I’ve often heard job and career experts say that networking is a great way to find a job, but never really used it myself. My vision of networking was a group of people getting together, passing out cards and resumes, and talking about companies, positions, or hiring managers they knew about.
I’d always considered myself a go-it-alone person, and didn’t think networking was for me. But after recently finding a job after more than 21/2 years without regular work, I realized I had networked my way into that job-and into other part-time work during that time as well.
Here’s how networking worked for me.
While having lunch with a friend of mine, she mentioned that she was moving out of town, and was going to be giving notice at her job. I saw an opportunity and took it., asking her if she’d let me know when she did turn in her notice, and if she would put in a good word for me when I applied.
She agreed, and it worked perfectly: she called me the day she gave notice, and within hours of her resignation, I had submitted my resume to the person who’d make the decision about hiring her replacement.
A few days later I had an interview, and a few days after that I had a job offer, and started the next day!
I’m smart enough to know that part of the reason I got hired was because of my resume and skills, and part was due to the interview, but without my friend giving me the heads up, I likely never would have known to apply, and I’m sure her recommendation helped a lot, too.
This wasn’t my first experience with networking, however. Without realizing it, I had used the power of networking during the two-plus years before I got this job, too.
I wasn’t completely idle during that time: I did earn money from several different sources, and what those opportunities and my new job have in common is the manner in which they came to me-networking.
A friend of mine has a home renovation company and in a casual conversation one day I mentioned to him that if he ever needed someone with my particular skill set (or lack of skills related to carpentry and woodworking) to help him, I was available.
As it turned out, he did have an almost immediate need, and I helped him replace a door. Networking at its best!
From that small job, I began to work off and on with him, and in the spring and summer of 2010 worked regularly on a large home renovation. While the work wasn’t always regular, and was seldom full-time, I continued to work as an apprentice carpenter, earning enough to pay my bills each month. I worked with my friend until the day before I began my new job.
Networking also turned me on to the world of online writing, which I’ve been doing now for more than two years. Here’s how that came about:
A friend of mine (a former coworker turned Facebook friend) was posting about her success writing for a variety of online publishers. Being curious, and thinking it sounded like something I’d like to do, I asked her about how it all worked. Based on her recommendation and success, I decided to give it a try, and I now write for several places, earning money every month for doing so.
Without taking the step to talk to someone, to ask someone, or to tell someone I was in the market, it’s unlikely any of these things would have come to me.
I am now a firm believer in the power of networking, and know that there are as many ways to network as there are people doing it. Everybody knows somebody, and you never know who those somebodies know; taking advantage of that is what networking is all about. And I’m proof that it works.