In my last blog I mentioned there is a very simple, free, low-tech way to track information of business (or personal) connections so you can search them by keyword and collect notes over time. My personal database has loads of information not available in the typical LinkedIn profile and is searchable on hundreds of keywords. The process below could include much more information but is very easy to execute with either a little or a lot of information per person.

Many people have an Excel or Outlook database that provides name, title, company, phone, and email but does not offer the ability to find someone who was, but is no longer, at a medical device company or someone who is an expert in Quality Assurance. One can add columns in an Excel spreadsheet to track who has experience in each of 20 industries or Commercialization or Voice of Customer but the spreadsheet soon gets too large to search easily. I have also destroyed my Excel database more than once by not sorting carefully and ending up with data irretrievably next to the wrong person when, of course, I did not have a recent backup available.

Because you can search for keywords  in many documents simultaneously from the file directory (in Windows) or from Finder (in Apple,) here is a simple search tool. It is simply a page created in Word, for instance, one for each person, with keywords that can be searched with the assurance you have not missed any files. Contain all of these files to a single folder in your computer so searching amongst them is easier. The other trick is to keep a separate list of keywords on your desk to guarantee you always use exactly the same spelling of a keyword or company name. In other words, so you always use “QA” instead of “Quality Assurance” spelled out.  “UMN” versus “University of Minnesota” versus “University of MN.”

Below is what might be in the Word document named “Smith_Pete_notes.doc”   :

Pete Smith notes

01/12/12 had lunch to catch up
07/09 hired him for 3 month contract at Ameriprise, focus process improvement
04/03 Hired him at State of MN, 8 mo sales tax project, saved us $108K by automating testing

2002- current, Independent contractor, Software QA Consultant
• Process improvement using Six Sigma techniques
• Project management
• Quality methodology implementation
• Unit, integration, functional, system, user acceptance testing
• Creates training on quality techniques and testing
• Creates training on writing and managing requirements

Clients
Medtronic, Ameriprise, State of Minnesota, Digital River, Best Buy

Industries
Manufacturing, Finance, Retail, Mortgage, Medical, start-ups

Keywords
Contractor, SaaS, FDA compliance, POS, RUP, CMM, ISO 9000 certified Auditor, Method1, Six Sigma Black Belt, unit testing, integration testing, functional testing, system testing, user acceptance testing, training, managing requirements, writing, best practices, implementation, process improvement

Family
Wife Lisa Manufacturing Engineer at Honeywell ECC, gourmet cook (remember the chocolate croissants?)
Son Sean, 12 in 2011, is soccer nut, goalie on Blake School team

QualityWorkExcellent (glued together as one word so searchable with more software tools and distinguishable from personal skills comment)

PersonalSkillsExcellent

CheckInMar2012, CheckInJune2012  (when to call back to check in)

BirthdayFeb232012

Topics: business skills, communications, hidden job market, networking, selling skills | 2 Comments »