Career Expert Relates Finding a Job to Romancing Your Valentine

This Valentine's Day you might be looking for love. You might also be looking for a job. Fortunately, the art of wooing your love interest and impressing potential employers requires many of the same strategies, according to one career expert.

Indianapolis, Ind. (PRWEB) January 29, 2008 -- Job seekers could learn a lot from Cupid this Valentine's Day. The process of finding a good job quickly requires many of the same strategies as wooing a love interest, according to Shawn Graham, author of the recently-released book Courting Your Career.

For example, statistics indicate that most job seekers despise networking, prompting them to ignore this essential strategy in their job search. As a result, job seekers often miss out on dozens of job leads that could have led to them to their dream job!

Graham likens the importance of networking to the dating scene. "Before you can date someone, you need to meet someone. And what better place to meet someone than in the 'meet market?' I'm not talking about the selection of steaks at your local grocery store or a bar full of men and women undressing you with their eyes. I'm talking about meeting someone through a friend or a friend of a friend," says Graham.

"Like dating, when you're looking for a job, mutual friends can be a great resource for expanding your professional network."

In the dating game a person can sour their opportunity to score a date or exchange phone numbers in a matter of seconds. Notorious dating no no's include using a cheesy pick-up line, moving too fast and having bad breath. Similarly, there are a handful of ways job seekers can quickly turn-off a valuable networking contact. In his book Graham offers the following do's and don'ts:

Networking Do's:

• Be professional and courteous during all of your interactions.

• Proofread all e-mails.

• Ask insightful and thoughtful questions.

• Ask for names of others who may be willing to help you.

• Send thank-you notes to contacts whether or not they were helpful.

• Stay in touch with contacts even after you find a job.

Networking Don'ts

• Make a contact feel used and manipulated.

• Ask a contact to find you a job.

• Send generic e-mails to new or existing contacts.

• Send a copy of your resume.

• Miss or be late to a meeting.

• Monopolize someone's time when he or she has agreed to speak with you.

Although networking can be a challenging strategy to master, it's the one most likely to land someone a job. Graham says, "Keep in mind how much more comfortable it is to meet someone who's been introduced to you by a mutual friend. Even a blind date is easier if you and your date have mutual friends. When it's time to hire a new employee, most employers prefer to hire a job candidate who's been referred by a trusted employee. That way, they can feel more like they're venturing into known territory."

Courting Your Career is available at all major bookstores and from the publisher (www.jist.com or 1.800.648.JIST). To speak with the author, contact Natalie Ostrom.

JIST, America's Career Publisher, is a division of EMC/Paradigm Publishing and is the leading publisher of job search, career, occupational information, life skills and character education books, workbooks, assessments, videos and software.

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