Referral to a contact for potential jobs.. I'm scared to call.....

[princessa]

When I told her that I was looking for a new job, my old boss was so kind as to put me in touch with some of her friends working (high up) in other firms. Now I need to get the courage to call them and get their interest.... What am I supposed to be saying in such a phone call?? I don't even know if they have positions open there.. Help!!!!!

[norajane]

Hi, my name is Princessa and so-and-so suggested I get in touch with you for some insights on a potential job change. Is this a good time to talk?

 

And then you tell her you've done some research into her company, why you would be interested in a position there, what your experience is, what you have to offer.

[princessa]

Heh, that's actually a good outline! Thanks NJ!

[Guest]

Yeah, looking up the wrong alley over an over again, may be a sign that it just didn't work as you applied over again. Don't give up, there are better position out there! Besides, my saying is, words don't hurt, unless your looking for manual labor.

 

I had this great job a while back. Best boss I ever ever had. She was phenominal! Did little to 'bark' orders, and being a new establishment, she also laid down the rules, and worked besides all others. Never embarassed or too proud, she did the hard work as all of us. I to this day r'member how much she instilled in me. I learned, and appreciate all she taught me. I still call upon her from time to time. Respect and miss her. Then again this last issue from the all man.

 

I once had a boss that words were literally left scar tissue upon us workers, spit, loathing, 'his mark, if you will. The one and only thing I despised about his presence; even had to go to work with black and blue marks, "keep it up", quota means you can be replaced! Man, that hurt. So lo and non productive. And to think here was a boss that would eat and share with 'us' after a job well done. Well one time I caught him badgering and physically beat one of our co=workers, so badly that he never spoke up and in fact we never heard a peep or saw him again.

 

Such a great co worker too. He would encourage us, an allow early breaks and such, out going, and such an inspiration. To see him belittled like that and no one knew. How sad and pathetic. To this day, I am so glad I left that place, I found out he took advantage of some of the female workers too. Beat them to the punch. Fired. One was a friend from Somoa. Big hefty girl. Man was she strong. Non of us could figure out why she never showed up again, she was so useful and needed. Now I hate to admit, I think she was afraid of being beaten down, maybe he just showed her up! Hard worker! Funny, I would N'EVER imagine...

 

Play by play is one thing, to get the job done, but to physically leave scars [whose Boss?]that ALL others witness, is downright ugly and sickening to me.

 

They' are people out there like this. Control freaks. They leave their 'marks on women's faces, they can't walk the talk or not at all. After too many 'man' hours. O/T [overtime] Is this the primate age?

 

I'd rather turn people like this out. And leave.

 

And to think, we ALL used to play 'punch' drunk with this guy after hours! Until I realized he just wanted to leave his 'mark'. He was an over achiever.

 

Sick, I will avoid his type forever. Though it could of turned out differently. A job W e l l done! His ugly demeaner, is skanky and small. No wonder he worries about his position. Always brow beating or something to leave.

 

Well, maybe i am venting to an extent. Too bad for me. Because I saw in this last job, so much potential. He did work hard. But he just didn't know how to apply his brute force accordingly. Not every person less to walk in an draw attention. Even if you can't help but miss, some of those tell tale signs.

 

Know what I mean? Glad, to finally move on, knowing I can wrestle a hard project with the rest of them. But to be out done, or find my step harder than the next no longer lies on my desire.

[princessa]

What's a good way to close off the conversation... Something to say that I could forward her my resume and talk with her further if she's interested.. How do you put it nicely?

[bella_girl]

a friend of mine recently recommended to ask people about 'opportunities available' rather than directly ask do you have any positions available.

 

oh i think that's what Norajane just said...

 

If the conversation goes great 'I'd really be interested in working for your organisation, do you think you could let me know of any opportunities that might become available'' or 'I could forward you a copy of my resume to keep on file if that would be helpful.'

 

Ways to end the conversation 'Thank you for your time, its been really helpful.'' 'Thank you for those great ideas, I will look into pursuing those avenues you have suggested.'

 

Don't be scared... the worst is that they will say is no and you'll be surprised how willing people are to talk. Also if they don't have time or are really not interested just thank them politely. You never know your old boss might have told them that you would call so they might be expecting it and say something like 'Or yes, so and so said that you might call how can i help.'

 

If you are looking for ideas on where to go next this is a great strategy to speak to these people, if possible try to meet them in person and maybe ask them about how they got to where they are... they might take you on in a sort of mentoring role (though this is sort of different than asking them for a job).

[norajane]

"Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me today - you've given me some valuable advice. Would you be interested in taking a look at my resume and giving me a call if you'd like to discuss it further?"

 

Hopefully, though, she would have already suggested that you send it to her at some point in the conversation!

[princessa]

Thanks girls.. My old boss did tell her that I would call.. I didn't call yet, I'll have to push myself to do it tomorrow. Don't worry I'm not totally clueless about these things, what bothers me is that I have no confidence whatsoever about my job skills so I just needed some "approval" hehe..

 

Also, I'd love to meet her in person and ask about her career but I don't want to hoard her time.... So I think I'll just make it nice and short..

[bella_girl]

princessa - you will be really surprised what differrent people see 'taking up their time'. I would be really happy to talk to anyone about how I got to where I am...

 

Plus in my old job I use to have to call really senior people in the field and ask them if they would do some work for our organisation. I always thought they would say 'no way, I don't have time to do that' but everyone of them was honoured to have been asked!

 

That made me see things in a different light, these were all VERY busy high up people and I was a lowly little worker but they were honoured by what I was asking them to do and willing to give up lots of their time!

 

Sooooo if you never ask you'll never know... But in the first instance I'd ring her up (especially if your boss said you would) before she forgets all about it and then maybe in a second/follow up conversation you could ask 'Look I'd be really interested in maybe having lunch if your available and finding out about you career, how you got to where you are, what successes you had, things you learnt etc etc etc...'

 

Good luck, go for it... just pick up the phone.. have a couple notes in front of you of key points to remember and smile before you ring - you'll be fine.

[princessa]

Ugh, I just called her up and got her voice mail.. I said something like hi my name is Princessa, I used to work for my old boss.. She suggested that I get in touch with you for either a potential job change or some career advice. Could you please give me a call back at work... Thanks and have a great day.

 

...with lots of Umm's and Aahh's in between

[Star Gazer]

What industry are you talking about here?

[princessa]

Why does it matter?

[Star Gazer]

Why does it matter?

 

 

You need to know your audience (the potential boss and/or referral). In order to guide you in the right direction with what to do here, we do too. How to approach a doctor for available opportunities is very different than how you'd approach a dog walker.

[princessa]

Lol.. oh well in this case.. she's a managing director at a large IT consulting firm.. I pretty much market myself as a business / requirements analyst, but it's awkward because although I've only been out of school for 2 years and normally wouldn't have the experience for that, I've been exposed to various types of work with very senior people and consultants and have learned lots from them. I've also directly worked on business solutions that normally require years of experience but that got dumped on me simply because there was nobody else around.

 

My big internal conflict and lack of confidence in my professional skills comes from the fact that I'm ALWAYS surrounded by senior people who have at least 20 years of experience more than I do, and I always feel like they don't take me seriously. And why should they? They've been in this business for decades and I am just starting out. They've been developers and have grown into business leaders, and I have only spent the time of 2 internships working as a developer.. and now I want to model the business?? So these jobs that I'm aiming at should be done by much more experienced candidates. So I always have the fear that I know less than everybody else. That makes me feel horrible about my qualifications. But nevertheless, that's what I do, these are the skills that I have, and I don't want to settle for something less challenging or do something totally different (being a programmer for example). I want to use these skills that I have acquired and expand them.

 

I don't know, part of this is also a huge self-confidence issue. Because not only am I always surrounded by senior people who try to put me down when they see how young I am, but also this environment that I work at is not exactly as fast-paced as I would have liked it to be and it makes me feel as I'm not gaining any meaningful experience. Sometimes there's a huge rush of work and tight deadlines, but most other times the place is dead and I surf LS all day. Being very demanding and hard on myself, I feel like I've become a bum at work, and that I'm not acquiring enough skills, that by now I should have much more to offer. A lot of people have told me that I have a strong resume but for some reasons I feel like there should be more on it and this doesn't help my confidence either.

 

Whew! What a vent that was!

[norajane]

I've lived and breathed the large IT consulting industry for the last 10 years, and am about to get on the merry-go-round again...

 

Yes, you're going to have people who look at your age and dismiss you. BUT, this is exactly the kind of industry where the younger people are often the ones who are the most up-to-date on the latest and greatest technologies, so you will find people willing to listen.

 

Honestly, confidence is THE most important thing. How you carry yourself, how you speak, and you knowing that you know what you're talking about will definitely come across to other people. There are so many people in the industry who can talk a good game, and they are successful because they can make other people believe it.

 

It seems like you proved yourself to your old boss, enough for her to refer you to someone else. Don't downplay your skills and abilities to yourself. If you believe, they'll believe.

[princessa]

That's so true.. there are so many people who don't know what they're talking about but just because they sound convincing everybody seems forgiving of that..

[norajane]

That's so true.. there are so many people who don't know what they're talking about but just because they sound convincing everybody seems forgiving of that..

 

One of the former CEO's of one of my former companies was fond of saying: our company's assets walk out the door every night.

 

Meaning, it's a service industry, and they sell people to their clients. Give 'em something that "sounds good" to sell, and they'll hire you, because their clients will buy it.

[princessa]

One of the former CEO's of one of my former companies was fond of saying: our company's assets walk out the door every night.

 

Meaning, it's a service industry, and they sell people to their clients. Give 'em something that "sounds good" to sell, and they'll hire you, because their clients will buy it.

 

Yeah, being able to sell is a HUGE asset, to say the least. I've been struggling to learn this but I'm hoping that it will come with experience (and effort)... I'm a very bad storyteller and I think I'm pretty bad with speaking in general (again self confidence issue). I always find myself stumbing on words and not being able to gather and instantly spit out my ideas under pressure. It's something that I work on (I enrolled in a public speaking club) but it's tough.

 

Anyway!! About the lady, she just called me while I was getting lunch downstairs so she left a voice mail, and she asked me if I'd like to have lunch next week, and to send her my resume!!! She sounded so nice it really made my day I'm really looking forward to speak to her and hear about her career.

[norajane]

That's great news!! Lunch will be fun - it's always fun to talk about yourself!

 

The speaking does come in time and with experience. Keep up with the club - it will help.