Networking Strategies: 100 Ways Out of Career Inertia

Got career inertia? Here’s the bad news first:

On their own, online applications don’t work anymore. 

Not like they did. Not reliably enough for me or some excellent peers to recommend relying only on online postings when finding a new job.

I know. It sucks. I miss the old days of blindly lobbing resumes and cover letters over the corporate hiring wall, too.

What changed?

Well, investment’s been tough for anything that isn’t AI based, though there are signs that’s changing. The market is wobbly, Covid-era hiring decisions are being walked back, DEI policies got tanked by the current U.S. administration with vast ripple effects, and layoff waves keep coming.

Many, many people are unemployed. Being unemployed for years, not months, is no longer an outlier experience. 

That means when a job gets posted, candidate applications can number in the thousands. Factor in unethical AI candidate scoring systems, which reflect the nastiest underbelly tendencies within our society, and your application may get discarded before you’ve been fairly considered.

(deep breaths)  

Here’s a heartening truth: The best jobs were never advertised. The more senior you are, the truer that maxim becomes. 

Which means the best job finding strategies are people-driven and always have been.

Does the idea of talking to other people about your job search make your mouth drier than the Sahara Desert? Don’t worry.

My favourite networking game will help you play your way out of career inertia.

Pre-Game Realities: Prep to play 

People in your network have one thing in common. They’re busy. To network without torching your existing relationships, be prepared and respectful of their time. 

Before playing, write a three-sentence pitch about the kind of career help you need. If you already have a pitch, update it. 

There are three variants: 

1. You want a new job in your field: 
   • I’m looking for a [senior/junior/management/solo contributor] role in ________ at a _______ organization. I’m excited to apply my skills in ______ while getting better at _____. Based on your work [or connections] in _______, I wondered if you’re aware of anyone hiring in this area. If you have time for a coffee in the next two weeks, I’d love to catch up.
     
2. You want new clients for your practice: 
   • Over the last _______ years, I’ve worked with [type of client] to build a successful _________ practice. Recently, I delivered [type of project you want more of] that [impact it had for your client’s products/services and/or bottom line]. I’d love to work with others who need this service. Your work in ________ made me wonder if you’re aware of anyone who needs this type of help. If you have time for a coffee in the next two weeks, I’d love to catch up.
     
3. You’re exploring a career pivot: 
   • After __ years in [current field], I’m considering a move into [new field]. I’m currently on a coffee tour to learn from more experienced folks about how best to make this transition a reality. Your work in ____ made me wonder if you could help.  If you have time for a coffee in the next two weeks, I’d love to catch up.

As you play, you’ll likely get a sense of what’s working. Revise accordingly. 

Networking Your Way Out of Career Inertia: Play-through steps

Got your pitch? Excellent. Let’s play.

1. Log into LinkedIn, download your contact list as a csv file, and put it in a spreadsheet.
   • Not a LinkedIn user? No worries. You can do the same thing with your phone contact list. Search for your device type + “How to export contact list.”
2. Pretend you’re a Hollywood casting agent. Divide your contacts into A / B / C / D categories.
   • Who goes where? This part of the exercise is qualitative.
   • Think about the strength of your relationship, the last time you were in contact or did one another a favour, how well the other person knows your work, their power and reach within your industry, their influence with others, or their ability to hire you directly.
3. Add some extra columns for the type of questions you’re asking and the degree of response. Sales folks will likely find this part easy. 
4. Depending on your capacity, reach out to a mix of people in each layer.
   • Prioritize the As and Bs but remember job hunting isn’t linear. The Cs and Ds can surprise you. Don’t ignore them.
   • Jobs often come from acquaintance-level connections. You don’t have to be lifelong besties.  
5. Pick the best channel to talk to each person (e.g., text, email, LinkedIn DM, Slack, etc.).
   • Send your pre-game pitch, personalize it to your relationship and don’t forget to ask something about their life or work. People are not information dispensing machines.

Can you play with cold connections? Those recipient aren’t invested in your journey. It’s easy to get flagged as spam or noise.

If there’s a stranger you’d like to talk to, see who you know in common. A warm intro is always better than a cold email or connection request.

Networking Your Way Out of Career Inertia: Scoring

Networking is hard and exhausting, and more so if you’re an introvert. We’re going to be upbeat and generous in awarding points. 

Overall goal: 100 points.

Like any good venture capitalist, your goal is to keep playing. With time and practice, your outreach techniques will improve along with the quality and precision of questions you’re asking. 

• 1 point: Reach out to someone. You get no response. Congrats! You tried. Have an ice cream. 
• 2 points: Your prospect says no, cancels the meeting without rescheduling, or you somehow blow the meeting. Whoops. We’ve all been there. Life happens, friend. Shake it off and give yourself two points for trying.
• 3 points: You get a positive response (e.g., voice note, text, Slack message) but no meeting. That still helped! Well done.
• 4 points: You met with your prospect by video, phone call, or in-person. Four gold stars!
• 5 points: At the end of the conversation, you asked for an introduction to another person your prospect knows in this area who’s equally lovely to work with. Your prospect said, “Oh, sure, you should meet ______!” and connected you.
• Bonus round: Reach out to someone who scares the ever-loving shit out of you (scoring arbitrary). After the terrifying initial outreach is over, regular scoring applies.

I’ve played this game for my projects and with clients. By the time you reach 100 points, most people have enough data to deepen their perspective on what’s going on in their field, what prospective clients want, where hiring trends are moving, and who they should be chatting up next.

Sometimes, they’ve got a new job or client!

If not, double your points target and keep playing.

Increased difficulty levels 

Networking your way out of career inertia can be a lot of fun, but it’s no miracle tumbling from the clouds. 

Here are some past tendencies that will make your success harder:

1. Treating networking like a transactional, extractive exercise. People remember and may be less inclined to help you in turn. Take the long view and be helpful.  
2. Ignoring asks from individuals in the past whom you now want to target. Surprise! They’ve checked out.
3. Lapsed relationships: If you’ve had no meaningful contact in five years or more, I’d score the contact lower. Not every work friendship lasts forever and that’s okay. 
4. Your prospective contact is truly in it right now and has no bandwidth to help. Rather than insisting on face-to-face contact, make it clear you’d welcome a voice note or bullet list—whatever makes it easier for them to respond. If they can’t at all, that’s okay, too. Take no for an answer. Don’t hound people.

Be patient, be kind, and keep playing. Let me know how it goes! 

Next time, I’ll tell you about how Alexa (not a chatbot) successfully used this overall strategy to turn her career around.