The Golden Bullet in the Job Search

I previously wrote about silver bullets in the job search process (see May 31, 2009 “Job Search Silver Bullets”). These are networking connections that become advocates for you and lead you to connections and jobs that you might not otherwise have had accessed without them.

Recently I had a networking lunch meeting with my former HR colleague and I observed that she was truly disengaged with her current company. She has a long history with her company of steady growth in responsibilities over the years. However, the company was recently acquired by a bigger company headquartered in a different city and the new company has a different set of values and decision making authority for employees. She no longer felt empowered to make decisions. As we talked she finally revealed that she was thinking about initiating a job search. She hadn’t yet pulled together her resume and she wasn’t sure what she wanted to do next in her career. She indicated that she might look at changing industries or even moving to a different type of role in human resources. Then she said something even more significant. She thought about immediately reaching out to her former CEO to get a reference and network with him.

As we discussed things regarding this CEO connection I thought about the silver bullet concept. This was a huge and powerful connection for her. He was someone that in just one phone call could swing wide open doors for her that she normally wouldn’t have been able to crack open. That is when I shared with her that the CEO was not a silver bullet but really a golden bullet. On a few occasions we may meet a person that may be an even more significant and powerful connection than any other one.

I suggested to my friend that she take some time thinking and preparing herself first before she ever approaches the CEO. Knowing this CEO, I would fully expect him to pepper her with questions and she would want to be ready. Being unprepared could diminish the impression she was trying to make and lose some of the potential impact of the opportunities that might come from the meeting. He would be such a tremendous asset for her as a reference and advocate that she would want to do everything to make sure she was prepared. I asked her to think about the differences between the successful meetings and unsuccessful meetings she had with him when they worked together. She quickly indicated that the successful ones were where she had done her homework.

After we parted from lunch I received an email from her that evening indicating that she thought about our conversation and she was going to begin preparing for a job search. She also indicated that she wouldn’t reach out to the CEO until she answered the questions to herself that she would expect the CEO and others would ask.

While a lot of us may not have a golden bullet like my friend has, we are likely to encounter people that will provide us tremendous value and even advocacy in our job search. You may not even recognize it in that first meeting. You want to prepare yourself for each of the connections. Do the homework.