Keep Building Your Professional Brand Through Networking

iStock | metamorworks

Networking is more important than ever, but many people resist taking the extra steps required to nurture their professional relationships. Here’s a few key networking activities you can undertake to bolster your brand:

1.     Be active on LinkedIn.

2.     Maintain contact with people you know.

3.     Be active in professional associations.

4.     Attend professional conferences.

5.     Call on old friends.

6.     Manage Your Social Networks with Care.

The above recommendations are the long game and should pay dividends over the long-term. However, for those who thrive on more immediate gratification, there is a more direct way to network that ideally has a domino effect. It is a traditional, old-fashioned way of doing things called in-person face-to-face contact with strangers. That’s right my little digital babies. It’s time to ditch the pacifier (digital devices/modes of communication), polish your shoes, and act like a professional.

For this one, there is no list of calls-to-action. Networking in this way is a simple formula of follow-through and follow up. Here are two true, real-life examples of how a little networking in simple situations can open doors you didn’t even know existed.

Example #1: The “Chance Encounter”

This is a tale of a chance encounter, except there are no chance encounters if it’s followed by quick and decisive action. A professional working a job that was not the right fit but needed money coming in, meets up with a friend. When he arrives, his friend is speaking with a woman he doesn’t know. His friend introduces her as an old acquaintance that he randomly bumped into.

They discover they’re in related fields. Our professional has a loyal Instagram Live following for his work-related posts. The old acquaintance has a podcast. This was a fortuitous encounter, providing an unexpected professional opportunity. They agreed to watch/listen to each other’s respective endeavors and parted ways.

It could have ended there. But each person treated this “chance encounter” as a networking opportunity. They followed through. They watched the Instagram Live/listened to the podcast – and followed-up – contacted each other to.

This was followed by a meet-up, which is the ideal progression, but that is the part you have to make happen. While the first meeting was more friendly than professional, the second one was all business and it ended with invitations to appear on each other’s platforms. The partnership worked out so well it, the joint-appearance became regular features. And, yes, an actual happy ending. Our professional was contacted by multiple businesses after participating in several podcasts and accepted a new position with one of them. At last report, it was going very well.

Example #2: The Web

A professional network is not a list of names in your rolodex (please click here if think that’s a watch). It’s a web of names.

A professional loses her job in a corporate restructuring and is searching for a new job with the added obstacle of being unemployed. She reaches out to ten of her strongest contacts (and friends), but does not get any actionable leads. In this case, the traditional networking hasn’t succeeded.

Proactive, she does her research to see if anyone in her web of contacts has a connection, no matter how remote, to her target companies and she comes up with one that pushes the boundaries of six-degrees-of-separation. She gambles and sends her resume with a friendly note. As it turns out, it’s only two degrees of separation. Through the web of their professional contacts, the recipient knows who she is. He can’t help her per se, but the company has an internal list of unpublished job openings he’s happy to forward to her.

I think you know how this example ends. Her determination and web of contacts directly led to her finding a new job. Armed with a back door into one of her targeted companies that significantly expanded her opportunities, she was able to land a new job with them. At last report, it was going very well.

Follow-through and follow-up. Easy.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Transitioning from Freelance Success to Corporate: Navigating the Why, How, and What’s Next

iStock | Filmstax

The conversation about freelance work vs. corporate(i.e., in-house employee) life is typically the pros and cons of leaving your current job in pursuit of a freelance career. But let’s look at this from the opposite perspective – what if you are a successful, financially secure, free-lance sole proprietor but you want to return to the corporate fold?

The first question your friends, family, and, especially, potential employers will ask is, “Why?” Why… would you want to work for somebody else when you’ve been your own boss? Why… would you go from pocketing the profits to drawing a paycheck? Why… would you go from making your own schedule to clocking in? Why… deal with office politics – now more than ever? Why… choose to be subject to the whims of corporate restructuring, buyouts, mergers, downsizing, etc., instead of the master of your fate?

Control the Narrative

You are most likely to be met with skepticism, and the top misconception will be that your turn at a freelance career failed so you must “get a real job.” From the onset, you must overcome the perception of failure and the only way to do that is to control the narrative. Let’s say the perception is reality. Working free-lance you couldn’t make ends meet and so you had to jump ship. You still need to control the narrative and the best course of action is always the truth.

The truth is that to launch, succeed, and sustain a freelance career based on whatever magical special skill you possess isn’t enough. You must also be an entrepreneur who can run a small business, which is what a sole proprietor is. Let’s say your special skill is turning water into wine (digression: please DM contact info if this is a skill you possess). That’s not enough. There is a lot of work beyond your superpower. You must also be a CEO, COO, and CIO rolled into one, a salesperson, an accountant, a marketing guru, a tax expert, (just to name a few), or be able to afford people to do all that for you.

Not everybody has the financial acumen or business skills to do all the other things being a free-lance worker require. Sure, you’re your own boss, but you work alone. Sure, you pocket the profits – after operational expenses, taxes, licenses, etc. Sure, you make your own schedule, but the flexibility can be chaos. Sure, it’s great to be master of your fate – until it isn’t. Life circumstances change and sometimes changes are needed.

If you want to be a full-time employee again, employers are going to have reservations about your assimilation into a corporate hierarchy and working with others. You must demonstrate you have a genuine desire to return to the corporate world and aren’t buying time until you can go out on your own again. No company wants to be a stepping stone. Remember your narrative! You want to work with others toward set and achievable goals with measurable results and increase your skill set through collaboration. You want to spend time doing what you’re passionate about, not spending late nights on QuickBooks.

Back-Up Your Narrative with Your Resume

Your resume should be as close to a written record of your narrative as possible.  If you free-lanced for a year during COVID or during a bout of long-term unemployment, you can gloss over it without raising eyebrows. If you’ve been hustling for over a decade you must own your achievements and find a way to condense what you’ve done to advance your narrative explaining your motives for this major transition.

Your resume will be a prelude to an interview so it is in your best interests to lay the foundation of your narrative. There are many commonalities between your resume and how you present yourself in a job interview. You want to show a history of success but highlight jobs that were collaborative, in the company’s field to which you are applying (if possible), and demonstrate long-term commitments with results that exceeded expectations.

For example, let’s say you worked for six months at a prestigious company in the same field at your targeted potential employer. Recruiters and hiring managers are going to want to know the quality of those six months. Were you (for example) a freelance marketer or an outsourced consultant chief marketing officer/director? The former is a temporary task-oriented assignment. The latter is embedded in a company and directs important strategic projects. How you present it is important.

Spend the time tinkering with your resume until it tells a consistent story about your freelance work history with a focus on jobs that most mimic a corporate environment. You are the only person responsible for your first impression. Do the work. Look spectacular.

Compensation

Show me the money! Another misconception about working freelance is that you’re rolling in money. Maybe you are. Good for you! More on that below. But most freelance workers are like any other small business – you pay for everything else before you make any money and the margins can be slim. Operations, taxes, insurance, gaps in employment, etc., take their toll on your bottom line. Working for a company means stability and predictability and all that extra work running the business will be done by other people.

If you want to get an idea of how a freelance-to-corporate transition will affect your finances start with payscale.com and go from there. For example, let’s say the average salary for your specialty is $75,000 a year in your region. That’s an average, so where you do believe you will fall in the range? Higher? Lower? Why? Be prepared to make your argument. Is it more or less than your freelance business? How about the benefits (e.g., health insurance) you’ve been paying out of pocket?

Do an assessment of all the liabilities and assets and determine whether the move will most likely be a PACKAGE (not just take-home pay) increase or a decrease. This requires a deep dive into the numbers to know how your financial situation will change. Do all calculations before you do an interview! If you’re a super successful freelancer you may have room to negotiate a larger package because you are leaving money on the table. However, the battle to prove you can work in a corporate environment may be more difficult. There’s always a trade-off!

Bonus Tip: Don’t announce the dissolution of your freelance business until you start your new job and the check clears. You never know what’s going to happen.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.

Should I Temp Or Should I Go? The Dilemma Of Contract-To-Perm Positions

iStock | monkeybusinessimages

During the course of a job search, you may be drawn to a temporary-to-permanent opening. These are usually full-time contract positions for a set period of time, and, if certain conditions are met by the end date, may lead to a permanent hire. Sometimes those conditions are specified, while often no information is given until you’re in the role and performing, but you should assume that a stellar performance review will be the minimum required.

Herein lies the dilemma. Do you roll the dice on a temp-to-perm position or stick with searching only for a permanent position? Right off, if you consider a temp-to-perm position the permanent part should be two things – 1) a job you really want, and 2) at a company for which you really want to work. Otherwise, what’s the point?

If you’re considering a temp-to-perm position, here are some pros and cons to consider:

Pros:

• While circumstances vary, if you’re not working in a full-time job chances are it won’t hurt if you have money coming in – even if it’s temporary.

• Taking a temporary position gives you the opportunity to see behind the curtain. At the onset, the only agreement that is binding is the short-term contract position. You may or may not get a permanent job offer that you may or may not accept. You can take the job for a spin before you commit. If you love it, turn up the heat and charm and elevate yourself into a full-time employee. If it’s a disaster, take the money and run.

• Let’s say you accept a temp-to-perm job and it turns out to be everything you want and more. Instead of trying to convince a room full of strangers you’re perfect for the job,  you have a chance to excel from the inside, turn those strangers into friends, and build a track record of success with the people who will ultimately decide whether or not to hire you. Think of it as a long, paid job interview.

• Even if the position ends, you’ve made important connections and now have a history with the company. Sometimes temp jobs lead to permanent positions well after the temp job ends. The job you just completed may open up again, or a different one, and you may be the first phone call when it does. In addition, the company may have a “first who, then what” hiring philosophy. If they believe someone is a great match, they will find a reason to hire them.

• Just like it may be easier to get a full-time job with a company for which you’ve already worked as a temp, it’s a fact that it’s easier to find any full-time job when you’re already working. It’s a perception thing. Somebody getting up and going to a job every day, no matter what job, is looked at more favorably than someone sitting home watching (please choose from the following list based on your age) TV, TV on your laptop, YouTube, or Tik Tok.

Cons:

• Remember, i’s a temp job. You’re not a full-time employee, which means there is less job security. If you’re paid by a staffing firm, you’re not on the company payroll, and, if you are, your position is budgeted for a limited time. Beyond that, there are no guarantees.

• Since you’re not a full-time employee you do not have any of the benefits or perks that go along with it. It’s often salary or hourly wage only, and benefits may or may not be provided through the staffing agency that placed you there. Even if you are provided benefits, they’re often lean as compared to those of a full employee – you’re on your own for everything else.

• A temp-to-perm job can be a grind. You’re “just a temp.” It’s easy to replace you, so you essentially have to over-perform and be mindful of your behavior. Temps can be held to higher standards to keep their jobs. That’s the downside of the “long paid interview” setup, and sometimes you don’t get the full-time job.  

• You sacrifice time that could be spent searching for a full-time job and may make the logistics of a job search more difficult versus not reporting to work. Even though you’re a temp, you’re not free to leave anytime you want. You’re expected to operate like any other employee and won’t necessarily have extra flexibility to search for a full-time job.

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Philip Roufail contributed to this article.

Scott Singer is the President and Founder of Insider Career Strategies Resume Writing & Career Coaching, a firm dedicated to guiding job seekers and companies through the job search and hiring process. Insider Career Strategies provides resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, career coaching services, and outplacement services. You can email Scott Singer at scott.singer@insidercs.com, or via the website, www.insidercs.com.