The Job Front: How to write networking letters

We all know that networking is the single most effective way to find a new job. When you network your way into a company, you’ve given yourself an instant competitive edge over other candidates who simply upload their résumés in response to job postings. Someone already knows who you are.
A networking letter makes a connection between yourself and someone you know, most often colleagues, supervisors, friends, neighbors and college alumni. Your goal is an interview with your contact’s company or with someone they know at another company. It might be for an advertised job or to explore opportunities in the future.
The writing tone and style of networking letters can vary widely. If you’re writing to someone with whom you’ve worked for years, they know you, what you do and how well you do it. These letters can be concise, summarizing a few highlights of your career along with a statement about your current objectives. Even though you know the person well, make it easy for him or her to help you by providing basic information.
Conversely, if you’re writing to a new contact who was referred to you by that same colleague, they will not be familiar with you, so write a more complete letter with highlights of your work experience, achievements, education and current objectives. This letter will be more formal in style and tone, and longer than the quick note mentioned in the paragraph above.
You can send both of these letters as e-notes – letters that are the email messages and not separate attachments. It’s much better to instantly engage the reader with the email message itself; they can then click to read the attached résumé.
If you commit yourself to a proactive networking campaign, your job search will be faster, easier and more successful.

Wendy Enelow is co-author of “Modernize Your Résumé: Get Noticed ... Get Hired” and “Expert Résumés for Military-to-Civilian Transitions.”