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Weak Ties versus Strong Ties in your Job Search [Updated]

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Weak Ties versus Strong Ties

weak tiesWeak ties—or weak connections—in your network are more valuable than strong ties!

WHAT?

Weak ties are those people who you do not know well…those people with whom you only have a casual relationship.

Wait a minute. Everyone has been telling you that you need to network and develop deep relationships to help in your job search. That is still true.

Here is the problem.

People who know you really well, know the same people you know. People who know you more casually likely know a lot of people you do not know.

Why Would Weak Ties be More Valuable than Strong Ties?

This concept comes from a section of the book Give and Take: Why Helping Others Drives Our Success by Adam Grant. Look for a couple of more posts based on this book.

Adam writes:

Strong ties are our close friends and colleagues, the people we really trust. Weak ties are our acquaintances, the people we know casually. Testing the common assumption that we get the most help from our strong ties, Stanford sociologist Mark Granvotter, surveyed people in professional, technical and managerial professions who recently changed jobs. Nearly 17 percent heard about the job from a strong tie. Their friends and trusted colleagues gave them plenty of leads.

But, surprisingly, people were significantly more likely to benefit from weak ties. Almost 28 percent heard about the job from a weak tie. Strong ties provide bonds, but weak ties served as bridges: they provide more efficient access to new information. Our strong ties tend to travel in the same social circles and know about the same opportunities as we do. Weak ties are more likely to open up access to a different network, facilitating the discovery of original leads.

Here’s the wrinkle: it’s tough to ask weak ties for help.

The premise is that weak ties know about people and opportunities that your strong ties do not. Therefore, weak ties can be more valuable to you in your job search than strong ties.

Asking for Advice

Most of us are not comfortable asking weak ties for help. Heck…I am a guy, I do not like asking for help from anyone!

The magic word is to ask for advice.

When you ask for advice, you will rarely be turned down. If they do turn you down, they are a jerk and you do not want to talk with them anyway.

When you ask for advice from a weak tie, it is a compliment.

It might sound like — Can you give some advice on:

How to get hired at your company?

Who do I need to talk to at your company to get a xyz job?

How to best hear of new opportunities at your company?

You are not asking for a job! You are just asking for a little bit of advice.

This fits nicely into the asking for A-I-R—Advice, Insights, and Recommendations.

Weak Tie Example #1 – Past Colleagues and Managers

Weak ties can come from a variety of areas.

Take a moment and read about Steve in the post Introverted Sales Guy Job Search – Case Study. 

Steve very methodically reached out to past co-workers and managers who he had worked with over the last 20 years. Many of these people he had not spoken with for over 10 years. He reached out and reached out, and finally found a former colleague who was looking for an account manager. This former colleague remembered him as an excellent account manager and a really nice guy.

It was through this weak tie that Steve landed his job.

Weak Tie Example #2 – Family Relationships

If you have children still at home, you likely have a huge amount of weak ties. It is your children’s friends parents.

Think about that for a second. If they are still in school, playing team sports or involved in other school activities, you have access to people who have networks that may only barely intersect your network.

Even if your children are grown, look to their network for access to potential connections. One trend I am seeing is our reluctance to reach out to people much younger than us. The problem is, when we hit our 50s, 60s or beyond, our networks may age out. I wrote about this in the post Has Your Network Aged Out and Abandoned You?

We need to be constantly looking for new connections and sometimes they will be younger than you would expect.

Weak Tie Example #3 – Professional Relationships

You have a lot of professional relationships outside of work. How about asking for help from your:

  • Financial Advisor
  • Accountant
  • Doctor
  • Lawyer
  • Chiropractor
  • Hair Dresser or Barber
  • Personal Trainer

When I was looking for a high school math teaching position, my most valuable networking connection was …. my chiropractor. At that point, I had been seeing her for over a dozen years and she had seen me through two very difficult situations, a ruptured disc in 1993 and my near-fatal bicycle accident in 2002. She knew me well, why I was pursuing a pivot into teaching and knew a lot of people I did not know, including several local school superintendents.

Willingness to Reach Out to Weak Ties

All of these weak ties know a lot of people who you do not know. As Adam Grant said in his book, it’s tough to ask weak ties for help.

If you can become comfortable reaching out to weak ties, your network will expand greatly…and so do your opportunities.

Have your weak ties been more valuable than strong ties?

Tell us about it!

Marc Miller  

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Waiting is not a Job Search Strategy [Updated]

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Waiting is not a Strategy

waitingMost of you are waiting on a:

  • Job to be posted
  • Recruiter to respond after submitting your resume to a job posting
  • Recruiter to respond after a phone screen
  • Hiring manager after an interview

I know, I know you do not want to be a pest or appear to too forward. Well…be a pest. Be a polite pest – but be a pest. Pursue what you want.

Most importantly…STOP WAITING!

Waiting for a Position to be Posted

Approximately 80 percent of positions are never posted. So why are you waiting? The days of thinking you are going to get a job by applying online are over for most of us in the 2nd half of life. If you were 20 years younger and looking at junior positions, then maybe applying online might work.

The hiring process at many companies is broken. You will want to check out my post 5 Things You Will Never Know About the Hiring Process. Your belief that that the system is fair and equitable is very outdated.

Your next job will come through a relationship. Go work your network, work your network and then … work your network some more.

Use the Targeted Job Search approach by targeting companies and quit chasing “the job.”

Build a list of companies who are capable of hiring you. Use LinkedIn advanced search to find companies that hire people with skills like yours. Approach potential peers and hiring managers, telling them about the problems you solve.

Stop waiting for a position to be posted!

Waiting is not a job search strategy!

Waiting to hear from Someone after Submitting Your Resume

Immediately, seek out a company contact if you see a position posted or hear about a job through your network as a huge percentage of positions are filled through referrals. Do not wait and find a referral first!

At the same time, very aggressively, reach out to recruiters or HR professionals in the company to find out who is hiring for the position. Your goal will be to have a discussion with the hiring manager.

Waiting is not a job search strategy.

The strategy of my fellow Launch Pad Job Club board member, Jim Adcock, was to reach out to recruiters and ask, “I wanted to make sure you received my resume. The sexual nature of my last name sometimes causes my resume to get caught in SPAM filters.”

Yes, this strategy works!

Waiting for a Response after a Phone Screen with a Recruiter

It is very common for recruiters to have up to 60 positions to fill at any one time. Call the recruiter 24 hours after the initial phone screen. Be courteous but persistent. You want to stay on the top of their mind.

Be a pest, a polite pest but a pest none the least.

The important point here is to call them. Leave them a voicemail if they do not answer.

I know, I know you sent them an email and you have not heard back. When people are getting hundreds of emails every day, it just makes sense to call the recruiter and be persistent. If you do not hear back, call them again in a day or so. Do not wait a week to call them back. Be persistent.

Waiting is not a job search strategy!

Waiting for a Response after an In-Person Interview

Make sure and get business cards and contact information from everyone you interview with. Ask for their business cards at the beginning of every interview. If they decide you are not the right candidate during the interview, they may not offer you their business card at the end.

Similar to waiting for a response after a phone screen, you want to follow up quickly and be persistent.

If you do not hear from them after several weeks, use the Take-Away Closing Technique  by calling the hiring manager and leaving them the following message:

I am presuming that you are no longer interested in me for the XYZ position. If you have not found your ideal candidate, I would be happy to recommend someone else for the position. Let me know if I can be of any help to you in filling this position.

If the hiring manager is still interested in you, they will reach out to you quickly. Earlier in my career, if I wanted someone to call me back, I would leave the following message:

Hey Larry, could you call me back about the planned gold shipment.

Larry would usually call me back because he wanted to know about this supposed gold shipment…which was fictitious.

Be Persistent and Quit Waiting

The idea for this blog post came from a presentation by Gary O’Neal, who presented at Launch Pad Job Club.

You may want to listen to my interview with Gary on the Repurpose Your Career Podcast called Gary O’Neal on Looking for a Job in the 2nd Half of Life [Podcast] where Gary talks about how he would approach a job search. He would not be waiting but be proactive.

Gary made it very clear that recruiters and hiring managers would like to respond to every applicant. The reality is that they have way too much on their plate. For every job posted, on average, there are 180 applicants.

The hiring process is broken at oh so many companies. Technology has made it way to easy to post and apply for positions that there is a glut of information that clogs up the system.

If you want to get hired for a job in the 2nd half of life, you need to quit waiting, be persistent and be a pest!

Marc Miller  

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How Do I Know That You Know Your Stuff? [Updated]

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Know Your Stuff

know your stuffHow do others know that you know your stuff?

Where are the proof points? Where do you keep examples of your work?

It is no longer acceptable to tell prospective employers that you accomplished X or Y—you need to demonstrate it. This is especially true if you are trying to make a pivot into a new area with new skills or into a new industry.

Building a Portfolio

I used to think that having a portfolio of your work was for creatives. When I taught High School math, the school system encouraged us to build a portfolio of lesson plans and teaching aids that we had developed. You then could use that portfolio to demonstrate that you knew your stuff.

Portfolios are not just for creatives anymore.

Rich Media on LinkedIn

You can now connect your LinkedIn profile to anything on the Internet. Rich media links can be attached to your LinkedIn Summary section and within each position in your LinkedIn Experience section. Plus, you can link to YouTube videos, presentations on Slideshare, articles you’ve written or been quoted in, or anything that demonstrates that you know your stuff.

You can also upload files to your LinkedIn profile. These could be PDFs, Excel spreadsheets, PowerPoint presentations, or anything the demonstrates that you know your stuff.

A good example of this was Steve, who I wrote about in the post, Introverted Sales Guy Job Search – Case Study. 

Steve was an account manager working for a company that made very specialized manufacturing equipment. We linked his LinkedIn profile to product pages of the products that he had the greatest success with. We wanted to demonstrate that he knew how to sell very complex products.

What if your work is proprietary in nature, or you do not own the material? Having worked for two tech startups, I have seen that first hand.

You need to get a little creative.

Create a Blog or Website

Create your own repository for material that demonstrates that you know your stuff. A great example of this is Daniel Elizalde. I will be writing about Daniel’s pursuit of changing industries as a product manager in the coming month. Daniel needed to demonstrate his expertise as a technical product manager. He created his blog called, TechnicalProductManagement.com, and he went about interviewing thought leaders in his new industry (Clean Tech). He built a repository of information that demonstrated that he had enough expertise in his new industry to be considered for a position. More on this in a few weeks.

Daniel’s blog is a classic example of creating a portfolio. He published on a regular schedule, once a month, and over time it became quite apparent that he knew what he was talking about!

Another good example is Alexander Buschek. You can listen to his story on the Repurpose Your Career podcast in Episode #72.

Alexander wanted to move into the world of digital transformation. This was an area that he had a lot of expertise in but no practical experience. He created the website  DigitalTransformationBlog.com where he published a whitepaper, blog posts, and videos that he could point to and say he knew his stuff.

It was from this website that he was invited to speak at multiple industry conferences about digital transformation, and later he landed his next job from being seen on stage at one of these conferences.

LinkedIn Publisher

I know you are saying to yourself building a website is a lot of work. Rather than publishing on your own property, you could publish on a rented property or a publishing platform. A good example is LinkedIn Publisher. Another option is Medium.com.

Let’s talk about LinkedIn Publish which is a free service that allows you to publish your own articles. They will appear on your LinkedIn profile. It is a professional, simple, and a low-cost way of demonstrating that you know your stuff.

It is very likely you have read one of these LinkedIn Publisher posts:

Each of these posts can be found on my LinkedIn profile. They are found via Google search every day.

Whether you choose to publish your work using LinkedIn Publisher, Medium or some other platform, you have a way to publish written content that you can point to that clearly demonstrates you know your stuff.

Podcasts

There are podcasts on just about any topic. Heck, there is even a Chameleon Breeders podcast. Podcasts hosts are always looking for guests to interview on their shows. It does not matter if the podcast is not very popular or is very new. Your goal is to get on a show that is well produced and do a good job in the interview to demonstrate that you know your stuff.

Recently, one of the members of the Career Pivot online community who is making a pivot into virtually and augmented reality (AR/VR) industry was able to procure a slot on an AR/VR podcast. He did a great job and that episode is now published on one of the major podcasting platforms, available via iTunes where anyone can listen to it. It was a great way for him to demonstrate he knows his stuff.

Think about creating your own podcast. I am a big fan of Pat Flynn and his website Smart Passive Income. Pat has a whole set of tutorials on creating a podcast. I am also a big fan of Dave Jackson and the School of Podcasting. I listen to both Pat’s and Dave’s podcasts every week.

Take Action

Building an online portfolio of work products is the best way to demonstrate that you know your stuff! This is a lot of work.

This will not happen overnight. Be persistent and the fruits of your labor will pay off.

What is the best way for you to demonstrate that you know your stuff?

Marc Miller  

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Should I Take the Buyout Package? [Updated]

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Buyout Package

buyout packageHave you or someone you know been offered a buyout package?  If you work for a large multi-national corporation or the US federal government, the answer is probably “yes.”

How do you determine whether to take it or not?

The idea for this post came from a New York Times article, Making Money Decisions When You Lose Your Job. I have also had multiple clients who were offered a buyout package or severance. You will find references to them in my post, 4 Signs That You Are Working for a Failing Company.  Rather interesting—I reposted that same material on LinkedIn Pulse and it went viral. Check out the comments.

I then recorded a podcast with Roger Whitney, the Retirement Answer Man, on this topic.

Note: This post was originally published in May of 2015 and updated in April of 2018.

Evaluating the Buyout Package

You need to consider the following:

  • Immediate financial needs
  • Tax implications
  • Health insurance
  • Provisions of the separation, including ‘non-compete’ clauses
  • Long-term financial needs
  • Mental health and well-being

Immediate Financial Needs of the Buyout Package

How are you going to make ends meet financially?

  • Check out unemployment benefits
  • Consult your financial adviser immediately
  • Perform a careful budget analysis. How much money do you actually need to live?

If you plan to return to work, a good rule of thumb is to allow one month of unemployment for every $10,000 of annual income. If you are making $100,000 annually, you can expect your job search to take 10 months.

As I update this post in April of 2018, the economy is humming right along but …. there is also a lot of age discrimination. I would plan on it taking longer than you think it will take to get back to full employment.

For a deep perspective on this topic read my post, How Long Will My Job Search Take?

Tax Implications

If you get a lump sum severance in the second half of the year AND you get 6 months or more of severance, you may move into a higher tax bracket…especially if you find work quickly.

I had one client get contract work within 6 weeks of being laid off. This was in the September/October time frame. He told his new employer to withhold payment until the following year. This helped him in two ways:

  1. He did not need the money now, and the extra money would’ve pushed him into a higher tax bracket
  2. He would receive a lump sum check in January, which was an emotional relief

If it is late in the year, you may be able to negotiate to delay receiving your severance until the following year. Larger multinational companies may not do this, but smaller companies will likely negotiate.

As the tax laws changed pretty extensively in 2018, please consult your tax accountant before you do anything.

Health Insurance

When I originally wrote this post back in 2015, I was encouraged by the availability of individual health insurance made available by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Well, that has exploded, especially if you are over the age of 60.

Are you eligible for COBRA? Will they offer you group health insurance via their retirement program?

No matter what, group health insurance via your employer is EXPENSIVE! It is good insurance, probably a PPO plan, but you will pay for it.

You paid for it indirectly via lower wages and your employer purchased it. Check last years W-2 statement. It clearly states what your employer spent on your health insurance. When you continue your company health insurance via COBRA, it will be pricey.

Now go to the either your state health insurance exchange or the federal exchange to check out prices. How do these compare to the COBRA options?

Are you eligible for Medicare? That is another maze that you will have to traverse.

Roger Whitney recorded a couple of excellent podcasts on healthcare before Medicare:

Your options have decreased considerably since I originally wrote this post back in 2015.

Provisions of the Separation, Including Non-Compete Clauses

Read through the separation agreement. I suggest you take it to your lawyer.

Do you have your original signing papers? For those of you who worked for many years at the company that you are separating from, the answer is probably no. You might ask for your personnel jacket from the company to see what they do have.

If you do have your originally signing papers, take that with you when you speak with a lawyer.

If you have a non-compete clause in your contract and you live in a right-to-work state like Texas, that non-compete is likely not enforceable. I cannot emphasize enough that consulting with an employment lawyer is money well spent.

Long-term financial needs

Review your retirement accounts with your financial adviser. When I left my last company, I was completely stressed out. My blood pressure was very high and I was becoming physically ill from working there. I had to get out.

I went to my financial adviser and asked, “Can I retire? Can I retire now?

After running numerous Monte Carlo simulations, the answer was yes. I had no plans to retire and I had already started Career Pivot legally, but it gave me peace of mind to know that I would be okay.

I have had multiple clients who have been offered both voluntary and involuntary packages. I always tell them to talk to their financial advisers.

I have also had clients who are extremely distrustful of the finance industry. I am a big fan of Hanson McClain Money Maters podcast. They have an excellent article on their website called How to Select a Financial Advisor Guide.

Mental Health and Well-Being

Your mental health and well-being are critical in evaluating a buyout package. One of the key factors to consider is that you will likely not have a paycheck. No matter how well prepared you are, emotionally giving up the paycheck is really difficult.

When I gave up the paycheck, I still woke up at 4 in the morning in a cold sweat saying to myself,

“I do not have a paycheck!!”

Do not underestimate the emotions that will surface. Find someone—a spouse, friend, counselor, clergy, social worker, etc.—to help you work through these emotions.

For a deep perspective on this topic read my post Demise of the Paycheck – Good Riddance.

When a buyout package is offered, evaluate it using expert advice. You may be tempted to wait for the next round.

When a buyout package is offered, the next round is almost never more lucrative.

Have you been offered a buyout package? Tell us about your experiences!
Marc Miller  

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4 Signs That You Are Working for a Failing Company [Updated]

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Are You Working for a Failing Company?

failing companyI have multiple clients who currently work for failing companies.

These companies fall into a variety of industries:

  • High Technology
  • Pharmaceutical
  • Telecommunications
  • Oil and Gas

Each of them has worked for these companies for many years. Do they see the signs that the businesses are failing?

Well…they see it, but it is easier to bury their head in the sand than to admit they really need to get out!

This is a very dangerous strategy given the acceleration of creative destruction that is blowing through whole industries.

So, what are the signs?

Note: This post was originally published in February of 2015 and was updated in April of 2018.

Repetitive Layoffs, RIF, Resource Action, or Redundancy

I have one client who works for a major pharmaceutical company. The building is starting to look like a cemetery—hardly a living being there. When there are more open desks than filled, that is a sure sign that you are working for a failing business.

How many times have I heard, I made it through the last layoff – I am safe!

When a company is downsizing there are several factors in how they do it. First, they will eliminate contract labor, that is easy. Next, they will start preparing to layoff staff in different locations and/or geographies. It is much easier to lay off staff in the U.S. than in Europe and it is easier to lay off employees in right-to-work states. Some states have thresholds on the size of the layoff. If they do not exceed that threshold, they do not need to report the layoff to the state.

Depending on your location it will affect the timing of the layoff. Do not think because you were not laid off but someone else was at a different location means you are safe.

No, it is not if you get laid off, but when.

This may well be a sign of a failing company!

Circling of the Wagons

This can typically be seen in upper-level management, where the old guard circles the wagons and protect their own. One symptom I have been seeing is bright up and coming women being pushed out by older, more established men. You might call this the return of the “good old boy” network.

This usually happens before a major layoff. Upper management starts to maneuver themselves into prime positions before they screw everyone else.

We have seen this multiple times in the tech industry with their male bias in hiring. You might want to check out Bloomberg’s Decrypted podcast April 14th, 2018 episode called A Female Engineer’s Fight for Equal Pay at Google.

This may well be a sign of a failing company!

Generous Pension Buyout Offers

I’ve had many clients who have been offered lucrative pension buyout offers. They are “take it or leave it” offers, with the requirement that they retire. Most of these clients have been at their companies 30+ years, and are not in a position to retire (with children heading off to college, a spouse with health issues, other mitigating factors, etc.).

They tell me, “If I can last just five more years…” Their response is almost entirely based on fear of the unknown. These are not times to make decisions solely based on your emotion.

But beware—these offers expire quickly and will never be offered again. I tell them, “They want you gone! Figure out how to make it work!”

You really need to seek outside financial advice. If you do not have a financial advisor, I suggest you find a fee-based advisor who can give you a third-party viewpoint.

This reminds me of 1999 when IBM converted my pension to a cash balance plan and then switched it back for everyone who was over forty years of age. Oh yeah, minus a whole bunch of perks—like health insurance. A former boss of mine said:

They took it away and gave it back, they would never do that again.

IBM stopped funding the pension in 2008. I left in 2000 with a lump sum pension payout. In hindsight, it was the best financial move I ever made! The individual who replaced me at IBM was better at the position than I was and he was laid off 3 years later. I dodged the bullet.

This may well be a sign of a failing company!

Management Bad Behavior

Have you seen bullying behavior? Have your manager’s emails become more and terser? Do you feel like you are being shouted at in e-mails?

These are all signs of stress in the workplace. When a business is failing and in a tailspin, there is more work to be done by the few that are left. Stress levels increase exponentially. This brings out the worst behavior.

We all saw this during the great recession. When things were spiraling down management bad behavior became rampant.

This may well be a sign of a failing company!

Do Not Ignore the Signs of Working for a Failing Company or Industry

Does any of this sound familiar? If so, you may be working for a failing company.

It may be time to move on in your career! You should never ignore these signs.

Disruptive technologies like mobile communications, cloud computing, and fracking are wreaking havoc on many long-established multinational giant companies.

Playing it safe in your career is the new risky!

Marc Miller  

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