A mentor recently said to me, “Ask for the order.”

“What do you mean?” I asked. “What do you want? Go order it up,” she explained. “Where do you want to be in the next 30 days? Speak in absolutes. Tell people, ‘I need to do this. How do I do this? Can you help me?'”

One of the women in my current LYJ Search class experienced the power of asking for the order, and being clear and specific in her request: “Randomly today, I was talking to an old buddy in Atlanta and mentioned that I am particularly interested in finding opportunities within a foundation setting as a program officer.  She said, ‘Oh, I have a friend at a foundation, let me email her while we’re on the phone.’ And this is someone I had asked before for contacts in New York but I think it took me to be more specific in my request.”

Sometimes the order can be a question you need answered. For example, one LYJ jobseeker is pondering if it is even possible for her to move from a large company to a smaller entrepreneurial one at the salary-level she’s seeking. Time to go order up the answers she’s seeking including potential companies to research.

What is your order? Is it clear and specific enough? Now go ask for it!

See also the Help Me Help You post I wrote last year for tips on reaching out to your networks. Other suggestions include on your Linked In status update, Facebook, Twitter, on your Gmail status update, one-to-one emails to your mentors and past bosses, friends, family, the person sitting next to you on the subway, and of course posting here on the LYJ blog.