{"id":17909,"date":"2020-11-21T17:41:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-21T21:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=17909"},"modified":"2020-11-22T18:00:48","modified_gmt":"2020-11-22T22:00:48","slug":"bridge-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bridge-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Bridge-People Are Often the Key to Your Dream Job"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>What are bridge-people? How are bridge-people the key to getting the job of your dreams?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A bridge-person is someone that connects you to another person or organization. When you&#8217;re researching jobs or companies you want to work for, bridge-people can make the introductions you need.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep reading to better understand bridge-people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<!--more-->\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Using Your Flower Diagram<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>There\u2019s a five-step process to using your flower diagram, and many of the steps will involve informational interviewing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Informational Interviewing<\/strong> Using Bridge-People<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Information interviewing involves talking to people who work in fields, for companies, or at jobs you think you might be interested in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The best way to find someone to interview is via a \u201cbridge-person.\u201d<\/strong> A bridge person is someone you know who has a connection to a person or organization you\u2019re interested in. To find bridge-people:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Talk to people you already know<\/strong> and ask them if they know anyone who works in a certain field, for a certain company, and so on.<\/li><li><strong>Join and participate in online groups and forums.<\/strong> You\u2019ll meet people in a particular field, and companies sometimes keep an eye on these groups too.<\/li><li><strong>Look for connections on LinkedIn.<\/strong> If you\u2019re trying to get in touch with someone who works at a specific company, go to the company\u2019s page on LinkedIn and look at who works for them and is already in your network, who went to the same school as you, or who was hired or left for an organization you have a connection with. You can also advertise that you\u2019re looking for a bridge-person on LinkedIn.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Research Specific Companies&nbsp;<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Researching companies is very important. You do this for two reasons: 1) to learn about an organization\u2019s culture, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/your-work-style\/\">working style<\/a>, mission, and how you can be an asset to them, and 2) to determine if you would like working for that company. (Most people don\u2019t find out if they like a workplace until after they\u2019ve already started working there when it\u2019s too late to turn back.) Here\u2019s how to conduct your research:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>Interview people who work at the organizations you\u2019re interested in. <\/strong>A bridge-person is the best way to find people to talk to, but you can also:<ul><li>Use LinkedIn to find people who work at the organization and email them directly. This only sometimes works; people are busy.<\/li><li>Go to the organization and ask questions. This works best for small organizations (fewer than 50 employees) who don\u2019t have security guards. Don\u2019t ask any questions you could have figured out on your own, for example, information you could have read on their website. Talk to the gateway people, such as the receptionist, before approaching others who are higher in the organization, talk to subordinates rather than the boss, and <strong>don\u2019t try to get yourself hired.<\/strong> You\u2019re simply <a href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/how-to-gather-information-2\/\">gathering information<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Exercise: Find Bridge-People<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>A bridge-person is someone you know who also knows people or organizations you\u2019re interested in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2060&#8212;-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think of a job you might like to do. Who do you already know who might know someone else who\u2019s doing the job, who works with a company who hires for the job, or who is an expert in the field?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What online groups and forums could you join to connect with bridge-people? Consider industry-specific groups, alumni groups, geographical groups, and so on.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Look through your connections and network on LinkedIn. Who could you approach about acting as a bridge-person?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What are bridge-people? How are bridge-people the key to getting the job of your dreams? A bridge-person is someone that connects you to another person or organization. When you&#8217;re researching jobs or companies you want to work for, bridge-people can make the introductions you need. Keep reading to better understand bridge-people.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":18197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,34],"tags":[150],"class_list":["post-17909","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career","category-communication","tag-what-color-is-your-parachute","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v24.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Bridge-People Are Often the Key to Your Dream Job - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Do you have a company you want to work for? A bridge-person may be the key to getting you in the door. 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Find out who bridge-people are.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bridge-people\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-11-21T21:41:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-11-22T22:00:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-bridge-people-scaled.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2560\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1707\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Rina Shah\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bridge-people\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bridge-people\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Rina Shah\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/d07435826f13a8f422d5d333dceac287\"},\"headline\":\"Bridge-People Are Often the Key to Your Dream Job\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-21T21:41:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-22T22:00:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bridge-people\/\"},\"wordCount\":585,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bridge-people\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-bridge-people-scaled.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"What Color Is Your Parachute?\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Career\",\"Communication\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bridge-people\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bridge-people\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bridge-people\/\",\"name\":\"Bridge-People Are Often the Key to Your Dream Job - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bridge-people\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/bridge-people\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/what-color-is-my-parachute-bridge-people-scaled.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-11-21T21:41:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-11-22T22:00:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"Do you have a company you want to work for? 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