How networking works: Networking wherever and whenever you can might not always be a good idea. That’s a concern of Gail Golden, a consultant at RHR International Co. RHR is staffed by psychologists that specialize in the management and development of people. Based in Wood Dale, it has 15 offices worldwide.
“Walking up to strangers and asking for a job is the kind of behavior that gives networking a bad name,” said Golden, who has an MBA and a doctorate in psychology.
“Instead, effective networking also is about figuring out how you can help others, so that you create a web of mutually supportive relationships,” she added.
Golden says she recently met with a group of executives “in transition”–they were looking for jobs.
“One woman offered to introduce me to several other people who might be … useful contacts,” said the consultant. “I asked for her resume … and am keeping my eyes open for opportunities in her field.”
That kind of mutual exchange is healthy networking, Golden points out. “Effective networking is subtle … and although the goal is in part to further your own business or career, it is at least as much about helping others. Without that balance, you just look like a panhandler.”
Saying thanks: A handwritten thank-you note, instead of an e-mail, is a way to show you really care and want to say thank you after a job interview.
But it may not always be the most efficient way, according to Michael Wilkinson, a business analyst and industrial engineer based in Atlanta.
“We don’t live in a snail-mail society anymore and everyone wants instant gratification,” said Wilkinson. “If you want to make a point and want to show how on the ball you are, then do both: E-mail first and then immediately send a card expressing your `caringness.'”
Wilkinson’s concern about writing a letter instead of using cyberspace is this: “When all of the e-mails are sent in and the decision is being made about whom to hire, your note, letter or card may still be in the in-box and read only after the fact.”
Same-sex benefits: A recent survey of 147 companies by the New England Employee Benefits Council and The Segal Co., a global compensation and human resources consulting firm in New York, shows that the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruling that same-sex marriages are legal “has had a noticeable impact on employee benefits coverage decisions,” according to Andrew Sherman, a senior vice president at Segal.
Among the results: 62 percent said they intend to provide identical benefits to all legally married spouses, both same gender and opposite gender. Businesses outside of Massachusetts said their employees in other states will receive identical benefits.
Heed the warning: “Since 1989, employers of more than 100 full-time employees have been required to observe the federal Working Adjustment and Retraining Act, known as WARN,” according to Donald F. Peters Jr., partner in the law firm of Peters & Lyons Ltd. in Chicago.
The firm represents employers in labor and employment law.
“Now Illinois has instituted its own law, the Illinois Worker Adjustment and Retraining Act,” Peters reports in Labor Update, his firm’s newsletter. “The new Illinois law … applies to employers of 75 full-time employees. … Significantly, the Illinois WARN law applies in cases of plant relocation, where the federal law does not.”
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Carol Kleiman’s columns also appear in Monday’s and Tuesday’s Business sections. Hear her on WBBM Newsradio 780 at 6:21 p.m. and 10:22 p.m. Mondays and 11:20 a.m. Saturdays. Watch her “Career Coach” segments on CLTV. E-mail ckleiman@tribune.com.
