Key influencers like recruiters, career coaches, and peers don’t just want to know you when you’ve been terminated and you’re feeling desperate to pick up the pieces. They also want to know you when you’re having fun and delivering career successes.
A cardinal sin of career management is failing to maintain frequent communication with the people you’ve networked and built relationships with during your career transition. In that stage, if you’re following my job search recommendations, you’re building your database by meeting two to three new people every day.
Instead of forgetting all about those people the minute you accept a new job offer, take the time to tell everyone the good news, thank everybody for their support and guidance, and tell them what you’re looking forward to about your new challenge.
Then, every four months or so, send a message to your network about what a great time you’re having, and share a success story of one of your recent accomplishments. Continually remind people that you’re always looking out for your next opportunity.
Another important reason to stay in touch is to offer your support of their networking goals. Ask who they’d like to meet, and see if you can help make that connection. If someone else is terminated, be receptive to networking with them in their career transition. Remember that your roles could be reversed in a few months.
One corporate executive I know networks with three new people every single week, along with maintaining the relationships he’s built over many years. He knows that if he were to be terminated today, he would have hundreds of people rallying around to support him tomorrow. Can you say the same thing?
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