{"id":546,"date":"2011-07-05T05:15:59","date_gmt":"2011-07-05T09:15:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/?p=546"},"modified":"2011-06-18T11:20:25","modified_gmt":"2011-06-18T15:20:25","slug":"share-lead-or-referral-expectations-upfront","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/2011\/07\/share-lead-or-referral-expectations-upfront\/","title":{"rendered":"Share Lead or Referral Expectations, Upfront"},"content":{"rendered":"
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During a job search there are a lot of expectations, most expectations you believe are understood.\u00a0 Yet you may or may not be surprised to learn that the unspoken rules are often only your rules or expectations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

You must be clear about your expectations, the leads, referrals, and help you want or you won\u2019t get help.\u00a0 You must communicate your expectations in a clear way.<\/p>\n

Weekly, I talk to hundreds of people who say they want to land the ideal job, yet they struggle with how to do so.\u00a0 About 50% say they go to networking events, connect online and in person and never get a referral or a lead.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sometimes they are mad, on the verge of tears, or ready to just throw in the towel.\u00a0 They feel as if they are begging for help, working so hard yet never make progress or get the help they want. They want help but don\u2019t know what to do or where to find help.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is referrals and leads don\u2019t always come as quickly as we\u2019d like, for most of us it feels awkward coming right out and asking for a referral (so, we beat around the bush), and even when we do ask directly it is at the last minute, like a day or two before an interview or when you see a job posting for the job you want.\u00a0 Is this true for you?<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what\u2019s going on – you believe<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – you communicate your expectations and that\u00a0you want help,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0– you help others everyday (you keep score, too),<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – you ask for leads or referrals,<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – you clearly communicate you expect a lead or referral, and<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 – you clearly communicate the exact job or referral you want.\u00a0<\/p>\n

However the message is so diluted or cryptic, even I need a \u2018magic decoder ring\u2019 or to ask lots of questions to get a clear idea of how I can help.<\/p>\n

If\u00a0who, you are talking to or connecting with don\u2019t have the foggiest idea what referral is good, what job\u00a0you want, or what company is a good referral for you, trust me, life is too busy for them to stop and figure it out.\u00a0 Not to sound like I am bragging, but I am better at sorting this out than the average person, because that is what I do!\u00a0 So, if I don\u2019t have a clue, I guarantee others are clueless too!\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Do you have a clear message?\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Are you receiving leads or referrals?<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Would you like help to craft a message in a way to ask for referrals that does not feel awkward?<\/p>\n

Well, there is a whole list of things you can do to be clear and ask for referrals and leads to accelerate your job search, land the job you want at the salary you deserve and with less stress.\u00a0 Here\u2019s one for networking introductions:
\n\u00a0
\n\u201cAs you know most job leads come via networking and word-of-month referrals, I am a __insert your profession or the job title you are seeking<\/em>___, I would like to help you, learn more about what you do, share leads and offer you referrals, please connect with me by email at xxx@gmail.com<\/a> or ask me for my business card so I can learn more than 30 seconds worth of what you do.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why, does it work?\u00a0<\/p>\n

It is a clear message.\u00a0 It tells what you do, how you will help, it makes it easy to connect with you, it gives you an opportunity to learn about what someone else does, it clearly sets the expectation of sharing leads and offering referrals and in creates an opportunity to connect with you to learn exactly what you do, what type of job you want to land and what type of referrals and leads you want.<\/p>\n

Be sure you are prepared to continue the clear communication when someone contacts you and you plan to meet.\u00a0\u00a0 Here is one more tip, if you need help with your message, join the Q & A calls and ask for help or feedback on your message.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Being prepared, having a clear message and planting the seed\u00a0early in all interactions and relationships,\u00a0sets the expectation upfront and ensures more\u00a0leads and referrals \u2013 guaranteed!<\/p>\n

I love success stories and comments.\u00a0 Will you share yours?\u00a0 Add your comment or success story below.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During a job search there are a lot of expectations, most expectations you believe are understood.\u00a0 Yet you may or may not be surprised to learn that the unspoken rules are often only your rules or expectations.\u00a0 You must be clear about your expectations, the leads, referrals, and help you want or you won\u2019t get […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26,7,25],"tags":[5,10,141],"class_list":["post-546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-action-tips","category-job-search-focus","category-networking","tag-focus","tag-job-search","tag-networking"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/546\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/accelerateyoursearchnow.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}