments within the company are hiring
• Who you spoke to and their contact information
• When that company expects to hire, if that time is not now
• Dress code & culture of the company

So what does this exercise do for you? I would hope that it is obvious; by creating and remaining active in a job-finders network you have multiplied your presence 5 times (at least with this example), cut down on wasted time pursuing companies that are not currently hiring and you have gained valuable information that you can use to attract more people into your job-finders network.

Pretty cool idea hun’h? Believe me it works in generating business as well, but that’s another book altogether. Okay, so now your network of jobseekers is up and running and humming! So now you have to pay them! But wait, I said you could do all this for free! Yes I did and yes you pay them, just not necessarily with money. Am I suggesting magical beans? Close, but not quite…

As you bring people into your job-finders network, it is important to know what is important to them in terms of hobbies or special interest. For example, “Person A” in your network may be an Atlanta Falcons fanatic, (although at present the logic eludes me). Make a note to remember that, perhaps adding it to your fact sheet. “Person B” in your network is a “Lord Of The Rings” fanatic and “Person C” loves dogs, especially the Chihuahua from the Taco Bell ads.

When someone from your network brings you a lead, reward them with a thank you related to their hobby. This is not necessarily football tickets as in the case of the Atlanta “Dirty Bird” fanatic, but could be an article about his favorite player, or information on this player being interviewed on a particular day. If Person B gives you a good lead, why not send them a commemorative Lord Of The Rings calendar or other such related item. And if Person C gives you something, ummm… I don’t know. I can’t think of an example for that, maybe a monogrammed pooper-scooper or something.

The point is you are building a rapport through association. Giving a gift to someone in your jobseeker network related to something that they like, cements good feelings between you and them. Every time they use whatever item/info you sent them, it is a subconscious way of keeping them on your “payroll” so to speak. Whatever they give you, you must reciprocate with something else as soon and as much as possible. You want the “Christmas” effect of, “Wow! I gave them a really good lead. I wonder how many stuffed Taco Bell Chihuahuas I can expect now.” Get it? I hope so, as I am now moving on to something else.

Your workforce of job lead generators will work well for you as long as you remember to spread the love. Remember, “I love you. You love me. We’re a happy family…” Arrrrgggghhhh…now it’s in my head again!

Here is a suggested format for your Job Seeker Network sheet. I did it in Excel, but use whatever works for you. (Click here to download it)

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