Today Brian Massey presented If you Want the Interview, You Need a Champion to a group in Austin.  Hopefully a few you reading this blog were able to make Brian’s presentation.   I had other activities so I was unable to see the refreshed version of the presentation in person.  An older version of the talk can be found at here.

I wanted to add some general thoughts about job champions.  From the book, the are four key things a champion may be able to do for you.  They are as follows:

1. Give you insider info about company or position
2. Hand your resume to hiring manager
3. Recommend you
4. Keep you away from bad deals.

This does not mean that a champion has to be  a person that will go to bat for you and insist that you be hired.  It does not mean that your champion has to give you some glowing recommendation. While those scenarios would be ideal and having a strong champion will certainly give you an advantage.  However,  a champion might just be someone who can vouch that you would fit into the company culture.  Or that you could do the job.

Sometimes just the fact that a resume was submitted from an internal source or that someone knows you is enough to differentiate you from a whole stack of resumes and get you an interview.  Sometimes just getting in the door is the most difficult part.   If you’ll look to find champions at places you want to work you’ll certainly increase your odds of getting more interviews.  Once you get an interview make sure to follow up with everyone you interacted with and your champion.  It is amazing how often people today do not follow up.  By following up with your champion, you show appreciation for their assistance.  They’ll be more likely to help you in the future and  they may be able to further help you follow up with the decision makers.  Finally, they are more likely to continue to be behind you and possibly with even stronger support  throughout the process if you will follow up.

A champion may not be able to get you a job, but by finding and utilizing job champions during your job hunt you’ll go a long way to improving your odds.