Because networking is so important to your job search, it is not just job-specific contacts that you need to track. Family, friends, colleagues, classmates, acquaintances, and any new contacts specifically for your job search all should be cataloged in one master list or database. Even people who do not seem relevant to your search now may turn out to be relevant:
- They know someone else who is relevant (remember the networking 2x2 matrix in Chapter 7).
- They have resources or services (e.g., color printer, copyediting skills) relevant to your job search activity.
- They are encouraging motivators.
By keeping all of your contacts in one overall list, you easily can move people into and out of search priority and are always reminded that everyone is a potential help to your search.
Your overall contact list should include, but not be limited to the following:
- Names
- Mailing address
- E-mail address
- Phone numbers (distinguished by home, work, cell, or other)
Your contact list should also be categorized by relationship:
- Family
- Close friends
- Colleagues
- Classmates
- Service providers
You can also categorize each contact by priority. Some salespeople will classify contacts in their database in order of how hot the prospect is—that is, how close they are to buying. You might want to categorize by priority of how much contact you want to maintain over the year:
- A-level contacts are people with whom you want to maintain close contact.
- B contacts are people whom you might contact every month or every several months.
- C contacts are people whom you contact just once a year—at the holidays, for example.
You want to maintain your C relationships, but you are not trying to grow them. B contacts are people you are trying to get to know better. B contacts might become A or C contacts once you have a better sense of the relationship.
When you categorize your contacts, you are able to sort and find people for your exact needs. If you need a favor, you would look through family and close friends. If you have a general professional question, you may start with colleagues. If you are working on networking, you might want to look at B contacts specifically so you can find the people you already tagged as those with whom you want to expand the relationship.
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