Networking for a Job from Home: 4 Unique Tips to Help with the Process
Staying home doesn’t mean your job search has to stand still. Here are four unique ways to network for a job from home.
By: Matt Dupee | Contributor for Let’s Eat, Grandma
As a job seeker, you should never stop networking — it’s still the most effective way to find a job. Estimates typically say that 60–85% of jobs are filled this way.
LinkedIn has always been an amazingly effective networking platform, and it’s even more crucial to do it with a good profile now while we’re all quarantined and in-person events have been stopped.
Once you have that great profile, loaded with keywords and accomplishments, you have the foundation to continue (or start) your strategy for networking from home. Here are five of the best ways we have found to network for a job at home.
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How to network for a job from home: 4 unique tips
1. Take the time to reach out to old connections
Remember connecting with Kevin from the HR team at the company you interviewed with about a year ago? Well, Kevin might be a great resource during your job search. As an HR professional, Kevin will have unique insight into the job market and may even have some new opportunities that match your search.
2. Be open and vulnerable with your network (because everyone’s in the same stressed-out boat!)
Let’s face it folks: We are all in this together and everyone is feeling isolated. Now is the perfect time to write a post on LinkedIn about how you’re dealing with the isolation and your job search.
Make it short and to the point. Your network will do the rest once you start the conversation. Just remember to reply to people and maintain the collaboration. Keep it real and let people know what’s on your mind. Are you wondering when the economy will open and jobs will come back? Guess what — everyone else is too. Let’s talk about it. That discussion will lead to real, human interactions with your network, which can lead to advice, support, and even job offers.
3. Find and connect with people who are offering free job search help on LinkedIn
Search your feed for people offering to help. This may include resume writers, career coaches, life coaches, furloughed human resource professionals, or even laid off office workers. Everyone has some great ideas and making new connections may also help increase your exposure to potential opportunities. The pandemic has to end sometime and once it does, we will be back to work. A connection you make today may pay off in a month or even a year from now.
4. Join LinkedIn groups within your field as well as LinkedIn job search groups
There are countless groups on LinkedIn just waiting for you to join. I would suggest joining as many groups as you can (you’re allowed to join up to 50!) that are aligned with your current career goals. When you join groups, you can find members and invite them into your network. Your invite can simply say, “Hello name, I would like to invite you to join my network as a fellow member of the ________ group.”
You can also connect with recruiters and staffing organizations. A great starting point is Robert Half. Just follow their page and then consider connecting with people within your field that also follow the page.
Bottom line: Maintaining your networking is critical at any point in time and learning how to network from home is not difficult, as I hope I have just demonstrated. Remember, always stay positive, always keep it short, and always be professional.
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