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  • Networking.

  • If you're an extrovert, this could be really easy for you.

  • If you're an introvert, the very word may cause your heart to race.

  • Either way in this video, you're going to learn how to maximize your connections

  • and uncover new opportunities and relationships to advance your career.

  • Here, we begin the process of finding a job in the US.

  • In this 10-part course, we take you from here, the very beginning, to landing the job, and negotiating your salary.

  • Now, I teach English as a foreign language and a lot of my students are interested in coming to the US to work.

  • But this course is for anyone, an American or not, looking for a job or thinking about switching careers.

  • I've also put a small English lesson at the end of each video in the course

  • relating to a topic in that video for my non-native students.

  • At the end of this video, you'll find a lesson

  • on the different ways we use the word 'word' in American English.

  • For this course, I’ve interviewed three experts to help us understand exactly how to shine as an applicant

  • and an interviewee.

  • And though I’ve applied for and gotten many jobs in my life, I learned lots of new tips on impressing employers.

  • If you watch this whole course, I have no doubt you will be way ahead of other people

  • competing for the same job you want.

  • Our three experts that we'll be learning from in this course are Cindy.

  • She is currently a recruiter, where all she does all day is look at resumes and interview potential employees.

  • Before that, she worked as executive director of a non-profit in New York City.

  • She's looked at literally thousands of resumes and conducted hundreds of interviews.

  • Cindy is going to help you get this job.

  • Steve. He's a small business owner here in Pennsylvania.

  • He regularly hires new employees and will give you clear insight into what he's thinking and what he's looking for

  • when he goes through cover letters and resumes, and what will make him want to hire you in an interview.

  • Steve is going to help you get this job.

  • Laura she's a career adviser at prestigious college here in the US.

  • She's been helping students land their dream jobs for years. Laura is going to help you get this job.

  • Today, we're going to talk about networking. Why network?

  • When we're hiring someone that's been referred, boythey almost always get an interview.

  • Network because it will connect you to people at organizations where you want to work,

  • and being connected to someone at an organization can greatly increase your chances of getting an interview.

  • Ok, well what other ways can you look for jobs and improve your chances of getting them?

  • I asked Laura.

  • I would say the number one way is networking.

  • Dang it, it's still networking.

  • And I know that we hear that over and over again, and some of us kind of roll our eyes because we don't love

  • networking, but it Is, it's played out again and again that networking is the best way to find opportunities.

  • Networking, again. She brings up LinkedIn. It's a website that professionals use in the US A lot.

  • So if you're looking for a job in the US, it's important to get to know it, and to use it if at all possible.

  • So how should you use LinkedIn?

  • Or let's say you're interested and aquaponic gardening, or farming.

  • That's something that's very niche but that you can just enter the keyword

  • and you can see people who are actually working in that industry, and it's a way to reach out to those people,

  • build your network, or to just see what kind of jobs they've had in the past,

  • so that you can look at those organizations, you can see if those organizations have jobs.

  • So it's a great way to do research, and extend your network at the same time, and then find opportunities.

  • Create a profile, create as many connections as you can. Friends, family, former co-workers and so on.

  • That way, as you do research and see organizations that you'd like to work for,

  • you can see how closely you're connected to someone who works there.

  • Aside from LinkedIn, how else should you be networking to maximize connections?

  • Laura talked about going to conferences in the field in which you want to work.

  • Conferences can be expensive, but you can look into volunteering, which could get you in for free.

  • You can find opportunities just by going to those conferences, talking to people

  • looking at job postings that people have, and are advertising there.

  • That's a great tip, I never thought about that, but if you make the effort

  • to go to a conference and meet people face-to-face, that's really going to help build your network.

  • And they want to meet you too without having to go through the whole process of trying to find someone.

  • So if you meet someone you have a good connection,

  • you're already miles ahead of someone else who just submits a paper resume.

  • LinkedIn, conferences, what else?

  • I would just say talking to people.

  • You never know when you're going to meet someone that could have a tip for you,

  • or have a connection for you.

  • I've heard of people talking to someone next to them on the airplane

  • and ending up getting a job or an opportunity that way.

  • So just talking to people in general and making connections.

  • But if you're very intentionally trying to network, then I would say

  • start thinking about who you already know in your network. So friends,

  • family, friends of family, family of friends, former professors, former teachers, your doctor,

  • anyone that you already know in your network,

  • telling them what you're looking for and just

  • putting the word out there in the universe to as many people as you can.

  • They may know someone who knows someone.

  • So you already have a network based on people you know but then they know other people as well.

  • And then I would say that if you're a college student, your university or college may have a very extensive

  • alumni directory that you could tap into

  • and start reaching out to people that way because of that similar shared alma mater.

  • So even if it's hard for you to imagine yourself striking up a conversation

  • with the person sitting next to you on an airplane, you can still put a lot of effort into letting people know

  • what you're looking for.

  • Once you've discovered someone in your networking that you think could really be of help to you,

  • that you think could really be an important connection, what can you do?

  • And then once you make a connection with someone,

  • the best way to network with them is through an informational interview.

  • So an informational interview is when you turn the tables and you are the one who is interviewing them

  • about their work or their career as opposed to them interviewing you for a position.

  • And so those typically are a half an hour, 45 minutes, over coffee, on the phone,

  • and you're just learning what you can about them, and making that connection so that

  • while you're building a connection for a potential opportunity in the future, you're also

  • learning a lot about the industry and it can help you with your job searchjust learning what they have to say.

  • Okay, so if your friend's mom says: hey my co-workers husband works in that, then you say: great!

  • Can I have the contact information? And if they're willing to give it out, then you just call the person up and say:

  • I'd love to ask a few questions about your work?

  • So typically I would say that first contact should be email, just so it's lower pressure.

  • But saying this is who I am, this is why I'm interested in you specifically,

  • here's a couple of specific questions I would like to ask you.

  • Do you have twenty thirty minutes that you could talk to me the next couple of weeks?

  • And then, you know, you're having this conversation with him, you're wanting to prepare,

  • making sure you have a lot of questions ready.

  • Sometimes all it takes is you ask one question, and that person talks for half an hour.

  • Sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get them to talk.

  • So you have to have 10 to 15 questions, and it's really just whatever you want to know about their career,

  • their organization, their current job, their graduate program, and getting as much information as you can,

  • and then always following up with a thank-you note, a handwritten thank you note, or an email. Either way,

  • but just letting them know that you appreciate the time that they've spent with you.

  • Again, it's just a fostering that relationship and not all relationships will turn into opportunities,

  • but some of them will.

  • Wow that's a lot of effort. That's really putting yourself out there. How often does it work?

  • And I would say personally, I’ve had about half of my job opportunities

  • result as or happened because of networking.

  • Networking with people that

  • you didn't already know very well that you had to make some effort to network with them?

  • I would say it's probably about half and half.

  • Some of them were friends who connected me with someone else.

  • Yeah, more often than not, its friends or someone I know connecting me with someone I don't know,

  • and then having a conversation with them.

  • Them letting me know about opportunities in the moment or telling me as they see them come up later.

  • So it's worth what sometimes feels like a lot of effort, and sometimes awkward conversations.

  • Especially for an introvert, this kind of thing can be harder, but just it's worth if you're really looking for work,

  • and you think you've made a good connection

  • it's worth the effort to step out of your comfort zone and try to do that.

  • And I think for introverts, the positive thing about informational interviews is that it's one-on-one.

  • And so it feels a lot more manageable.

  • Networking events can be really overwhelming

  • for introverts, and so although those events can be helpful and you may meet people,

  • typically you aren't developing as authentic and strong of relationships as

  • when you have a one-on-one conversation with someone.

  • Can you imagine if you've sat down with someone for 30 minutes for a conversation,

  • they're going to get to know you and understand your strengths and your personality.

  • If you end up applying for a job at that person's organization,

  • they're going to have a lot more to say about you than if you just exchanged a few emails.

  • So though it takes effort and require some preparation, the time spent will likely be more fruitful

  • than spending that time scouring the internet for positions.

  • Having said that, there are other ways to look for jobs outside of networking.

  • There are also some very specific associations for different industries that have their own job registries.

  • So you can be looking at, for example, the National Association of speech-language pathologists,

  • you can go to their website they have their own job registry and look there for opportunities.

  • Are those usually free? If y ou're looking for a job?

  • Yes. Not always, but they often are and there are industry specific websites as well like idealist.org

  • is for non-profit jobs, specifically, and that's a free website. Typically, if there's a fee, it's a minimal fee.

  • But don't get sucked into spending all your time looking for the right job.

  • Spend most of your time making the right connections with people.

  • The other thing I wanted to add here at the end is that 70% of a job search should be networking.

  • So this really... I just want to highlight this in the last part that how important networking is,

  • 75% should be spent on researching people, researching organizations, writing that initial email to somebody,

  • following up with them, talking with them, having that informational interview,

  • following up on any tips or advice they give you, following up with them, sending them a thank-you note,

  • staying in touch in the future, if that makes sense, if you had a good connection.

  • So that's 70% of the job search, 30% of the job search is looking for positions,

  • looking on job platforms, writing your cover letter, tailoring or targeting your resume.

  • So it's really flipped from the way that I think the general population thinks about the job search.

  • So spending more time focused on building that network and connecting with people,

  • and less time actually scouring the job platforms, and creating your application materials.

  • Interesting, I would have definitely probably defaulted myself to

  • doing all this research sort of in a whole by myself at the computer rather than

  • seeing who's around that might be able to help me out.

  • To recap, your chances of getting a job will greatly improved if you have a connection to a company,

  • or an organization. And there are ways you can create those connections. Build your network,

  • online like on LinkedIn, and in real life by going to conferences, striking up conversations,

  • reaching out to friends, family, current and former co-workers, teachers, classmates, and so on.

  • Let people know your goals.

  • Look for possible links and when you find a good one,

  • make a connection and maybe do an informational interview on the phone or in person.

  • When you make an amazing connection and find your dream job,

  • you're going to need to put together a cover letter, a resume, and beef up your interview skills.

  • The rest of this course will take you through that whole process.

  • We'll hear a lot more from Steve, get a wealth of advice from Cindy, and continue to learn from Laura.

  • The next video will be your resume, then your cover letter.

  • There might be hundreds of people sending in cover letters and resumes for the job that you're applying for.

  • You'll learn how to get into the 'YES pile'.

  • Then we'll dive into the interview process.

  • There are important concrete ways you can prepare to make a huge, positive impression in an interview

  • and I’ll make sure you know them.

  • For my non-native students we're going to get your English lesson in just a minute.

  • If you haven't already, be sure to click the subscribe button and the bell for notifications.

  • I make new videos on the English language and American culture every Tuesday,

  • and have over 600 videos on my channel to date, focusing on listening comprehension,

  • and accent reduction.

  • While you're waiting for next week's video, a great step would be to check out this Get Started Playlist.

  • Now, here's your English lesson. I want to go over the different ways we use the word 'word'.

  • You're used to thinking of this as how we describe at, there, hippopotamus.

  • This unit of speech.

  • Laura used the phrase "to put the word out there".

  • The 'word'. What word?

  • This reference isn't to a single word like hippopotamus but here, the word 'word' means news or information.

  • You want to put or get the 'word' out there.

  • You want to announce to people what kind of a job you're trying to get.

  • Anyone that you already know in your network,

  • telling them what you're looking for, and just putting

  • the word out there in the universe to as many people as you can.

  • Put the word out there in the universe.

  • So that even people in other galaxies will be looking for jobs for you. No, I'm just kidding.

  • Out into the universe, out into the world, these are things we can add on, but they don't change the meaning.

  • All the phrases mean to tell people something.

  • To try to make sure everyone knows to spread the word.

  • You want to make sure everyone in your community, all your contacts know what kind of job you're looking for.

  • So if they hear about an opportunity, they can tell you about it.

  • Anyone that you already know in your network, telling them what you're looking for and just

  • putting the word out there in the universe to as many people as you can.

  • You may have heard someone say 'what's the word?' or 'any word?'

  • You can say this if you're waiting to hear from someone.

  • For example, let's say my sister-in-law is coming to visit today, we don't know what time.

  • We're waiting for her to let us know which train she's taking. I might say to David,

  • what's the word from Audrey?

  • Or any word from Audrey?

  • And finally, a tip on the pronunciation of this word.

  • Don't try to make a vowel sound and then the R consonant.

  • The vowel sound here is actually just like the R consonant.

  • So go right from the W, wuh-- to the R, urr-- wuh-- urr-- wur, wur, and then the D.

  • Word. Word.

  • So I invite you to put the word out there, to spread the word, that you're learning lots

  • of interesting things with Rachel's English.

  • That's it, and thanks so much for using Rachel's English.

Networking.

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