Networking is key to locating and landing new and awesome jobs. It’s a simple statement and fairly true, but how exactly does that help? Bloggers, experts and talking heads yammer about the power of networking endlessly (I admit guilt of this one myself) without telling us how the f we do it. Well, I’ve seen the errors of my ways and mortified my flesh with limp pasta and am now ready repay my debt to job-hunting society. So here are some things you can actually do to build and use those networks we like to talk about so much.
1) Reconnect with people you already know. Maybe you’ve lost track of your old classmates or people you grew up with. Maybe you’ve let some old contacts slide because you had a good job and just didn’t have the time. Well it’s not too late. I was contacted recently by a dude I went to 1st grade with and wasn’t at all hurt that I hadn’t heard from him since. A simple apology for not getting to that person sooner might be in order before asking for a favor but you probably won’t need anything right away so you can take a little time to get caught up.
2) Use those websites like LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter. Find people from companies you want to work for and follow them. Get to know what they do, where they go and what they’re in to. RT things they put out there that are cool, comment on blogs and generally put yourself in a position to be seen. You’re value as a resource will become apparent and they’ll think of you when something comes open. Remember to give a consistent image of yourself. If your LinkedIn and FaceBook profiles seem like two completely different people you could well shoot yourself in the foot. Google yourself and see what comes up. Does it show a consistent person? Would you hire that person?
3) Join professional associations. Online friends are cool, but the real-world variety shouldn’t be ignored. Professional organizations put the people you need to know in one room. So you need to be in that room as well. You can join committees or write articles for newsletters. Whatever you can think of to get your name repeated in front of other people in your field. Your expertise is only useful if people know about it.
Adapted from original article written by Meg Guiseppi/executiveresumebranding.com (http://executivecareerbrand.com/how-to-build-a-powerful-executive-network/)