On the QT: Make Smart Connections

September 22, 2009

 

On the QT Newsletter, Make Smart Connections
Attachment: How to Make Smart Connections

September 22, 2009

 

Did you know? Everyday, interactions students have with people around them may be their single most important job search resource. In fact, 60% to 80% of job searchers find new jobs via networking. In today's competitive job market, most positions are filled by referral, the “who do you know” method of recruitment. That is why it is essential for our students to develop good networking skills to tap into this “hidden” job market. While a student's network will include good friends and relatives, job seekers most often find jobs via mere acquaintances. Encouraging students to build a rich and varied group of contacts will give them an added advantage. Like most of us, students may feel uncomfortable making the new connections needed to develop a more varied network. Today's activity will give them some tools and practice, as they reach out to make more connections.

 

Try This:

 

Ask students questions about job searching.

How did you get your first/last job?
What is one job search strategy that has worked for you?
Why are personal contacts helpful in finding a job?

 

Explain that networking is a great way to find a job.

Networking is all about talking to people.
It is about leaning to make more face-to-face contacts by asking and responding to simple questions.

 

Distribute and review this How to Make Smart Connections activity, and give them time to complete the assignment.

Discuss and have them share their responses to the activity.

Assign Networking ... Because Relationships Matter if students need additional networking information.

 

Add an Experience: Challenge your students to use their new conversation skills to make some personal connections. While many of them are great at making electronic connections, ask them to meet and have face-to-face conversations with three different people before the next class. Ask them to use the FORM strategy to find out something interesting about each person. Encourage them to make different kinds of connections that include people of a different generation, someone with an unusual occupation, or a person with a different ethnicity. At the beginning of your next class, have students share what they learned from this experience.

 

Quik Quote: Job seekers must significantly expand the quality and quantity of their networking efforts to find unpublished jobs. Toni Bowers, Head Blog Editor TechRepublic