Why Asking for a Job is the Worst Way to Actually Find a Job

Last night, I participated in the HAPPO (Help a PR Pro Out) live-tweet event on Twitter. This one was especially geared toward college students and recent grads trying to break into the world of PR.

Throughout the evening, I repeatedly gave this bit of advice to jobseekers: Stop asking employers for a job. Instead, ask them if they would be willing to spend a few minutes with you, brainstorming about your career plans and options.

I know this seems counterintuitive.

But let me tell you why it’s a much more productive way to job hunt.

1.)  The # 1 way that people find jobs continues to be through networking. Not by responding to ads in the paper or online, not by asking everyone on Twitter if their company has a job or internship available, not by emailing your resume, blind, to a potential employer.

Networking is the backbone of any productive job search.

But my sense is that many recent grads neither appreciate the value and importance of networking, nor do they know how to do it. Watch for a future blog post on Effective Networking.

In the meantime, let me share with you the other bad reasons to job hunt by asking for a job.

2.)  Very few companies have jobs to offer you right now. Why start a conversation with a potential employer with a buzz-kill question? There’s really nowhere to take a conversation that is predicated on the existence of a job. You will surely cover the subject of hiring and talent needs in a broader conversation with a potential employer, but why lead with such a weak opener?

3.)  It’s self-centered and narcissistic. I know this is hard to hear, but it’s not all about you. If you’re job-hunting effectively, you are engaging in a mutually supportive exploration of goals and needs. Networking means you will be listening as much as you will be talking. Networking means you will remember a comment that an agency principal or brand manager shared with you three weeks prior – and will be compelled to send them an article on the same topic that you just spotted in the Wall Street Journal. Trust me. If you do things like that, people will remember you.

And that is when the magic of Networking begins to kick in. If you do this with enough people, enough times, the Job Karma will revisit itself on you. Someone who was impressed by your 15-minute conversation or your unique follow-up with them will remember you when they hear that their alumni association or bank or best friend is looking for an entry-level communications person.

It takes a lot of work. And it requires you to toss out the window everything your gut is screaming about how to find a job.

But believe me, networking will pay you far bigger dividends, for far longer.