gregoryhickman.com

Since the beginning of March I’ve been in the same position as many, unemployed. Many individuals, some of which are my close friends, are in similar positions and extremely stressed and concerned with where they will land. Oddly enough, I have yet to worry about that. Some say “you’re lucky you don’t let it stress you out”. I find that amusing because at the end of the day I don’t really believe in luck. I’ve put myself in a position physically, mentally and emotionally where I’m extremely positive about the situation I am currently in. How am I so positive about my position while being unemployed you might ask? It’s ok, everyone asks…I find myself at a point in my life where I’ve been given a blessing in disguise. I was not 100% happy in my last position, although I worked with a number of my friends and had a great work atmosphere. Something was missing. Having recently moved to Colorado I’ve really gotten back in touch with many activities that have brought the work vs life balance to an ideal place.

It’s actually intriguing to me because I find myself working harder now than I ever have before. Why? Well, I am looking at this time away from work, this search/journey as a defining point in my life and frankly, I’m stoked about it! I’m excited to see where I end up. I’m actively looking for career opportunities, searching for ways to create my own opportunities as well as just meet tons of people in and around the marketing industry. Simply put, I’m networking my ass off! I’ve been meeting some of the most interesting people, hearing great entrepreneurial stories and disasters, consulting opportunities and have a new appreciation for the local coffee shops as that’s where every single one of these meetings have taken place. I explain to my friends and family how I line many of these meetings up and they all seem to find it interesting so I thought I’d share how I have been Net-Working It!

Here are some of the steps I’ve taken to introduce myself to people in the Denver/Boulder area that are in the marketing industry.

1. Be Yourself: I can’t stress how important this is! Don’t pretend to be someone that you’re not, possess skills you don’t really have or discuss work experience you’ve never actually had first hand. If someone is going to hire you, especially younger companies and most especially during this economy they are going to make sure you fit in well with their existing team. If they finally meet the real you 2 months down the road and you’re not syncing with the team, you bet your ass you’re going to be out that door faster than you came in. Just be yourself. In person, in your emails, on the phone, on Twitter, LinkedIn, your blog…EVERYWHERE!

2. Be Picky: I’m not whoring myself out by any means and you shouldn’t either. You want the position that makes you happy and delivers on all the criteria you’re looking for? Search for it. Do your research on companies in the area. Find out who works there, speak with them and get a better understanding of their daily tasks, the company culture and atmosphere. You’d be surprised at how many people want to chat and share stories about how happy they are at work and even more likely to share how unhappy they are. This will give you the “day in the life” at each company you may be interested in. See what the press is saying about them, check out their website, LinkedIn profiles and most definitely follow any employer that is on Twitter. You’ll get a feel for the personalities of your potential co–workers. Just remember that you’re looking for the right fit just as much as the company is. Be picky and be a little selfish for once.

3. Get Involved In Social Networks: If you dont’ have a LinkedIn profile, get one. Not on Twitter, lock it up. Don’t tell me you don’t understand it because that is just lame. Do a google search using “Twitter” and read any blog article or news source article describing the service and its benefits. Every single meetings I’ve set up thus far has been from an introduction I’ve made on either LinkedIn or Twitter. Did you read that? EVERY SINGLE ONE. Not monster, or career builder or the ladders. Yes, those are great sites in their own right but at this point in the economy you can’t go asking for a job. Meet people, introduce yourself and your existence. When you meet with them, they know you want a job…you don’t have to ask.

Regarding the social networks, leverage their search functionalities to find companies in your area within your industry, contacts, the contacts of your existing connections. I do at least a bi-weekly search on LinkedIn monitoring the companies in the area. If i see a company I’m interested in I find the CEO or VP of Marketing and try to find their email and or phone number so I can introduce myself. Twitter…don’t get me started. In the marketing and media industries everyone and their mother is on Twitter. Follow CEO’s, the average joe of companies you’re interested in. Throw in a few of your favorite celebrities to see what they are up to. I was amazed at how many people responded to me faster via Twitter than to their work email. For some, I have yet to get a response via email but I chat with them on Twitter daily.

4. Participate in local Networking Events: I’ve joined groups on Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter that hold numerous social gatherings each month. Some are panel discussion on a specific topic, some happy hours for the casual get together and some presentations that are not even about work or the industry you’re in. (Whaddup Ignite Boulder/Denver!)

5. Start a Blog: Courtesy of Andrew Hyde from Tech Stars (@andrewhyde). Starting a blog helps get your name out there. Discuss upcoming trends in your industry, ramble about nothing, keep publishing content. Try to grow your readership by providing interesting views on topics your “fan” want to hear about. Did you have a great meeting with someone today? Talk about it. This post was due to all the great meetings I’ve had with people thus far and I just realized many others may be trying to figure out how to leverage the web to obtain meetings and simply just meet new and interesting people/business professionals.

6. Be Consistent: Finally, be consistent, with yourself mainly. You are a brand. Be true to your brand and represent yourself, wisely not turning your back on who you are and what you believe in. Additionally, be consistent with setting up meetings. So you locked down 5 or so meetings. Finding a job is going to be a numbers game unfortunately. Why not introducte yourself to as many people as possible. Not only will your name be out there with many people but when one of their friends asks “do you know anyone that would make a good hire for my ____ position?”. You may be top of mind! 95% of available career positions are filled before they are even announced. I don’t even need to quote a source on that because it’s F’in true. Every employer I’ve met thus far even confirms it. It’s who you know, so get to know EVERYONE within your area of interest in your immediate area.

These are the main steps I’ve taken to introduce myself to new people. Along the way I’ve found many new opportunities, new friends and just genuine people. I wanted to take a moment to thank many of the great people I’ve met so far (and I’m leaving out many so my apologies, this post is getting massive)

Ari Newman – Founder of Filtrbox in Boulder. Great guy, cyclist and savvy entrepreneur. Always a pleasure chatting with him. Follow him on Twitter @arinewman

Lauren Cook – Co-Founder of Swarm Collective and freelance writer. I’ve had the opportunity to help bring in some new clients for Swarm and it’s been a wonderful experience. Follow her on Twitter @laurencook

Lindsay Yaw – Co Founder of Swarm Collective and freelance writer. Again, working with Swarm has been great. Lindsay is a true entrepreneur and someone you should follow. Follow her on Twitter @lindsyaw

James Clark – Founder of Room 214, a social media/word of mouth agency. James was great, down to earth and provided a lot of insight into the social media space. Check him @JamesOClark

Andrew Hyde – Community Director for Techstars.org, funny dude that sucks at scheduling meetings (his words, not mine). Andrew loves Boulder and would do anything to help someone get there. Check him @andrewhyde.

Hopefully these steps help you if you’re in a similar position and thanks again to all the folks I’ve met thus far. I look forward to staying in touch with every single one of you!