All About Jobs

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Yesterday I claimed that networking is one of the best sources of jobs. Today I’ll give a little advice on how to do it.

Networking is all about making contacts with people who can help you achieve your business or personal objectives. We already have a network; family, friends, work colleagues, customers etc and those people know other people … people you don’t know. That’s your extended network.

The first opportunity lies with those people we know. Can any of them help you find a job? Ask them.

The second opportunity lies in finding people in networks where it is likely you can find a job. For example, if you are an IT specialist and attend an IT conference, you’d expect to find people who are either looking for someone to hire or know of someone who is.

So, find people within the industry and introduce yourself to them. During conversation tell them that you are an IT professional and you are looking for a job. Give them a business card and ask them to tell anyone they know that you are available. If you can have your key skills listed on your business card, that will be even better.

You do need the self-confidence to approach people who are strangers, strike up a conversation and then ask them if they know of anyone looking for an IT specialist. If they don’t you can always ask them if they will ask their colleagues and leave them with your business card.

Over the years I’ve had several people approach me at conferences, meetings and other venues and I’ve always given them a good hearing because we’ve all been there and we can empathise with them. You’ll find most people will help you if they can. But, you have to make the first move.

Robin
“Think success - Achieve success”

According to many of the experts, networking creates many more job offers than any other method of job seeking. Who you know is always more important than what you know?

Why is this? It’s largely because when people know and trust you, they feel more comfortable about recommending you for a job or hiring you. It’s better to place someone you know than take a risk with someone you don’t know. And no matter how good the recruitment process, there is always a risk that the person you employ will turn out to be a lemon.

What this means to you

Quite simply, it means that whatever other job searching strategies you have in place, you MUST also include networking. Tomorrow I will deal in more depth about networking and what it means.

Robin
“Think success - Achieve success”