Sadly, too many people are unemployed or under-employed, and for too long.

However, there are job openings – some published, some not published. Very often it’s difficult to match the right candidate with the right opening. Typically, there are too many applicants and not enough time to review in a timely or effective manner.

Consider this-

Human Resource or HR personnel now have a lot issues on their plate: compensation, benefits, employee disputes, employee morale, department layoffs, federal, state, local and often foreign regulations and more.

And many HR departments have shrunk despite the increased workload. Some job seekers complain about the lack of response after submitting their resume without realizing many of these departments are overtaxed.

Then there’s the hiring manager. His or her situation is likely not much better. Higher productivity requirements with less time and staff. Nearly everyone at companies is under increased pressure. For many, it’s takes longer and harder to earn each dollar. Ironically, those authorized to add a new hire likely received that authorization because their workload was too high. So managing the hiring process is just another task burning a hole through the person’s desk.

Competition

Then there’s the large number of resumes submitted for each opening. Often hundreds and sometimes thousands of resumes submitted for each open position.

Tips

Here are some tips for dealing with the above problems:

1. Resume – Review and update. It’s a document that contains a lot of detailed information. Highlight your strengths and avoid errors. Have friends review and comment if not working with a professional. Google “resume tips” for more tips about format and content.

2. Recruiters – Try to work with one who has a track record in your industry or has relationships with the companies you’d like to work with. An effective recruiter can make all the difference in your job search.

3. Networking – Many jobs are found through contacts so meet new contacts in the industry you’d like to work in or in the area you’d like to work. Imagine a company employee walking into the office of an HR professional and informing them the employee might know a perfect candidate fitting the company’s need. HR may push aside the pile of resume and discuss this potential candidate with the employee. In the end, the employee might get a referral bonus, HR gets another item checked off, and the company finds their new employee bypassing recruiters and the pile of resumes. It’s a win- win. So always be open and ready to meet the right new contacts. Business networking with alumni or with others nearby might be key to your next opportunity.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

No one will tell you that you’re making these mistakes. Maybe because they are making these mistakes themselves. Most people have made these networking mistakes at one time or another. Are you making them?

Mistake #1: Selling
People try to sell at networking events because that is what they think they are supposed to do. Or they are under pressure from a sales manager to make something happen. Or they don’t know what else to do. Yes, networking is a way to find prospects. Your sales can be improved by your networking activities (if that’s one of your goals). Trying to sell by giving people your product or service pitch at a networking event? That is an absolute turn-off.

Mistake #2: Bad Introductions
Is your introduction all about you? Is it longer than two minutes? Do you launch into it before you know anything about the other person? You have only a few moments to make a first impression, but your opening has just created a self-absorbed image of a poor networker. People don’t want to know what you do; they want to know what you can do for them. Don’t make a bad impression with a selfish introduction.

Mistake #3: Inconsistency
It takes time and repetition to build a business networking relationship. One visit to a networking event is not enough to do anything except maybe get lucky and pick some “low hanging fruit.” And yet, people go somewhere once, introduce themselves, and then decide it wasn’t worth their time because they “didn’t get anything out of it”. Consistency is a likeable trait that shows you can be trusted. Don’t be a sporadic networker.

Mistake #4: Handing Out Business Cards
If they don’t know what else to do, people think at the very least that they should hand out their business cards. They walk around with their card in their hand, offering it to everyone they speak to. That isn’t networking, it’s advertising. Don’t even bother to give out your card… unless they have asked.

Mistake #5: No Follow up
Dr. Jeffrey Lant popularized the concept that you (or your message) need to be seen or experienced 7 times before you or your marketing message makes an impression. Most people meet someone once, take their card and never contact them again. They don’t have a system to follow up. Then they wonder why people don’t remember them, their name, or what they have to offer. They lose out on beneficial relationships because they didn’t follow up with someone who might have become a friend. Don’t leave new contacts unconnected.

While these are mistakes that most people make in networking, you can avoid them. Look at your habits and the way you think about networking. Watch and learn from people who seem to be attracting great contacts and business. Learn more about the positive ways to interact and you’ll have a powerful network in no time.

Looking for more networking tips, tricks, strategies & advice? Visit Meeting Wave’s Networking Motivator Blog.

About the Author: Beth Bridges is The Networking Motivator ™ and creator of the 5 Part Networking Success Plan ™, a simple networking system that can help anyone from business owners to sales agents to college students develop a powerful network. Subscribe to the weekly Networking Motivator Newsletter at www.thenetworkingmotivator.com for a quick boost of networking inspiration, information and motivation.”

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

This is the oath of office required by the sixth article of the Constitution of the United States, and as provided by section 2 of the act of May 13, 1884 (23 Stat. 22), to be administered to Members, Resident Commissioner, and Delegates of the House of Representatives, the text of which is carried in 5 U.S.C. 3331:

“I, AB, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God.”

Please focus on “I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter”.

Does anyone believe Congress has acted in the long term interests of the US?

Or, do they prioritize getting re-elected which would violate their oath?

One of the most common questions a new networker has is “How do I network correctly?” This could have a number of meanings. They might be thinking: how do I do this in the best way; how do I network to get the most results; how do I network so that people don’t think I’m ignorant; or how do I network without wasting a lot of time.

All of these questions really come down to someone wondering if they are doing it “right” or if they are networking “wrong.” It’s hard to say with a soft skill that there is a definite right or wrong, it is possible to know when you are networking correctly. You’ll know you’re approaching it the right way when you get the results you want. If you’re not getting the results you want, here are two ways to correct your networking habits and put yourself on the “right” track.

The negative approach is to look at what isn’t working for you and find ways to remove and revise those habits that don’t produce results. The difficulty with this is that it’s hard to observe our own behavior. We also are programmed with many non-result producing ideas about networking such as: it’s a numbers game, I need to hand out as many business cards as possible and I need to leave each event with a prospect in hand. While networking is hard for some people to define what it IS, it’s vital that you at least know what it isn’t: selling. No one likes to be sold. If anything you are doing during an activity that others are calling a “networking event” remotely resembles selling, then you are doing it “wrong.” Don’t sell. Whatever you do on the positive side of networking, make sure that you’re not giving people your sales pitch and not trying to determine what level of prospect they are.

On the positive side, look at your networking strategy and make sure that you are doing at least a little bit of each of these important parts of networking. First, you’ve got to believe in the value of networking. Second, you must take part in regular networking events and yes, they should be mostly in person unless your business is completely on line. Third, you need to regularly meet new people and add them to your database so you can keep them in mind and work on the next item. Fourth, you must give value first by providing other people with ideas, information and resources that would be hard for them to get but that are easy for you to find and share. Fifth and finally, find ways to stay connected because it is the long-term, sustained effort in a relationship that makes it strong.

Whether you approach it from the positive or negative, there aren’t “right” or “wrong” ways to network, there are only ways that help other people want to be around you and that make you feel comfortable with yourself. Use both these techniques to eliminate unwanted habits and to add strategies to your current networking so that you can do it “correctly.”

Looking for more networking tips, tricks, strategies & advice? Visit Meeting Wave’s Networking Motivator Blog.

About the Author: Beth Bridges is The Networking Motivator ™ and creator of the 5 Part Networking Success Plan ™, a simple networking system that can help anyone from business owners to sales agents to college students develop a powerful network. Subscribe to the weekly Networking Motivator Newsletter at www.thenetworkingmotivator.com for a quick boost of networking inspiration, information and motivation.”

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

Networking is a very simple process. Unfortunately today’s business environment does not make it easy. We’ve got to work through our time-crunched schedules, unrealistic expectations and negative stereotypes before we can make networking a regular and productive part of our routine.

One of the biggest stereotypes of networking is that it is a very complex process requiring extreme social skills. There are only four very basic steps:

• Go places
• Meet people & get to know them
• Do something for them
• Follow up

You will repeat these steps over and over again, sometimes within a short period of time (even within the timeframe of one event), but usually spread over a few days. These steps will apply to your overall networking cycle, but also apply to each one of your contacts, new and established.

Go Places

Going places can be something as big as a regional trade show or as personal as coffee with just one or two people. The key is that you are somehow getting yourself in personal contact with other people. Yes, there is a rapidly growing trend toward Social Networking where people do business with someone they’ve met digitally, but if it came down to doing business with them or a person you’ve met and seen personally, chances are you will do business with the people you know in person seen. Face-to-face networking is still going to be the dominant form of business partnering for many years, especially if you live or work in a small city that is not on either coast of the U.S.

For some people, this is the most difficult step of all. They have a negative image of networking events, build up excuses in their mind, and allow their time-constraints to keep them away from events.

Unless you can figure out a way to meet people without going anywhere (and going online IS going somewhere), you are going to be severely limited in your networking results.

Meet People and Get to Know Them

Your goal in going places is to make face-to-face contact with like-minded people. Like-minded does not mean “the same,” in fact some of the most productive networking is done with groups of people you have never explored before. “Like-minded” means they also believe in networking as relationship building and as an investment in their long-term future. If they are like-minded, then you do not have to worry whether it is appropriate to approach someone you’ve never met.

When you meet people, your goal is to get to know then personally. This misconception that every bit of conversation you have with someone has to be business-oriented has turn off more people than almost any other. If you believe that every conversation has to be completely business oriented, it will get boring. And you’ll feel like you’re selling (or being sold) because the conversation will come around to what you have to offer.

We are social creatures. Most of us enjoy our work, but it doesn’t define us. We enjoy talking about our personal lives, family, and hobbies. It really is okay to talk about our personal lives (as long as it’s not too personal) because this is how we discover what we have in common.

Finding common ground is the foundation of most relationships. Whether it’s a sport you both enjoy, the same hobby, or growing up in the same city, having something in common makes it much easier to build rapport and develop a friendly relationship.

Do Something For Them

While it’s nice to get to know someone and talk about the things you enjoy in common, the real depth of a relationship is created when you help the other person out. This is the source of the saying “Givers gain.” In networking, it is vital that you give first and give often.

Giving creates a sense of gratitude. It brings you to the attention of the person you helped. They will start to think of you as helpful and as a resource. If they have come to see you as a problem-solver, you will be the natural choice when they or someone they know needs the product or service you provide. You will have become their “go to” person.

Follow Up

“The fortune is in the follow up.” If you’re in direct selling, you’ve heard this phrase hundreds of times. If you haven’t heard it, commit it to memory. Understand this statement means you realize that the sale is rarely made the first time you meet someone, the relationship is rarely developed at introduction and the event is rarely where the long-term network-building activities take place.

If you want to develop a reputation as being caring, giving, and reliable, follow up with every person you meet and follow up every time you do something for them. Do you have a hard time figuring out what to say in that first email besides “itwasnicemeetingyouIhopetoseeyouagain?” To avoid that, find something you can do for them in that first follow up message. If you got to know even on thing about their background or hobbies, do a quick search on Squidoo or AllTop for a great page of information that they would appreciate. Now your follow up is “It was nice to meet you. I remember how enthusiastic you are about gardening, so I was pleased to find this site that you might enjoy.”

Fewer than 10% of people actually follow up after a first meeting. If you use this approach, you will be in the top 1%.

Also follow up when you give something to someone, but not every time. You would hope that when you send an email, a magazine article, or other piece of information, that the other person would acknowledge it with some kind of response or even a thank you. But that may not happen, either their mother didn’t teach them excellent manners, or the information you provided got lost. Simply prompt them the next time you see them, “Did you get that article I sent you?” This not only gives them an opening to acknowledge receipt, it also reminds them of what you did for them.

A very appropriate time to follow up is when you give someone a referral. Because you are involved in the process, your reputation is on the line. You either gave that person a reference to someone who needed their product or services, or you helped them find someone whose product or services they needed. Either way, you need to find out if that transaction was completed to both parties satisfaction. A quick phone call or email to say “Did you get in touch with Joe?” is sufficient. If the ball was dropped, you can help them pick it up again, too.

Conclusion

Apply these steps to your networking cycle. Go places, get to know people, give them something, follow-up. Do this for each place you go. When you start going back to the same events and activities, you’ll start to see some of the same people. Apply the cycle to each one of them. One time through the steps is not going to create a lasting relationship with anyone. You must continue to get to know them better, do something for them, and follow up.

Networkers who are responsible for sales will find that this cycle can become a positive cycle of increasing trust and depth of relationship. If your product is well-known, an impulse item, low-cost, or has a short sales cycle, you may find that a sales opportunity will come early in your relationship. If you have a complex product, with a long sales cycle, or a great deal of competition, you are going to have to invest more time and make more rounds of the networking cycle with each person you meet.

Keep in mind that the selling process is separate from the networking cycle. Think of networking as four simple steps to keep yourself from being overwhelmed. Don’t neglect any portion of the cycle and you’ll find that the results of your efforts will come sooner than expected.

Looking for more networking tips, tricks, strategies & advice? Visit Meeting Wave’s Networking Motivator Blog.

About the Author: Beth Bridges is The Networking Motivator ™ and creator of the 5 Part Networking Success Plan ™, a simple networking system that can help anyone from business owners to sales agents to college students develop a powerful network. Subscribe to the weekly Networking Motivator Newsletter at http://www.thenetworkingmotivator.com/ for a quick boost of networking inspiration, information and motivation.”

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

Last year, the Wall Street Journal reported, referencing a customer survey Holiday Inn completed a couple of years ago:

…the study found that frequent Holiday Inn guests—who are most often middle managers, route salespeople, entrepreneurs and government supervisors—want to be around other people rather than holed up in their rooms, Holiday Inn executives say. “These are more extroverted, charismatic people who like people,” says Kevin Kowalski, senior vice president of global brand management for Holiday Inn’s U.K.-based parent, InterContinental Hotels, or IHG. “They’re not going to hang out in their rooms and watch TV. They’re just social animals.”

Not surprising. We often have downtime when traveling. Business networking to expand your contacts is a great way to be productive while traveling.

Here are some tips for business networking at hotels:

1. Stay at hotels with a restaurant, bar, cafe or other venue that guests will feel comfortable visiting and networking with others. Hotels with just a lobby to check in and out make it difficult to connect with other guests.

2. Try to make a reservation at hotels frequented by other business travelers. This increases the chances the hotel will provide a fruitful business networking environment.

3. If possible, select a hotel hosting an event or conference that might attract guests you’d like to network with. Check the hotel’s website to see if anything interesting is happening while you’ll be there. An event attracting people from an industry that interests you would be a great hotel to pick.

4. If dining alone at the hotel restaurant, ask if there is a communal table for other solo diners. If not, consider eating at the bar since easier to initiate conversations with others while seated there.

5. Of course, use MeetingWave or MeetingWave Mobile Apps to determine if there is anyone nearby you’d like to meet without disclosing your name or contact information until ready to exchange business cards.

Remember, business networking can generate new clients, job leads or other opportunities. Always carry business cards and be open to meeting the right people.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).