Everyone seems to have an opinion on the correct way to perform a job search. Some say recruiters are the only way for success, others swear by cold calling targeted companies and others go for the buck shot strategy and send their resume to every vaguely close job description they come across in their search. Which ever tactic is working and generating results, is the route you should use.

For those that are not having success, what I have found after talking with dozens of my clients, job seekers, hiring managers, and recruiters is that a referral by a respected employee or industry colleague is going to bring the fastest results. To make sure this happens you must first prepare and then get in front of potential referrers.

Get Prepared

For the search to be executed successfully, your written marketing material needs to be focused, concise and attention-grabbing. If your resume looks like the last 50 resumes reviewed by the hiring manager, it will end up in the seen-that pile and will never really get read.

So, preparing attractive marketing materials is a must. Once the written material is ready you can focus on your online presence to make sure it is equally ready. Your online presence is usually in the form of profiles, online resumes, professional bio’s, blog contributions, and your interaction on social networking platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook (and now BranchOut), and Twitter. Keeping the written, online and live communications consistent will help you get noticed quickly and remembered easily .

Get Noticed

Once you have your marketing materials in place it is time to get noticed. Networking is all about communicating with targeted groups of people and sometimes specific individuals to become someone they know and value.

You can search online to find live and online networking groups, industry or field based forums, and real-time social media networking such as using twitter hash tagged (#) words and chats. Doing so will begin to put your name, brand and value in front of those that will be helpful in getting your resume in front of decision makers at targeted companies. They can be recruiters, people that work at a particular company, field or industry, or maybe someone who writes about the industry.

By engaging in conversations that are professional and industry specific as well as a few getting-to-know-you conversations, you can develop relationships that will be beneficial to both you and the new contacts. As you build these relationships make sure you bring value in the form of knowledge, experience, and outside information such as blog or article links to help others in your growing network.

Get Referred

Now that you have prepared for your job search and have developed a strategic network of potential references, it is time to find contacts that can help you in your job search. This move into action shouldn’t feel unnatural and planned. Although you are intentionally seeking contacts in your targeted industry, the relationship and trust building needs to happen naturally.

As you grow your network you will be talking about the companies that others work at, positions of interest and industry information and so they will be aware of your situation just as you are of theirs. Hopefully you will be able to help others along your path in finding their next opportunity. These relationships will continue to grow if nurtured, so don’t stop working to maintain those contacts after you have found your ideal job. They can become an important part of your career management and not just help for a one-time job search.

Being honest and open will encourage others to do the same. People that do not feel pressure are more likely to help. When asking for assistance start broad by asking for suggestions, ideas or people they may know to get you closer to the decision maker in a particular company. Use their suggestions to get closer to your targets. If your contact is the person between you and your targeted employer then you will need to ask them directly to assist in delivering your resume and a recommendation. Honesty and genuine interest is vital at this time but if done right is very effective.

Communication is key. Successfully finding people to refer you and your value to targeted decision makers takes relationship building and trust, but if done correctly is the fastest way to land your resume directly in the hands of the right employer for you.  And of course, remember your manners and thank them!

A couple of weeks ago I attended an awesome presentation delivered by Bob Burg, the author of Endless Referrals, The Go Giver, and several other mindful books on learning not only successful sales skills but also how to be a business professional that others deem full of character and integrity. What I have discovered and love about Bob’s books and his presentation is that his message also works perfectly for job seekers.

Why? Because job seekers are acting as sales agents but instead of selling a product they are selling their own skills, experience and unique values they can bring to an employer. One of the many valuable points Bob made in his four-hour seminar at Lawrence Technological University in Southfield, Michigan was that you can not make up other people’s minds for them. The decision ultimately is theirs. What you can do is provide exceptional information, examples and reasons why you are the right choice.

Employers and recruiters will not know you are the right choice unless you tell them. It is your responsibility as the job seeker (whether you want that responsibility or not) to get noticed by the right contacts. Sometimes that can be tricky. You have to be creative and relentless, especially in today’s economy, but if you put a plan into action it will be much easier to stay focused. Targeted contacts will get to know you not through a job board but through networking communities both on and off line and through the contacts you know and use as your trumpeters.

One way to stay motivated is to have a written set of networking and job search goals that you keep close and look at often. Keep the set of goals in your purse, briefcase, on your computer desk top or phone. Do whatever you can to keep moving forward towards accomplishing the goals.

What can you do to influence the decision makers? Give them what they want! To do this you will need to find out what they want. During Bob Burg’s seminar he advised (as he does in his books too) that if you want to develop strong referrals you must listen not talk to get noticed. With job seekers, listening involves reading articles, websites, blogs, and profiles of those that work at the company you’ve targeted. Find the influencers in the company and hang out where they do, find out what they need and are looking for and then figure out how you can be their solution.

Once you know what your target companies are looking for you can once again set goals to network with employees, recruiters and hiring manager affiliated with those companies. By participating in discussions, articles, or tweets that address and generate answers to their problems you can promote your value. Establishing common ground such as discussions within networking groups is a great way to break the ice and build a connection with contacts that can provide potential for opportunity. Even if nothing comes from the communications with the new contact you will have befriended someone in your arena – a relationship worth nurturing and maintaining.