In my latest job search? Yeah I did networking.
Yeah, I always emphasize networking. What did I find out about networking in my latest job search?
Well, yes, it works. You knew that. Most of us know that. I found that it works pretty well – I had several interviews due to networking, and all of them due to people reaching out to me due to past contacts. As my job search geared up, I got lots of people helping my apply for jobs at their companies (though my results came so quick I had to let them down quick as well).
What did I do? I took a weekend and wrote everyone I knew and told them my situation. That took hours. It was also worth it.
My advice:
- Be open about it. Tell them your situation, what you’re looking for, and where you’re looking for it.
- If you don’t know what you want or what you’re looking for, hold off until you do – it’ll just confuse things.
- Track and follow up with every person who replies, and review your conversations.
- When you do get a job, let people know (even if its a LinkedIn post or something).
- Find people who can refer you and see if they’ll refer others – after all, they may have some leads for friends of yours.
Networking’s effectiveness is, much like the use of job boards, also bounded by geographic area and connections.
There is also one, big, huge, enormous factor in Networking that I realized while doing my search, something I knew unconsciously, but now I *get* it:
The skills you develop in networking, the attitude of trying to connect, is just as important as any connections that you make. When you interview, you’re networking, when you handle a rejection you’re networking. You’re networking throughout the job search even if you don’t realize it.
That networking ability connects you with recruiters and interviewers. That networking ability lets you turn a failure into a future interview. That ability simply lets you connect.
That makes a huge difference. I could see in my interviews that sheer connecting got me results.
So when you’re in an interview? You’re still networking. Remember that.
Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach for professional and potentially professional geeks, fans, and otaku. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/