Don't Call It Networking

Article provided by CareerCoach from LHH.

Any career services professional will tell you that networking is the single most important job search activity. Indeed, outplacement companies and career counselors hold seminars and workshops devoted just to this subject. But no matter how much we say so, it seems many job seekers hate to network and prefer to spend their time sending out resumes or cruising job sites on the Internet.

I realize now that the newly unemployed often misunderstand the networking concept. Because networking is encouraged by the career consultant, individuals tend to view it as a skill specific to the job hunt, and not a widely-applicable, if not essential, work or life skill. Some people dismiss networking as a purely mechanistic process, while others avoid it because they think it's phony or inauthentic. At best, many individuals network just out of necessity and then forget all about it once they're re-employed.

So if it will do any good, don't call it networking. If it just conjures up negative connotations forget about it. Instead, consider it relationship building, or creating and maintaining channels of communication.

The important insight is to use the crisis and opportunity afforded by a job loss to learn new ways to become known and make friends, and acquire a life skill that will benefit you and your career well after your job search is successfully completed.

Think of networking, or whatever you wish to call it, as an ongoing mission to widen your circle of friends and associates, and to get to know and trust more people and to be known by more people. Think of it not only as a vital, near-term challenge, but also as a long-term investment in your career and, indeed, in your life.

Regardless of what you call it, reaching out to old friends, recent acquaintances or new people is essential to any job search today. While technology can be a great help, people are the path to new employment. After all, the majority of job openings never get posted or publicized, and the only way to learn about them is by talking with people, the more the better.