Use the Power of Networking in Your Job Search
by Angela Loëb
It’s one thing for Jay and me to preach about the power of networking in your job search (even though we both have personal, hand-on experience knowledge of how effective it is!). Today I thought we’d take a look at those who’ve been through a career transition during the recession. Let’s see what they have to say…
Job seeker, Aaron Koelzer, was highlighted this week in the “How I Got the Job” column at the KansasCity.com/The Star website. Koelzer was recently hired as manager of local events and development at The Kansas City Sports Commission and Foundation. He got the job by maintaining his relationships with the president and his predecessor, as well as by volunteering for the organization after his internship for his masters degree was completed 6 years ago.
When asked what helped him most during his job search he said, “Networking and keeping myself as busy as I could. I met with contacts and former colleagues to generate leads for job opportunities. And I attended several job clubs, which served as both support and networking groups.”
** Can you hear those strains of beautiful celestial music? Ahhh, sweet vindication. **
Other featured job seekers in The Star’s past columns said things like:
“Bottom line, ‘Never burn bridges.’ What worked was my network of professional contacts…” - 46 year-old director in commercial real estate
“I spent the summer of my internship meeting as many people as I could throughout the company… It’s more about who you know and how you get in the door than what’s on your resume.” - 23 year-old associate product manager for greeting card company
“The best thing also was the hardest thing, for me anyway – networking. After working at the same place for 24 years, you don’t realize when you get out that you’re ‘outside your comfort zone.’ I made the effort to make contacts at targeted companies by starting at websites such as www.linkedin.com.” - 51-year old senior technical consultant in the utilities industry
“Networking. Hands down. And taking the initiative to call rather than just sending a blind resume and sitting back to wait.” - 23-year old who changed careers from commercial banker to financial advisor
“When I first started my search, I was doing a lot of online applications with little results. I joined a few job clubs and learned how to search for a job in today’s market… You are not going to find a job by sitting in front of a computer all day. You need to get out and network.” - age undisclosed, credit analyst/executive project manager
Okay, guys, is that enough to drive home our point that building and maintaining a network is the key to career development and job search success?
Well, just in case you need a little bit more proof (and because I simply can’t resist!) here’s a couple more:
“I feel it’s imperative to maintain a peer network and to be familiar with how colleagues in your field or industry can help you achieve your customer service goals and objectives. In my case, it’s knowing referring physicians and other specialists that will dovetail with my brand of patient care, and answering the needs of patients.” - 34 year old obstetrician/gynecologist
“Keep in touch with friends, work associates, peers. You never know when someone might say something that leads you to a job.” - 52 year old physical therapist
Putting my career coach hat on now – I have a question for you…
Who have you networked today?
