Second Military Careers - Military Times

To get a job, focus on networking

When Jason Alba was laid off from his management position in information technology, he wasn’t too worried. After all, he had great skills that were in demand and an MBA, and people seemed to like him.

So, he did all the stuff he thought he was supposed to do: He sent out some résumés, applied for several positions and waited for the calls to start coming in.

He waited. And waited some more. He had heard the old adage that for every $10,000 you earn, you are out of work for one month. He thought that was crazy — he couldn’t wait months and months to get a job. Like everyone else in this world, he had bills to pay.

So he sent out some e-mails and made some phone calls. No one returned his messages. Alba was thoroughly frustrated and confused.

“People used to reply to my e-mails when I was a manager and laugh at my jokes,” Alba says. “Now, they were too snooty to reply to me. It was almost a class change.”

Alba visited the large job boards online and found a wealth of information on interviewing for a job and how to be successful in a career. He also read stories about the unemployment rate, but was again frustrated because those numbers didn’t reflect his city or his situation.

Two months into his job search, Alba had an idea: What if regular job seekers, like himself, had a tool that was powerful and affordable and could help manage and organize a job search?

“This tool would fill the gap between what an expert says and what I have,” he thought.

That’s how Jibber Jobber was born.

“Jibber Jobber is more a personal relationship manager that allows you to do everything you need to do to manage a job search and optimize your network relationships,” Alba says. “But it’s not just for a job search you’re currently going through. It’s designed to help you manage a career for a lifetime.”

Alba says the emphasis of Jibber Jobber is to focus on building relationships and keeping track of an individual network. He stresses that it is not a social networking site like LinkedIn, FaceBook or MySpace, because an individual maintains it for his or her use. Specifically, the software is designed to help a person record and manage information, track relationships through log entries and record what action the person is currently taking in regard to job applications, business items, proposals, etc.

“It’s all about relationships,” Alba says. “You know, I got my first four or five jobs through networking, but I didn’t have a clue that that is what happened. But that’s how you get a job, and I don’t think that will ever change.”

Alba believes he’s learned a lot about the job market, but says he still sees plenty of people making the same mistake he did.

“I see a lot of people banking on the longevity of their jobs — not really understanding that at any minute they may be looking for work,” he said. “You never think it’s going to happen to you. But you’ve got to be ready.”

He said the best thing anyone can do is to be a “proactive networker” and actively manage his or her career all the time.

“So many people network in the wrong way,” he said. “They just pass out their business cards, and they’re not really genuinely building relationships. It’s not something you can just turn off and on.”

Alba also says job seekers must be ready to withstand the emotional battering they will take looking for work.

“While I was looking for work, everyone I socialized with was just looking at me like, ‘Why can’t he get a job?’ They didn’t understand what it was like. And it was hard because I was doing the socially acceptable thing and posting to the job boards and sending out my résumés, but no one was calling me back. Now I understand what a huge mistake it was to rely on only that. Now I know that I just can’t rest on my skills and I’ve got to build my relationships.”

(Anita Bruzzese writes the On the Job column. She is author of “45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy ... and How to Avoid Them.” Write to her care of Business Editor, Gannett News Service, 7950 Jones Branch Dr., McLean, VA 22107.)