Better Together: The Importance of a Job Search Buddy

A job search buddy is more than a friend. It is closer to a battle buddy. The term battle buddy comes from the US Army and is a designation to describe "a person who is expected to assist his or her partner both in and out of combat; not only intended for company, since each watches his partner's actions, a battle buddy can save their fellow soldier's life by noticing negative thoughts and feelings and intervening to provide help" when things get really low.

It would be extreme to say that job searching is comparable to combat. But job searching is one of the most stressful and necessary parts of your life. You can alleviate some of the stress when you are not trying to do it alone; which explains the need for a job search buddy. It is also important to find someone who is going through the same thing you are. And the more the merrier.

Finding a Buddy

It goes without saying why having a job search buddy is a good idea. But what if you don't know anyone finding a job? If you remember in some of the earlier segments, job searching is a regular part of life. Finding a buddy is easy if you know where to look.

Start with your network by broadcasting in as many places as possible that you are searching for a new opportunity. Before you do this, however, I must warn you; this is a humbling experience. Whether you are on your job search because you quit willingly, were fired, or laid off, asking for help is often hard. After my most recent layoff, I was scared, I was angry, and I was sad. But like my grandma used to say, "You don't ask, you don't get." It took me 3 hours, I created a post to inform my network that I was on the job search. Here is the message I posted on Facebook:

"After almost 3 years, with a company I loved in a position I loved, the financial impact of Covid-19 has slipped in and has affected me and others at our organization this week. I'm now on the lookout for new opportunities! No sad faces or 'I'm sorry' are needed.

For friends reading this, please do not be worried - With this new haircut, I can face anything! Fortunately, (or unfortunately) this is not my first recession - The Claytons will be ok.

For professional colleagues and peers, let's talk. Message me if you know of anyone I should talk to.

What am I passionate about?

The short story is I am an HR Tech dork who loves to assist recruiters and Talent Acquisition professionals to use technology and data to be the best they can be. To be the best, you have to be able to effectively recruit diverse teams which leads me to my next passion, diversity, equity, and inclusion. I speak, train, write and present on diversity regarding recruiting and how it fits with today's AI technology. Additionally, I passionately believe that by using data correctly, organizations can hold teams accountable to the gaps in their diversity plans (or lack a diversity plan) to make their company, their community, and this world a better place."

My hope was that I could answer in advance any questions that could come up regarding why I was looking for the curious all while making sure that I gave enough information to those who would be able to offer any assistance. As a result, not only was I able to connect with 3 people who I considered my job search buddies, I was able to schedule 5 interviews which eventually led to me finding a new position.

If your network is not large enough or you do not have a lot of professional connections on your personal social media sites, here are a few other places you can look:

Eventbrite

Eventbrite is an independent platform for hosting or joining local events.
Unfortunately, Covid-19 has canceled the majority of in-person networking events and professional conferences. There are however a great number of events that have changed to an online format. Eventbrite is a great place to find online events for job seekers. Everything from virtual job fairs to presentations and most of them was free. The trick is to remember to network with other attendees at the events. Sometimes you can have full conversations with people in the chat.

LinkedIn

You will need LinkedIn for several parts of your job search journey but today we are focused on finding your buddy. Premium members of LinkedIn have an option to put a green circle around their profile that has #OPENTOWORK. Do a quick search by job title and when you find others that you have something in common with, send an in-mail to see if they are interested in having a job search buddy. It is a great way to connect with someone who knows exactly what you are going through. Someone that not only you can share stories with but also leads and other connections that can get you closer to your next position.

Twitter

It is estimated that there are 6,000 tweets sent out every second. But thankfully because of hashtags, it is easy to navigate. With all those tweets going out you are bound to find someone to connect with! My favorite is #JobSearchChat but here are some hashtags to search include:

#employment #jobs #jobsearch #hiring #job #recruitment #career #work #resume #careers #recruiting #nowhiring #business #staffing #hr #jobseekers #humanresources #jobopening #interview #jobseeker #employmentopportunities #jobinterview #recruiter #vacancy #employmentagency #hiringnow #jobsearching

When you get your job search buddy, remember, this is not a person that you want to simply 'hang out' and have small talk with. Your buddy should be someone who can hold you accountable, offer moral support, give you honest feedback, and someone you feel that you have synergy with so that you can offer your assistance to them as well. Job searching can be an exhausting and humbling experience. Don't go through it alone.

Read on for more ways to make your job search a success: Feedback To Fuel Your Job Search