It occurred to me that there are a variety of different types of Job seekers out there. Each one has some things to consider when they are in that state of mind. The advice that you are given may or may not be useful to you depending on your state. Additionally, there are a variety of different types of help you need depending on your state. These are the types that have come to me off the top of my head based on the different types of people I’ve worked with in the last two years.

I need ANY job so I can eat

Few people are actually in this state, but many people feel like they are. With a little bit of help from unemployment, some tightening of the belt and some crafty negotiation with creditors – most job seekers are not actually in this state. If you are actually a job seeker who is in this unfortunate desperate state, then the reality is you can’t afford to be choosy. For them, I suggest that you must make per hour in order to live on your bare minimum expenses and then go and find any job so that your bills can get paid. You may even need to take on multiple jobs. You can’t afford not to act. You can not hide behind the apply button. You must get out and talk to real people and beat down every door in your path. Once you get that job that will allow you to pay your bills then you must commit every extra moment you have to getting out there and talking to people to find a better job. You have taken a survival job and it will most likely kill you if you stay (because of the stress of living at bare-bones). Do not give up the hunt once you get this job.

I really don’t care what kind of job it is, I just need a job

At this state in the job search process you are either desperate or beaten down. Both of which are going to come out when you interview with someone. While it’s not as bad as the previous step, it’s a really uncomfortable process for both you and the employer. Take care to note whether or not you are truly in this state or whether you have just become unfocused and misguided. This is another situation where you must review what it takes to live at bare-bones and get out there and find someone who is going to hire you for that amount. Expect to be well underpaid for your efforts. A company is not going to want to put any more into you than they have to because they know you are going to jump ship at the first possible moment (as well you should). Again you have to be out there physically beating down the doors and see who is willing to hire you. You have no time to waste sitting behind the apply button and expecting for a response to come up. You will be turned down countless times because people can read the desperation in your demeanor. Expect that rejection from everyone and don’t hold out any hopes until you show up for your first day on the job. Again, realize that once you take that job you can not afford to stay there for the rest of your life. Keep all of your job search activities going full throttle. Both the employer and you should know that there is no loyalty when you take a job from this frame of mind. They could end up firing you after only a few weeks, so it’s essential that you keep up all of your job search activities during the hours when you aren’t working.

It’s time for me to take a survival job, but I don’t want to

This is an increasingly better state to be in. You’ve probably been out there looking for a while. You had hoped that you would find your perfect job. You may have even turned down some less than perfect job offers. In this state, you typically have a little bit of running room but not much. So, for people who are in this state start considering jobs that you can tolerate. At this state you should be looking for something that meets slightly more than your bare-bones budget because you need to start saving up. Frequently people take survival jobs because they really can’t put their fingers on what they actually want in a job. If you are in this state, go and take the survival job, conciously knowing that that is what you are doing. Save up some money so that you can hire some career coaches to help give you guidance in the next direction that you should head. If you know what you want to do and the opportunity just hasn’t come up, take the survival job so you can relax a little and pay your bills. However, in all cases you need to continue to look for that job that you love. Continue all your job search activities. Don’t let the everyday activities of the job wear you out to keep you from networking. Stay on the hunt.

I took a survival job and I’m miserable

This is kind of a good point to be in if you have the extra time to keep searching for the job you want. Your bills are getting paid so you don’t come off desperate anymore. Every other position and opportunity gets reviewed against this job. This is when you can better understand which job offers to turn down and which to proceed with. You must be out there networking and meeting people. I would suggest working with a good career coach to help you identify where you want to work and how to shift your focus to allow you to get there. You just have to take special caution not to get caught up in the daily activities of your job so much that you are too tired to focus on your job search outside of work hours. If you do find another job, see if you can find another job seeker who needs a survival job to put in your place. They will appreciate it.

I’m not working right now and I have some time to figure out what I want to do next

I like working with these people. Unfortunately most people when they are first laid off don’t realize they are actually in this state. They try to take some time off first and then start looking once they start to hear the other fears creep in. If you have the extra means and income, I would suggest working with a career coach to help you to focus in and help you understand what it is that you’d like to do next and where you would like to do it. If you don’t have the income, you have the luxury of time to do some research. Start trying to look into free resources that can help you focus. It will take longer if you don’t have the money for someone to fast track you, but you’ll still be ahead of the game and on your way to finding something that you will love going forward.

I’m currently working but I’d like a better job

84% of the current workforce would love to get another job this year. Lots and lots of people are unhappy with what they are currently doing. This state is different than being in the survival job state. You have some time and some money to start to figure things out. The trap with this state is that you waver day to day on whether or not you really want to leave the job you already have. People get scared that there is nothing better and that the grass isn’t greener. I’m here to say if you’re unhappy, there is a better option out there for you. Again, at this point I suggest that you find a good career coach to work with you to help you to add some structure and focus to your search. Because you don’t have the luxury of having a lot of extra time (like those who currently aren’t working) you need help to get focused better on your dreams and goals. If you don’t want to hire a career coach, then I suggest that you find a good friend who’s not emotionally tied to you to help you with your search. Find a mentor who can help you to get focused and motivated.

I’m bored with what I’ve been doing and I want to do something else

Like the state above this one you’re in that 84% bucket. However, the difference is that you’re looking to make a dramatic career change. If you are in this frame of mind, I suggest that you make sure to save up some extra cash. Rule of thumb is 6 months to a year worth of bills. While I suggest that you stay in your job until you find your next role, you might discover that there’s extra training that you need before you can step right into it. You may also take a pay cut at first in your new role because you are a “newbie” instead of an “experienced hire”. However, most people find that within 6 months to a year they end up working their way back up to a reasonable salary. If you already know what your dream job would be, great! Start researching who’s doing that and how to get that kind of a job. If you just know that you’re bored then you should look into hiring a career coach to help you to figure out what you’d prefer to be doing.

So, I ask you to consider what kind of a job seeker you are and what kind of help you might need with your search. I do realize that I have emphasized Career Coaching. While it is a little self serving, I have chosen to do this as a career because I believe in the power behind it. I do it because I want to help people not because I think I’m going to get rich doing it. Consider where you are in your search and take the appropriate actions because of it.

Today I was talking to Job Seekers about what happens with job searches during this period between Thanksgiving and New Year’s.  The simply answer is it depends on the individuals and the companies.   Believe it or not LOTS of people get hired during the month of December.  It’s also the reality that lots of people get laid off during the month of December (especially at publicly traded companies – in an effort to reduce headcount on the books).

In some companies, things slow down during December.  This is especially true of consulting and services companies.  People don’t want to start up a new project during the month of December.  Additionally, a lot of clients wait until the new year to have a budget available to work on a new project.  During this timeframe, many hiring managers who have been running a million miles an hour finally have a chance to breath and an opportunity to look into people they would like to hire.  They want these people to be in place and running by the time things crank up again in mid January.

Other companies will wait until the beginning of the year to start their hiring because that is when they will have new budget available.  Many of these companies will have been without headcount for over 6 months waiting for approval of a new budget.  They will be looking to hire fast to make up for the people they have had to go without.   Many of these companies will start the process in January with the desire to have hired the people they need to hire by the beginning of March.  December is a great time to get some feelers out there to see who will be hiring in January so you can be at the front of the line when the position is released.  Some companies will even start the search process in December so they can be ready to hire when the budget is released in January.

So, for those of you who think that things will dry up and you’ll have nothing to do in December, think again.

The question then becomes what should you be doing in order to prepare yourself for this hiring frenzy.

1) Make sure you have several flavors of your resume polished and ready to go
2) Make a list of the companies that you are targeting and start paying careful attention to them
3) Start setting up conversations/meetings with people

This is a perfect time of year to reach out to friends and family to get them to help you in your search.  You’ll be going to many different holiday parties and seeing people you only see once a year.  Take this time to talk to your friends and family to make sure that they know what you do.  Ask them if they have any contacts at the companies that you are targeting.  Ask for introductions to people who can help you with your search.  It’s also a great time to send a “Year in Review” letter where you can talk about your year and include the fact that you need assistance in your search.  Tell them what you are looking for (in an abbreviated fashion) as well as the companies that you are targeting.

Take all this time that you are spending with people this holiday season and use it to your advantage in your job search.

However, be careful not to let your job search monopolize the conversation.  Make your request and be done with it.  That’s the beauty of keeping things very specific and to the point.

The power of positive thinking really works.  If you don’t believe me, give it a try for one week and see how it might change your life.

I had a 6 month long problem that was constantly weighing over my head.  Every two weeks I had to make a phone call that I dreaded because I feared what the outcome would be.  The outcome was such that it prolonged my agony again until I called back again every two weeks.  I got no traction and it was a difficult process every time.

So, last week I decided to do something different.  Whenever a negative thought came into my mind regarding the situation I switched what I was thinking about. I thought about something that made me happy.  Maybe it was a recent lunch with a good friend.  Maybe it was a good movie that I watched the other day.  Maybe it was thoughts of sitting outside in beautiful weather.  Regardless when the thought came up (as it often did) I chose not to think about it.  There was nothing I could do about it at that moment anyway.

So, the time came and I needed to make my phone call that I made every two weeks. I spent thirty minutes before the call putting all the positive thoughts that I could into what the outcome would be.  “I HAVE WHAT I WANT”  (when you’re doing this don’t say you want something because they you don’t believe you have it) “RESOLUTION HAS COME SWIFT AND EASILY”  “I LOVE THE WAY I FEEL ABOUT THE OUTCOME”.

Anytime a negative thought would enter I would repeat those words.  Then I would sit and imagine how I would feel when I achieved the outcome that I searched for.

After I felt confident that I believed what I had been thinking for the last 30 minutes, I picked up the phone.  I made the call.  This time instead of the phone call taking an hour and a half (as it normally did) it took two and a half hours.  I was able to reach further into the pit of supervisors than I had gone before.  I really thought it was finally time for me to get resolution on this issue.  At the end of the call I was defeated and deflated.  the issue had been resolved but not in my favor.  I was scrambling for whatever my next options might be.

I cried for a while. I called friends. I told my story to anyone who might listen.  Then I realized that my little affirmations had not been met. Not a single statement was true.  So, I sat and took every bit of stubbornness tha I could muster in place and said.. DAMNIT, I SAID!!  “I have what I want.  Resolution has come swift and easily.  I love the way I feel about the outcome”.  And I let it go and I stopped worrying. I believed beyond a shadow of a doubt that all would be well.  I took a few actions that would have pushed in that direction anything that I thought I felt like was the right thing to achieve my outcome.

Yesterday, I got a letter in the mail. It was dated the date that I had my two and a half hour phone call.  Even though the message I received that day was that there was no hope.  Hope showed up anyway.  The letter told me that I (after 6 months of fighting and fear and worry) finally got the outcome that I had wanted.

Moral to this story…

1) If there’s no action you can take, dismiss the worry and negative thoughts
2) Come up with statements (written in the present tense – as if it has already happened) that communicate your outcome
3) Spend a few minutes a day thinking about what it will feel like (emotion is the key) when you achieve the outcome – if negative thoughts come in reread your statements
4) Look for actions that you might be able to take that will drive your outcome
5) Believe that it is possible to receive your outcome
6) Gather the support of others around you by telling them about your outcome and ask them to see it happen for you as well

I think that #5 is the most important.  If you can’t believe it will happen then all the rest is wasting your time.  You might need to start out by believing something smaller might happen so that you can learn to trust the process.  For example, instead of believing you’ll get your dream job maybe you can believe that you’ll run into someone who knows someone who works for the company.  Start with the believable and build from there.

And let me know what you create.  I’ll post this out to my blog.  Add your comments as you’re able to create new outcomes for yourself.

Job Posting Newsletter

You should have recieved the first Job Posting Newsletter this morning.  Currently, my friend Alex Brandon is helping me to compile all of the job postings from recruiters and headhunters that I know and trust.  Each of them have promised that your submission will not fall into a blackhole.

If you start to get “wins” with the Job Posting Newsletter, I want to hear about it.  If you have a good experience with the recruiter/headhunter I want to know about it.  If you have a bad experience with the recruiter/headhunter I want to know about it.  If you recieve an interview via the process, I want to know about it.  If you receive an offer, I want to know about it.  If you accept an offer I want to know about it.

My hope is that this will start to change the way that job seekers are treated during their job search.

Most people fear change.  Individuals will go through extreme situations in order for things to remain stable.  In my opinion fear of the unknown is the greatest fear for people to overcome.   Changing your career is one of the toughest transitions to make.

Fear’s ugly little step brother is “EGO”.  Ego causes us to create negative thoughts that are not always based in reality and consume us with worry and doubt. This worry and doubt will eventually paralyze you from taking any action.  Panic and anxiety will consume you.

Everyone who’s ever been caught up in a lengthy career transition has gone through this cycle.  I was asked recently how you get out of it.

The first thing you have to do is face the fear.  Don’t run from it or pretend it isn’t there.  It’s still going to be there lurking in the corner waiting for you until you decide to come to terms with it. Understand what it is and where it comes from.   Sit with it and make sure you understand what is real about your fear and what is not real.  Write it down so that you know that you have given that fear the time it deserves and you have considered it and then forget about it.

As humans, our natural state of being is to be happy and loving.  All the rest is the stuff that we make up.

In order to distance yourself from the fear, spend some time thinking about what 6 months from now is going to look like for you.  Where would you like to be?  Paint a very realistic picture of a happier time and place that you can feel comfortable with.  It is essential that you believe that you can get there.  However, make sure that it is as optimistic of an outcome that you can come up with. Write it down.

Once you get comfortable with what 6 months from now looks like start to list out the things that you must be doing 3 months from now in order to meet that goal. What does your life look like 3 months from now? What actions are you still going to need to take in order to meet your 6 month goal.  Get really comfortable in your thoughts of what 3 months from now is going to look like. Write it down.

Once you get comfortable with what 3 months from now looks like start to think about where you need to be 1 month from now in order to accomplish your 3 month goal.  Again, paint as realistic and optimistic of a picture that you possibly can.  Then start to think about what actions you will start to take every single day in order to get to your 1 month, 3 month and 6 month goal.  If you are taking actions that oppose those goals, stop doing them.  Everything you do should be in alignment with those goals.

The next part is the hardest part, as you find yourself thinking thoughts that are not in alignment with your goal you need to stop your thoughts at that very moment. Think about something else, anything else.  At first this will be hard, the fear will come back to you frequently.  Each time, tell it to scram. That fear is just taking your focus away from your end goal.  If it really becomes overwhelming, then allow yourself 30 minutes to sit with the fear, write it out and process it and let it go again.  Then get up and look at the actions you must be taking in order to reach your goals.  Taking action towards the positive will start to shift your focus quickly.

Eventually you’ll find that that fear isn’t getting the attention that it wants. You don’t have time for it anymore.  It will start to give up.  It will come to your mind less and less frequently. Eventually it will get to a point where it just becomes a little annoyance “Oh, you again? What are you doing here?  Didn’t I tell you to leave already? Go on with your badself.  You aren’t welcome here anymore.”

To emphasize the point you will start to see your goals being met and you will begin to have faith that the outcome that you have seen in your 6 month picture is now becoming a reality.

Skeptical?  Try it anyway.  Let me know how it goes.

A general theme this week has been around what to do about the deafening silence.

You’ve all heard me say that the Apply Button is a blackhole.  6% of all job seekers will find their way through the blackhole and into a job.  However, I would encourage you not to make that your entire bet or you’ll be looking for a while.   The first thing you must do in this situation is to find yourself a champion within the company who will help to get you through that initial filtering mechanism and onto the first phone screen.

However, many people find themselves past the phone screen only to start in on the waiting game.

The summertime is hard.  Decision Makers are out of town.  Companies are short staffed.  The job search may even be put on hold in order to address more critical issues.  So, communication slows down a lot.  Which really sucks because the companies will lose some of their best candidates during this process of indecision because they’ll go get the attention of another company.

We’re running into a period right now where school is starting up again. People across organizations are learning to work within entirely new routines.  This causes a lot of shifting and moving and slows down responsiveness as well.

So, the question becomes, if a job seeker has a champion (or touch point) within an organization, how should they go about getting their attention?

My first thought is that the job search is like dating.  You don’t want to come off as desperate.  You don’t want to annoy the person by overcontacting them when they are busy.   However, if you don’t show any attention to them at all then they won’t show interest back to you.  Tie in the fact that you are very emotional about where your next paycheck (or date) may come from and you’ve just got a mess.

So, my general rule of thumb is this:

If you are still in the filtering process (no phone screen yet) – contact your touchpoint (or champion) once a week
If you have moved past initial phone screen and waiting for a second interview – contact your touchpoint once a week
If you are in the interview process – ask them how often they plan to correspond with you – then contact them once a week to make sure it is flowing smoothly
If you are in the offer process -  you can step it up and contact them every few days or so

Make sure that you are approaching them at different times of the day.   Contact them both via email and phone because some people prefer one technology over the other.  Monday’s are bad days because people are just starting their work week.  Friday’s are bad because people are just trying to get whatever they can get done done so they can take off for the weekend.

It is very frustrating.  I wish I could communicate to companies how essential it is to provide quick responses (even if it’s bad news).   My only hope is that each of you will remember it when you are in a place to hire someone and you can learn to do better with those job seekers.

Most people take the strategy of going out and looking at a bunch of job postings via their favorite job board or job board aggregator.  When they find a job that matches the title, the go and read the job description. If they think they are a fit for a job then they go and they hit the “Apply Button” which will allow them to upload their resume and perhaps ask a few screening questions.   If there are a lot of jobs that are posted for a position, then maybe that job seeker will decide to do a little research on the company and see if they find it interesting.   Most people never isolate a particular industry in which they are a fit.  They just think “I’m a Project Manager and I can work in any Project Management Position.  I just need a job”.  In the meantime, they are competing with a bunch of other project managers who are doing the same thing.  The recruiter who has to read through all these resumes has to scan through them all and figure out which one is going to be a fit.   That whole resume scan thing, that’s a whole different story.

If you are one of those people, I’m going to encourage you to look at it from a different angle.

Instead, I want you to look at all the possible industries that are available in Austin.  Which one really interests you?  Which one would allow you to wake up every single morning and be happy to go to work?

Do you get a buzz off of the latest and greatest technology?  Are you fascinated by renewable energy?  Do you like to pay attention to all of the cutting edge medical break throughs that happen over time?   Are you interested in eventually going and working abroad and you want to help companies go global?

For each and every person it’s different (and thank goodness). We all have different things that spark our interest and curiousity.

So, consider if you could pick your top 3 favorite industries, what would they be?

Then you have to figure out what are your boundaries.   Are you willing to travel?  Do you need a strong benefits plan? Do you enjoy working 60 – 80 weeks on something exciting? Or would you rather work 20 hours a week and still get to spend a lot of time with your kids?  Do you want to bring your dog to work?  Do you like the same routine every single day or would you like to have a different challenge every day?  Do you want to work for a giant company where you have lots of opportunity to move into different roles?  Do you want to work for a small company where everything you do every day impacts the direction of the company?

Once you know your industries and your boundaries, that’s when you start to look at which companies in Austin do those things.  There are 40K companies in Austin.  Half of those companies are teensy tiny (5 employees or less).  Depending on which half you are looking for, you still have about 20K companies to sift through to figure out which ones are in the industries that you would most enjoy.

Once you have identified the companies, that’s when you start to talk about ways you can impact a company which ultimately lead you to a job.

Heading from the top down approach you will end up with a job that you love.  A place where you can go and spend the hours of your life and be really happy doing whatever it is that YOU want to do.

Having trouble figuring this out?  That’s what Career Coaches are for.

This week’s tip of the week has to do with Questions. There are so many different ways that questions are used in a job search. Most people just think about the questions they may be asked in an interview, but they don’t consider all the other questions that go along the way.

• In Information/Discovery Mode, you are asking all kinds of questions about companies and industries.
• In Referral Mode, you are asking all your friends for help to be able to talk to people.
• In Interview Mode, you are being asked questions to determine whether you are a functional,behavioral and cultural fit for a role.
• In Decision Mode, you are asking questions that will help you determine whether you’re interested in taking the position.

Questions are everywhere.

Have you spent time thinking about which questions are important to ask when you are finding out information about companies and industries? Do you know what you expect to hear in response? Do you know what an acceptable response is?

Have you spent time thinking about which questions you can ask when you are looking for a referral? Have you thought about how you might respond in order for people to identify the best possible referral for you? Have you mastered the art of asking for help?

Have you identified what kinds of questions people might ask you in an interview? Do you know what your response will be to those questions? Do you know what your strengths are and how to make those come out in an interview? Do you know how to flip a question so that you can showcase your strengths while still answering the initial question? Do you know how to convert a bad interview into a productive conversation?

Have you identified where your boundaries lie in what you will accept in your next position? Do you know what you are willing to accept in a benefits package? Do you know what kind of a culture you need to be able to work in? Do you know how to find out if a company has that kind of culture?

When you are considering questions, don’t try to take them on all at once or you will quickly become overwhelmed. Instead, put aside time to set aside one section at a time. So, if you are about to go to a networking event, think about how you will identify a good referral source. If you are about to meet with a friend over coffee, think about what kind of discovery questions might be appropriate.

In the upcoming weeks, I intend to create a workbook and run some workshops surrounding this whole concept of Questions During your Job Search. Until then, consider what I’ve placed in front of you today and start thinking about questions and responses on your own.

By my definition a recruiter is someone who works for a company who is responsible for the hiring process.  A Headhunter is an individual employed by a staffing company who is looking for individuals to fill a role at a company.

Since I used to be a headhunter, many people ask me questions about how to interact with them.

The reality right now is that companies are just now starting to pay headhunters to go find talent.  In the recent past many headhunters would “source” talent without an open position causing people to get their hopes up for opportunities that just aren’t there.

Good headhunters will call you back and keep up with you and let you know the status of what is going on with their searches.  Bad headhunters will only contact you if they think they can make immediate money on you.

The other challenge is when headhunters submit you for a position without your knowledge.  Frequently you’ll have two headhunters working on your behalf and both will submit you to the same position which will then cause you to be removed from the running for this position. This is ESPECIALLY true when it comes to government positions.

So, my word to you with working with headhunters is to find one that you like and you trust and you’ve built good rapport with them.  However, do not rely on them as the only tool in your arsenal.

There’s a magical feeling that comes over people when we hang a new calendar on a wall and call it a new year. We reflect back on the past year and what we might have done differently. We are excited and hopeful towards the new year in front of us.

How do you leverage all this excitement and hope and put it towards reaching your new goals?

The first thing I would encourage you to do is to review the last year. Start two lists one for all the wins/successes/gains of the last year and one for all the challenges and learning experiences.

With the wins/gains/successes look at the actions that you took to generate those powerful moment. Sit in the moment and revel in it. You did some great things last year, appreciate them and savor them. Based on the actions that you took that led up to those moments, start to generate a list of actions that you would like to take in the new year to generate more of these great results.

With the challenges and learning experiences examine them closely. There is a gift in every challenge that is presented to us. If you can find that gift then the challenge no longer seems like a challenge. What did you learn from each of these items that were presented to you? Given the knowledge you have now what actions would you take differently? Add to your list of actions above to include actions that you’d like to take now based on what you have learned in the past year.

After you’ve played with those two lists, look at the action items that have been presented and see if there are any other actions that you’d like to take that are not already included. Is there a theme of these actions? Can they be consolidated into a particular action idea?

Are you comfortable with all of the actions that you have outlined for yourself? For the ones that you aren’t, why aren’t you comfortable with those actions? Are you afraid to take some of them? If so, why? Do you know anyone who can help you to move through those fears and hesitations? Do not feel as though you must take all these actions alone.

2011 is the year of action. This is the year that we stop being afraid and we just act. We know what we should be doing. It’s time to give up all the excuses and just start to do it. Ask for help when you need to, but ACT.

Look at your list of actions and see if they are “Goals”, “Action Items” or “Habits”. “Goals” are something that you put out in front of yourself that tell you when you have succeeded at something. A “goal” might be “I want to find a job”. However, within each goal there are a set of “Action Items” that you must take in order to meet the goals. They are all the baby steps along the way that will help you to reach your goal. A “action item” might be “Follow up with my friend who wanted to set up a meeting with me. Then there are “Habits”. “Habits” are something that you do on a repeatable basis that allow you to achieve a goal. A “habit” might be “Contact 3 new people a week”. Divide your action list into it’s pieces.

When you start to tackle your list, take it in bite size pieces. What is really possible for you to accomplish in a day, a week, a month? Prioritize your list based on what is the most important thing to be doing.

I know that none of this is new to you… We have all been taught to set goals and actions and habits. This is just a friendly reminder that when you feel stuck and you have this great power behind you to do something. The best thing you can do is ACT. Don’t hesitate. Don’t be fearful. Just act. Nothing can be accomplished until you set your mind to it and go out and DO IT.

Bridge ATX produces a Job Seeker Newsletter that you can sign up for via http://www.bridgeatx.com/newsletter.html.

The concept of walking into a room full of strangers and starting a conversation with them is very intimidating to most people.  Many networking events have used the concept of Icebreakers to help people to overcome this fear.

For example, you might walk into a room and you are given a piece of paper that says “Wilma Flinstone”  and you are told that somewhere in the sea of people someone holds a similar piece of paper that says “Fred Flinstone”.   As you go around the room you start to ask people “Are you Fred Flinstone”?  And because they are all playing the game with you they say “No, I’m Dr. Jekyll” or “I’m sorry I’m Luke Duke”.  However, over the course of the evening when you start to ask “Are you Fred Flinstone”  you might start to get the response “No, I’m Barbie – but I met Fred Flinstone a few minutes ago”. Or you may even get “No, I’m Minnie Mouse, but Fred Flinstone is that girl over there in the pink dress”. (Yes, in this case your gender doesn’t have to match the gender on your card).  Eventually if you ask enough people you will either find Fred Flinstone directly OR you will find someone who knows Fred Flinstone.

So, I challenge you to come up with your own ice breaker the next time you go to a networking event.  What is it that you want to know?  Do you want to know companies who are hiring in Austin? Do you want to know which companies are doing something with Social Media?  Do you want to know someone who works for a company that you are targeting?  Determine what your question will be BEFORE you go to the event and then spend the time at the event asking people your question.  Not everyone will have an answer to your questions (just like not everyone is Fred Flinstone).  However, if you ask enough people eventually you will find your answer.

See if this helps the next time you go to a networking event.