All right, let’s say you’ve tried all of these cold application and outreach strategies and they haven’t worked.
Or maybe you’re reading the cold-calling section thinking:
“Fuck off, SkillCat. I am not cold calling people to get my first job.”
Fair enough.
Then the other major approach you have is networking.
Networking is basically navigating your way to people who work in the industry (ideally at the companies you want to work for) who can help give you a shot.
And networking matters because of an unfortunate truth:
A huge number of people in the trades got into the trades through friends or family.
Companies hire referrals.
They hire people they know.
They hire people they trust.
So the entire name of the game with networking is figuring out how to become one of those people they know and trust.
We’re going to walk through a bunch of different strategies for doing that.
But step one is incredibly simple:
Talk to every single person you know
Start with the network you already have.
Talk to your friends.
Not just your closest friends. Every single one of your friends.
Talk to your family.
Talk to your neighbors.
Talk to your teachers.
Talk to your brother’s friend’s uncle’s plumber.
Talk to everybody.
Tell them:
“I’m trying to get into HVAC. Do you know anybody in the industry who I could talk to?”
You’re not expecting every person to hand you a job.
You’re just looking for connections.
Maybe your neighbor knows an HVAC contractor.
Maybe your friend’s dad knows a service manager.
Maybe one of your teachers has a former student who owns a company.
Maybe your brother’s friend’s uncle’s plumber knows an HVAC guy.
You have no idea where the connection is going to come from.
So ask.
Talk to everyone you know and see if they know someone who might be able to help you get your foot in the door.
That is step one in networking.
Talk to everyone.
Informational Interviews
When I was in business school at Stanford, basically nobody used job applications to find a job.
Everyone used networking through informational interviews.
An informational interview is basically when you reach out to someone in the industry or at a company you want to work for and say:
“Hey, I want to learn more about what you do.”
You’re not starting by asking them for a job.
You’re asking them about themselves.
You might ask:
What do you like about your job?
What don’t you like about your job?
What does your day-to-day actually look like?
What types of people do well in this job?
Where can you grow from this role?
How did you get into the industry?
What would you recommend to someone trying to do what you do?
Basically, you set up a call or a meeting and ask the person about themselves, their journey, what they’ve done, and what you can learn from them.
And something really important happens in the process.
You build a relationship.
You get to know them better.
They get to know you better.
They see that you actually care about their career, their company, and their work.
And suddenly, instead of being some random person whose resume showed up online, you’re somebody they actually know.
That can get your foot in the door.
Informational interviews are an invaluable way to turn a cold connection or even a referral from a friend into a real relationship with somebody inside the company.
The informational interview itself is designed to help you learn.
But if you do it correctly, informational interviews often turn into real job interviews.