Career Services | Networking

Career/Job Networking

Networking is making connections with people who have knowledge about your career interests or are in contact with individuals with knowledge of your career interests and possible job openings. Career networking should become a part of your daily work and career-related endeavors. Your career network should be in place for when you need it, both for job searching and for moving along the career ladder. Since you never know when you might need it, it makes sense to have an active career network, even if you don't need it today.

You can also increase your network by getting involved. Many associations and organizations offer free or discounted memberships to students. Joining local clubs and organizations is a great way to get to know people in your career field and it looks great on your résumé.

Over 80 percent of job seekers say that their network has helped with their job search. Networking contacts can help with more than job leads. They can provide referrals to insider information about companies that you might be interested in working for, provide information on career fields you might want to explore or give you an idea of what the job market is like on the other side of the country. Your network can give you advice on where to look for jobs or review your résumé. The possibilities are endless.

Networking Tips

(1) Brainstorm for Contacts

Think of everyone who could possibly serve as a contact. Do not limit yourself to people who could clearly help you out – friendly, accessible people in unrelated fields often have contacts they would be happy to share with you. Also, people who, through either work or volunteer activities, have contact with a diverse crowd can be extremely helpful. Below are suggestions for contacts:

Family friends                                       Relatives                                               Neighbors                                            Professors                                            Alumni                                      Former employees                                Former co-workers                              Public relations officials             Local alumni association                        Class reunions                                      Cocktail parties                                    Fundraisers                                           Business conferences Local politicians

Journalists Business executives Non-profit directors Your physician Your hair dresser Prominent community members Members of professional organizations Conventions Club Meetings Internet list-servs Volunteer opportunities Continuing education classes

(2) Be Prepared

Networking is a little like planning a political campaign. You should not wing it. You should approach networking opportunities with a game plan. When you attend a dinner party, group event or conference, do your homework. Find out, if at all possible, who will be present. Then decide whom you would most like to meet. When you have your list of potential contacts, thoroughly research their work and backgrounds and then formulate some questions and conversational statements that reflect your research. Think about what your goals are for the networking function. What information do you want to walk away with? What do you want to convey to the people you meet? It is important to be flexible and to perceive opportunities you did not plan to confront.

(3) Keep in Touch – Work Your Network

Do not just contact those who can help when you have just been laid-off from your job or decide you want to look for a new position. Keep in touch with your network regularly – even if it is just a brief email to say hello and ask how they are doing. People are more willing to help when they know who you are.

(4) Stay Organized - Keep Track of Your Network

Keep a record of your networking. Whether you do this in a Rolodex, in a notebook or in a database file on your computer, it is important to keep track of your contacts. Make sure your system has plenty of room for contacts' names, addresses, phone numbers, companies, job titles, how you met them and subsequent conversations you have had with them.

(5) Online Career Networking

Online job networking does work. Sites like Monster, Bright Star and a variety of other online career networking websites can help you get in touch with other networkers at specific companies, with college affiliations or in a certain geographic area. In addition, if you are a college graduate, your institute may have an alumni career network you can access.

When networking with people you do not know, make sure you know what you want.
Are you looking for company information? Do you want to know about job opportunities? Be specific in what you ask for.

(6) Make it Easy for Your Contacts

When you call, meet with or write a potential contact, make it as easy as possible for them to help you. Explain what you specifically want, and ask detail-oriented questions.
           
For example, "I am looking for job in arts administration. Do you know anyone who works at the Arts Council? May I have their names and telephone numbers? May I use your name when I introduce myself to them?" Another entrée into a productive conversation is to solicit career tips and advice from your contact. Most people love to talk about themselves. By asking for your contact to offer valuable insight from his or her personal experiences and successes, he/she will feel important and respected. Who does not like to feel like an expert?

Be sure to avoid making general demands such as, "Do you know of any jobs that would be good for me?" This sort of question is overwhelming and its puts an undue burden on your contact.

(7)  Follow Up

After you meet with a contact, it is absolutely essential to write a thank you note.
Tell your contact how much he/she helped you, and refer to particularly helpful, specific advice. Everyone – even the most high-level executives, likes to feel appreciated. In addition to immediate follow-up after a meeting or conversation, keep in touch with your contacts. This way, they may think of you if an opportunity comes up, and they will also be forthcoming with new advice. It is important to stay on their radar screens without being imposing or invasive. And, if you get that new job, be sure to tell them and thank them again for their help.

Remember, networking is not something you do once; it is an on-going process. Networking is a life-long process that will improve your relationships and rapport with others and can open up many career opportunities that may be unobtainable otherwise. Good networkers are flexible people who approach connection-making as a fluid enterprise that extends far beyond hotel conference room walls.