????談到親戚，格尼指出，很多求職者忽視了家庭人和密友的職業圈子。他說：“就算你非常了解某個人的個人情況，也不見得一定很清楚他們的職業人脈。”將他們納入你搜索信息的范圍，可能會有意外的驚喜。

????4. 狹隘地限定自己的才能和興趣。比方說，即使你一直都是在做人事經理，也不意味著下份工作就一定得是人力資源管理。“如果和別人談的時候，對自己接下來真正想做的事情缺乏發自內心的激情，無疑是個錯誤，”格尼指出。“很多情況下，求職者沒有給自己機會，讓自己去追尋真正想要的東西。”

????他說，工作的最初幾年只是“在為后半生的職業做調研。不用將一生都耗在同一件事情上。完全可以根據已經學到的東西，作出明確的規劃，充分利用這些東西”——可以是在相關領域，也可以是讓你的技能和經驗能夠創造更多價值的職位。

????第六個錯誤，你在提問中也提到了：猶豫是否要聯系有段時日沒有見面或通話的人。有這種疑惑的大有人在。高管培訓公司Keystone Associates的高級副總裁杰恩?麥特森說，很多向她咨詢的求職者也流露出同樣的情緒，他們經常會這樣說：“每個人都很忙。我一向靠自己，我不喜歡麻煩別人。”但她指出：“你現在的任務是找到一份新的工作。你憑什么認為光靠自己可以成功？”

????麥特森幫助客戶克服這個障礙的方式是反問他們：“如果你認識的什么人給你打電話，咨詢找工作的相關信息和竅門，你會幫他們嗎？”麥特森說。“回答當然是肯定的。那么，你們憑什么就斷定你們自己認識的人不愿意幫忙？好好想想吧。”

反饋：如果你曾利用人脈找到了一份新工作，什么方式給你的幫助最大？那種方式最不管用？請在下面留言評論。

????And speaking of relatives, Gurney points out that many job seekers overlook their own family members' and close friends' professional networks. "If you know someone very well on a personal level, you may not be aware of how many business connections they have," he says. Include them in your information-gathering efforts, and you could be pleasantly surprised.

????4. Defining your talents and interests too narrowly. Just because you've always been, say, a human resources manager doesn't mean your next job will necessarily be in human resources management. "It's a mistake to be out there talking with people without authentic passion about what you'd really like to do next," Gurney notes. "Too often, job hunters don't give themselves permission to go after what they really want."

????The early years of a career, he adds, are "just R&D for the second half. You don't have to stick with one thing all your life. You can take what you've learned so far and make a purposeful plan for applying it" -- either in a related field or in some other kind of role where your skills and experience could be even more valuable.

????A sixth mistake, which you mention in your question: Hesitating to get in touch with people you haven't seen or spoken with in a while. You're far from alone in this. Jayne Mattson, a senior vice president at executive coaching firm Keystone Associates, says she encounters the same reluctance in many of the job seekers she counsels, who often say things like, "'Everyone's so busy, I've always done things on my own, I hate to bother people,'" she notes. "But your job now is to find a job. Why would you think you could succeed at any new job all on your own?"

????Mattson gets her clients past this hurdle by asking them, "If someone you know called to ask for information or guidance related to their job hunt, would you give it to them?" Says Mattson, "Of course the answer is yes. So why would you assume someone you know would not want to help you? Think about it."

Talkback: If you've found a new job by tapping your network, what approach helped you the most? What have you found is least effective? Leave a comment below.