Tap Your Network First

Author

Hannah Morgan
April 20, 2025

Welcome to Career Essentials, where I share actionable insights and curated articles that will help accelerate your career and supercharge your job search.

Tap Your Network First

Don't reach out cold until you have spoken and reconnected with all these people first and have asked for AIR + explained exactly what you are looking for.

🎈 Advice - career advice, job search advice, career pivot advice

🎈 Information - What's going on in the company, industry? What trends are they seeing?

🎈 Recommendations - Who do they recommend you speak with to learn more? What professional associations or groups do they recommend? Where do they go or what do they read to stay current?

🎯 Contact ALL these People So They Know What You Are Looking For

1. People You Used To Work With

Your past work colleagues have seen you perform in the job and know your strengths and work ethic. These people make an excellent source of information to find out what changes are going on in the business and industry. You want to let them know you are looking for a new opportunity.

2. Friends, Family, Neighbors

People you know are most likely to want to help you if they can. Your friends have a vast network of contacts you don’t know about.

3. Past Managers

Assuming you and your previous manager or supervisor got along, it’s a good idea to reach out to them. Your past boss may know of upcoming opportunities at your old company

4. Target Company Employees

Talking with people who work inside a company you're interested in allows you to learn what it is really like to work there. Plus they can provide advice and/or insight on the best way to apply.

5. Alumni/Classmates

Don’t forget to tap into classmates, professors, and alumni as another potential pool of people to network with. Use LinkedIn's Alumni tool plus your school’s Advancement or Alumni office database.

6. Customers/Clients

The people you’ve served already know you and are familiar with your work. Lean on them as a source of information about what’s going on. Your customers and clients have a feel of the work landscape and future needs. This information will help you position your most important skills and experience.

7. Vendors/Suppliers

Similar to your clients and customers, these people know what it’s like to do business with you. They also have a finger on the pulse of what’s happening in your industry because they are still servicing businesses.

8. Service Providers (Doctors, accountants, hairdressers, etc.)

Don’t overlook the business relationships you have with professionals who provide you with services. These people have their own vast network of contacts.

9. Fellow Volunteers

If you volunteer, you’ve likely established relationships with other volunteers and people within the organization. These people have seen you give your time and effort.

networking is asking for AIR

I posted a version of this on LinkedIn this week. 

PS: As Mark Anthony Dyson pointed out, giving AIR is also a great way to build relationships! Be thoughtful and reciprocate! 

This headline is a bit click-baity but it’s worth knowing about. People are lining up substitutes who will interview better or creating AI-modified versions of themselves. Kudos for the creativity. But shame of them for rule-breaking. One step you can take to authenticate yourself (which feels weird to say), is to verify your LinkedIn profile.

💻 LINKEDIN

Scheduling a post isn’t the problem. It’s that you didn’t respond to comments or that the post was junk. Here is what you should do according to Richard:

LinkedIn rewards 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺. You give engagement, you get engagement.

Here’s the sweet spot:

✔️ Engage with at least 5 posts
✔️ Within 45 minutes before and 60 minutes after your post goes live
✔️ Make it meaningful. No lazy “Nice post!” comments.

Richard van der Blom

🗨 INTERVIEWING

If you feel your current boss will not be a good reference, you have options. Pick other people from your current job (co-workers or leaders you worked with). You don’t have to provide a current manager as a reference. Nick provides another option too, include your current manager and explain BRIEFLY the reason you don’t think they’ll give the best review.  

⚙ AI

You no longer need to spend hours researching companies or people during your job search. In this post, you’ll see how to use ChatGPT and Claude. But don’t stop there. You may find better results using Perplexity.ai. The moral of the story is to use the right tool for the job and to create a strong prompt.

🔮 WORKFORCE

By far the best reaction to this post is by Sweta Remi. She calls out the problem with using “job hopping” instead of what it really is “job shopping.” Most of the time, it’s not due to personal preference but dysfunction in the current company. See her take here. 

The top job shoppers were product management. The top occupation NOT looking was real estate agents.

💰 CAREER

Burnout is a common word thrown around but Sarah and Joe talk about what it really means and what to do to prevent it. From awareness, to managing your time and energy, this article is filled with strategies to help you become the owner of your ideal life. Really! 

💗 WELL-BEING

Distractions are everywhere. This framework by Wendy Cole can give you a renewed sense of control. It’s a list of simple tricks that help you stay focused using:

  • Frame your day

  • One task at a time

  • Commit yourself fully

  • Unplug

  • Stopwatch challenge

🚀 PRODUCTIVITY

We are more distracted and disconnected than ever before and it is hurting our performance. Mark points out how to be present, which seems like a fluffy concept until you read the article and learn what not being present looks like and the negative effects.

  • Article 1

  • Article 2

  • Article 3

EVENTS

Wednesday’s event is full. Stay tuned for future masterclasses.

LinkedIn Power Moves For Job Seekers
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
12:00 PM – 1:00 PM EST

JOB SEARCH VISUAL

✅ It’s time to ditch the job boards and build a proactive job search strategy that actually gets results.

Here’s how to take control of your job search 👇

🔑 Start with These 3 Essential Lists
25 STAR stories to showcase your strengths
50 companies you’d love to work for
100 people you already know (yes, really!)

📬 Reach Out & Reconnect
Message 5 people a day
Ask for insights or intros
End every convo with: “Who else do you recommend I talk to?”

🏢 Target Companies Like a Pro
Follow them on LinkedIn & socials
Set alerts on their careers pages
Reach out to insiders for info & referrals

🤝 Show Up Where They Are
Attend industry events & job clubs
Tap into alumni networks
Join professional associations

💻 Be Easy to Find
Optimize your LinkedIn profile
Clean up your digital presence
Make your strengths Google-able!

⏰ Stick to a Schedule
Structure your week like it’s your job (because it is right now).

🔄 A proactive job search puts YOU in control. Instead of waiting, you’re creating opportunities.

✨ Let hiring managers find you.

Proactive job search plan

DID YOU MISS THESE

WEBSITE OF THE WEEK

Perplexity.ai  is an advanced conversational search engine that combines real-time web search capabilities with AI-driven responses, offering several benefits:​

1. Real-Time, Cited Information Perplexity AI retrieves up-to-date information from the web and presents it with direct citations, allowing users to verify sources easily. 

2. User-Friendly Interface With a design similar to traditional search engines, Perplexity AI offers an intuitive experience, enabling users to interact naturally and efficiently. ​

3. Integration with Multiple AI Models Perplexity AI leverages various large language models (LLMs), including GPT-4o, Claude, and Mistral, providing flexibility and improved accuracy in responses. ​

4. Focused Search Options Users can tailor their searches by selecting specific domains such as academic, social, or video content, enhancing the relevance of results. ​

5. Versatile Platform Availability Accessible via web browsers, Chrome extensions, macOS apps, and mobile devices, Perplexity AI ensures users can utilize its features across various platforms. 

6. Free and Pro Versions Perplexity AI offers a free version with basic features and a Pro version at $20/month, which includes unlimited searches, GPT-4 integration, and advanced research tools. ​

Overall, Perplexity AI serves as a powerful tool for individuals seeking accurate, real-time information with the added benefit of source verification.​

perplexity.ai