Today’s post comes from Jim Holland. Jim’s passion is guiding teams that deliver market-focused products. He elevates, develops, and enables talent using natural skills and experiences acquired from individual contribution and management roles. Enjoy the post, and please don’t hesitate to tweet your comments to Jim directly.

If you’re reading this post, you’ve recognized that searching for the next position isn’t what it was a few years ago. For those who’ve been displaced after holding a steady gig for three or more years, it may seem like you’ve stepped out of a time machine.

Let’s be honest, the rules have changed. If you are using the same routes, pushing the same resume (CV) to the same recruiters and contacts you have, you may be wasting your time. Let me repeat myself. There are “New Rules of Obtaining a Job.” 

As one who is seeking a new quest, I have talked with dozens who are looking, engaged with several mentors who’ve challenged my approach and witnessed how the rules can influence your chances. In this post, I’ve one basic. If you’d like to know more, send me an email or tweet me.

The 80/20 Rule – this is a simple rule. Thirty to sixty days before you leave a position (whether voluntarily or involuntarily) and the 30 days following, you need to contact 80% of the people in your network. Who’s in your network? At a minimum, family, friends, neighbors, professional associations, former co-workers, former managers, community, and religious affiliation contacts should all be on the list. You should contact each one by phone. If you can meet face-to-face that’s better. If you connect by email, practice some etiquette and don’t blast emails to a distribution list. Be aware of other people’s time and schedules. This is a connection, not a therapy session. When you connect via phone, email or face-to-face don’t communicate a sense of urgency or panic.  

The 20% in the 80/20 rule is to build an additional set of contacts into your network equal to 20% of those you already have. This should always be people you don’t know, but could lead to a new opportunity. You can ask for introductions and I found using social media solutions is a huge plus.

Why social media tools? If you could find almost everyone you know, reconnect with lost or misplaced contacts and possibly use these as a conduit to a new job, how great would that be? I have a close friend who has used his high school, college and military alumni pictures and contacted everyone. What did he find? Several CEOs, numerous executives, managers and to friends that own businesses in his area of expertise.

Social media is a great extension to finding, build and connecting. I’ve heard social media tools called the “Past, Present and Future of networking.” Facebook is associated with those you know (Past) old school friends, friends and family.  LinkedIn is about contacts you know (Present) and tools like Twitter provide access to those you don’t know (Future).

I hope this had added some insight and things to consider. As you continue on your quest for the new opportunity, remember to stay focused, positive and connect with people who can support you and provide the lift you need.