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April 18, 2024

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Finding a Job Through Networking
Finding a job through networking

"He or she who gets hired is not necessarily the one who can do that job best, but the one who knows the most about how to get hired." Richard Bolles

There are times in our lives when we need to look for a new job. Sometimes this is by choice, other times it isn't. You may have been told, "Go out and network", but not been told why, when, where or how to do it.

Networking is one of the most important parts of an effective employment strategy. In this article we'll look at some of the reasons why.

The changing nature of work and the end of careers

In the period immediately after the second world, school leavers would join a company with the expectation of a job for life. This changed for the generation leaving school from the 1980s, who anticipated career progression through a number of different organizations. For the current generation of school leavers, and for many others, the notion of a single lifetime career, perhaps the notion of jobs themselves has probably disappeared.

This means the need to find a job isn't always by choice.

Because we live in a world that is changing all the time, many of us are faced with the prospect of our current job becoming obsolete. We are likely to need to reapply our skills into different jobs from the ones we did before. The career ladder is today more like a maze. Sometimes you may go up, other times left, right or even backward.

According to Leon Benjamin, "The future of work is only about one thing and that's change. It makes no difference if you're an employee, an entrepreneur, a small business owner or freelance consultant, and the means by which we will secure the work we want that suits our individual lifestyles, will be by cultivating relationships."

What is networking?

Networking is "a process of interacting with people who usually share similar interests to yours". The interactions are usually the sharing of information about those interests, and the passing on of names of others who also share those interests." It should benefit both parties.

With respect to finding work, it is a way of getting new contacts and information. Some people love to network; others find it really hard, especially as a way to find work.

** An attitude of giving **

Dr Ivan Misner, founder of networking group BNI, promotes the philosophy of "givers gain". The more you give unconditionally, the more you get back.

However, this goes against the philosophy of selling, and, it must be said the culture of most large organizations. Large organizations tend to reward scarcity of knowledge, so many feel they are like to get on in an organization by holding back, in terms of knowledge, as much as they can. So if you've worked for a large organization for most of your life, don't worry if this feels, at first, like the wrong thing to do.

** The value is in the links **

The value of networking is not so much about the quality of the people you meet, but the quality and quantity of the people they know. The links, the connections and introductions people can make, are more important than the wealth or expertise of the person themselves.

One of our friends is a professional storyteller. As you can imagine, professional storytellers don't earn very much money, and if you met her you might question the value of networking with someone like her. However, your attitude might change if I told you that she's a friend of a (now former) Cabinet Minister in the British government. It turns out that a former flat mate of hers, when she lived in Newcastle, became the partner of a man who went on to become a leading light in the Blair government.

Networking is often about being a switchboard - people pass through you to get somewhere else. More often than not there's little likely reward to you, yet the more people see you as the natural place to go to get connected, the more like that the connections you want are likely to be attracted to you. As a result, you'll see the connections to many of the people or organizations you want to connect with.

Why Network?

** Three key benefits **

Professor Wayne Baker looked at the findings from research into networking, and found three key benefits: 1 Finding a job. More people find jobs through personal contact and by any other means. 2 Pay and promotion. People with rich social networks are paid better and promoted faster at younger ages. 3 Influence and effectiveness. People who are central in an organization's networks are more influential than others.

** Up to 80% of positions are filled without employers advertising **

It is claimed that up 80% of all jobs are never advertised. They are filled through referrals and recommendations, direct approaches by candidates and by using agencies. For arguments sake, let us imagine the figure is half that; there are still a huge amount of job opportunities that you'll miss if you don't network.

According to a study by Drake Beam Morin, 64% of the people surveyed said they found their new jobs through networking. More likely than not, the best jobs are likely to be those that aren't advertised, because they will have been filled before the organisation needs to pay for advertising.

** You'll learn **

Networking puts you in contact with people you might not otherwise meet. You'll increase your knowledge about the subject and be connected to more people within this community. You'll also learn about yourself. I've heard one networking expert say "Until you find yourself, you cannot find work".

Networking is also a great way to check on a regular basis your value on the open market, and you don't have to go on a job interview to get this valuable feedback.

** Master mind group **

In Napoleon Hill's famous book, "Think and Grow Rich", he stated that one of the 13 Principles common to every successful person was having a "master mind group". All the successful people he researched had people around them who provided a support structure that made them better, more successful, people.

Networking is one of the best ways to create your own mastermind group, as it brings you into contact with a wide range of potential members of your mastermind group.

** Networking is not evil **

Most of us believe in a meritocratic society. The most able and hard working people are rewarded the most, and you may feel uncomfortable with the idea of gaining benefits because of whom we know.

You can use networking to get an introduction, to get a warm referral. You can also use networking to build up your expertise and create a team that you can use as a support team: sub contractors, mentors, master mind groups and so on. After that, it's up to you. Relationships need to be nurtured. They grow over time, and from that you develop trust and credibility. They can't be faked.

Summary

As we move towards a relationship economy, with the nature of work changing, networking can help you connect with the people who need your skills and can also help you increase your value as an employee.

(c) Ellis Pratt 2006

About the Author

Ellis Pratt co-owns a technical writing consultancy called Cherryleaf Ltd. If you would like a free sample chapter from our self paced study guide, "Network to Get Work", on finding work through networking, see http://www.cherryleaf.com/jobarticle. For details on the self paced training course, Network to Get Work, see http://www.networktogetwork.com

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