One of the best stories that I ever heard was told as part of a job search support group meeting, I was a part of several years ago. The leader was saying to the group there was a career coach who had a client who lived in New York City who was in job search. The coach asked the client where she might be looking to work next. The woman indicated that one of her target companies was Time Warner. The coach said to her, you need to be letting everyone you know that you are looking to work at Time Warner. You never know whom those that you know, may know that work there and may able to broker an introduction for you.  

The coach went on to say, when I say everyone, I mean everyone. I do not just mean your working colleagues, but people you know socially, people in organizations of which you are a part, even people in your family including your grandmother and your aunt. The woman was skeptical. How would my grandmother or aunt be able to help me with connecting me with someone that works at Time Warner? She was prepared to dismiss the advice.

It so happened the woman did have an aunt she called regularly that lived in a senior citizen’s building in Chicago. She called the aunt that week, and the aunt could tell that the woman was feeling down about her job search. She told the aunt about what the coach had said, and that she should tell everyone about her desire to work at Time Warner. The aunt said to her, “I may be able to help you with that.”

One of the aunt’s neighbors and regular bridge partners was the mother of a Time Warner executive. The aunt explained the dilemma of the niece to the neighbor whose son was an executive at Time Warner. A short time later, the woman in New York got a call from Time Warner asking for her to forward her resume and to come in for a meeting. In hanging up the phone the woman in New York was stunned. She immediately dialed up her coach, got his voicemail, and left the following message: “HOW DID YOU KNOW?”

What the coach did know from their experience is that networking is the number one way that people are able to trace back in the landing of their jobs. The coach also knew that to receiver a recommendation from someone you know about a possible candidate that may be a good fit for your company, is a more preferable way of filling an opening than just blindly looking for candidates through outside sources. Additionally, the coach knew that many job openings are never advertised. They are part of what is called “the hidden job market.” That may be because the company is so busy, they do not really know they have an opening. They are just struggling to survive each day. Other times they trust the input of the people that work there, and would prefer they suggest possible candidates from their network who may be a great fit for a role that is available.

Often, I will ask individuals how many connections they have on Linked In. They will usually tell me the number of first connections they have. However, I will say to them, do you realize that you actually have far more than the number you provided me. Everyone of your first connections has a network, and every one of their first connections is a second connection to you. For example, if one is connected to me, they have nearly 3,000 second connections through me alone. Who are those people? Some I may know intimately. Others, I may have met at a meeting or conference. They possibly work at a company at which you have an interest, or in a type of profession that calls to you. 

Will they respond to you if you reach out to them to have a discussion or to learn more about the organization where they work? Some may, some may not. If you are uncomfortable about reaching out to others you do not know, is the person to whom you are connected to as a first connection willing to make an introduction of you to that person to whom you are looking to speak? Once connected to the individual whom you are looking to meet, whom may they know that you would want as part of your professional network?

Is networking a quick process? NO! Is it an easy process? Not always. Are you always up to meeting new people? Perhaps not. However, if you realize that one introduction can lead to another, that leads to still another, you begin to see that it is not that unreasonable to see that the number of other professionals that you know can grow over the course of your life and career. Be open to the concept that ultimately you can meet the individuals you would like to meet, if you are able to smartly put together the steps and connections in you mind that will get you to make that opportunity come through.

August 2023 - Closing Thoughts