A Networking Pro Learns Some New Tricks

From the Wall Street Journal | Mar 2, 2010

Can you teach a dinosaur to dance? More importantly, can you teach him to network in 21st Century style? I was skeptical.

But George Langis, a veteran turnaround executive, dispelled doubts
by learning new networking steps that may hasten his job hunt. He went
from conventional handshake networking to creating a personal brand
that would be easily marketable online. Though Mr. Langis still
hesitates to plunge into "tweeting," his experience could benefit
countless other older applicants with rusty job-hunting skills.

Isaac Brekken for the Wall Street Journal

Our
experts considered George Langis, a veteran turnaround executive, a
deft conventional networker who needed to broaden his online reach.

Unemployment
among Americans age 55 and up has exceeded 6% every month since March
2009, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures show. That represents the
highest joblessness rate for this age group in almost 60 years. The
rate, though, is lower than the overall jobless rate as well the rates
for all other age groups.

Mr. Langis helped fix nine small and midsize concerns since 2000,
following a lengthy corporate-finance career. His last turnaround gig,
as interim chief executive of Turbine Generator Maintenance Inc. in
Cape Coral, Fla., ended in late November.

At my request, three networking specialists devised innovative
approaches for Mr. Langis after traditional tactics, such as his recent
sessions with 79 contacts in eight cities, failed to bear fruit. He
embraced nearly all of their ideas. They range from drafting a
"networking profile" to joining a global network of expert consultants
typically retained for an hour at a time.

"Dinosaurs do dance," insists Mr. Langis, a 63-year-old resident of
Henderson, Nev., with broad shoulders and smiles. "I lead change in
companies. I can certainly change."

He acquired his fresh dance steps from Alicia Whitaker, a New York
executive coach; Stephanie Daniel, an outplacement counselor for a unit
of Keystone Partners, a Boston human-resources consultancy; and Diane
Darling, founder of Effective Networking Inc. in Boston.

For starters, they consider Mr. Langis a deft conventional
networker. They cite his month-long "Sell George" tour this winter to
see contacts he collected during his career. And then there's the
regular email and telephone interaction with his roughly 500 best
contacts-even while toiling 70 hours a week on a turnaround. "George
does most of his critical networking face to face," Ms. Daniel
observes.

Mr. Langis doesn't send text messages, "friend" anyone via Facebook
or send tweets to people on Twitter, a micro-blogging service.
Bolstering his outreach will produce "a more strategic and more defined
network," Ms. Darling says.

For people like Mr. Langis who aren't yet comfortable about putting
themselves on multiple social networks, there are some clever ways to
create a presence online. Here are the top tips from his informal
advisers:

• Develop a stronger online identity by revamping your résumé.
Mr. Langis's résumé contained a vague summary statement, calling him "a
seasoned executive" who served distressed and healthy businesses. To
better catch someone's eye online, the experts encouraged him to tout
his turnaround stints. Ms. Whitaker believes he could better convey his
passion and experience with this summary statement: "I make sick
companies significantly better for owners and employees." Mr. Langis
says he altered the wording "the day it was suggested."

Ms. Daniel urged Mr. Langis to create a networking profile, too. The
document typically describes a job seeker's 20 target employers,
desired positions and career plans. It also contains a brief review of
accomplishments. A networking profile "could increase the productive
leads he receives from his networking contacts," Ms. Daniel says. He
can present the document when he meets someone face to face for the
first time or "he can store it online through LinkedIn," she says.

• Make better use of LinkedIn, a professional networking Web site.
  Heeding the trio's suggestions, Mr. Langis revived his inactive
  LinkedIn account. He expanded his barebones professional description
  and added 1,500 of his contacts to LinkedIn. Most of his contacts are
  private-equity industry players.

Mr. Langis discovered only 72 contacts belong to LinkedIn, which has
more than 60 million members world-wide. "I hope my being there will
attract those who are not among my current contacts," he says. He then
inserted his simplified LinkedIn address below his automatic signature
on email messages.

Ms. Darling suggests Mr. Langis solicit LinkedIn testimonials from
prior bosses. Ms. Daniel thinks he should join specialized LinkedIn
groups, such as the one for consultants with expertise in management
changes and turnarounds, and connect with international professionals
in his field.

• Create a more visible personal brand. Mr. Langis
  admits he lacks a well-known brand as a turnaround specialist. He never
  knew he might benefit, as Ms. Whitaker suggested, from consulting for a
  rent-an-expert network, which provides small doses of specialized
  information.

Gerson Lehrman Group, for instance, has enrolled about 250,000
experts world-wide. They typically earn about $350 an hour, according
to Margaret Molloy, a senior vice president of the New York concern.
Clients, which include private-equity firms, tap experts' knowledge
through short phone calls or consultations over meals.

Positioning yourself as a thought leader this way will broaden your
pool of potential employers, Ms. Whitaker told Mr. Langis.
Private-equity companies "are not necessarily out in the market
scanning for new talent all the time," she notes.

Ms. Darling believes Mr. Langis could further heighten his
visibility if he gave speeches, wrote trade-press articles and taught
Webinars for alumni of schools where he received degrees. "When you are
a speaker, you are instantly networking with 100 people," she says.

Mr. Langis addressed a College of Southern Nevada class last week at
the invitation of his handyman's son, who is a student there. He says
he told business students "what I do and how I got there." His last
campus speaking engagement occurred around 1998, the executive recalls.

• Get a bigger payoff from industry events. Mr.
  Langis usually finds himself so busy doing turnarounds that he lacks
  time for meetings of the Turnaround Management Association, a
  professional group. Ms. Darling says he should find the time to help
  the group arrange for speakers because he'll earn a program mention
  that pops up in Google when hiring managers check his name.

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When
he simply attends a conference, Mr. Langis might obtain the participant
list in advance and arrange casual events for those he wants to know,
Ms. Whitaker proposes. He could invite people for drinks or sit
together at a certain breakfast table. Playing host "can be more
effective than generally 'working the room,' " she adds. Mr. Langis
rejected some of the recommendations, such as using Twitter. With brief
Twitter messages, Ms. Daniel believes, he could update contacts about
his search and alert them about interesting articles. "Give and take is
what networking is all about," she says.

Mr. Langis, though, considers Twitter to be "a little bit hokey." Nevertheless, "I'm willing to try new things," he says.

His multi-month job search is "just taking longer than usual," Mr.
Langis observes. But with these new strategies, he's confident that his
hunt will soon experience its own turnaround.

Write to Joann S. Lublin at joann.lublin@wsj.com