As a job search strategy, as well as an employment-survival strategy, networking is the most effective method you can use. I'm always interviewing people about how they landed their most recent job, and the answer 97% of the time is NETWORKING! Not Monster or CareerBuilder or even Job-Hunt. Networking.
Benefits of Networking
Someone asked for the benefits of networking as a job search strategy. In about 5 minutes, I came up with this list, but I'm sure there are many more than just those on this list:
- Having your own private sales force - your network - helping you find a good job.
- Making your resume stand out from the others because it is an internal referral.
- Finding out about jobs before they are posted anywhere, through your network.
- Getting an inside track on a job you want.
- Keeping current on what's going on in an industry, profession, or employer.
- Checking to determine if an employer is a good fit for you - someone to provide the "inside scoop" on how things really work at the employer.
- Beating the job search blues. A job search can be very demoralizing. It's really a sales effort with yourself as the product, and that makes it very hard on the ego unless someone is lucky enough to land the first job they apply for. Someone with a network sees other options and hears encouragement from other members of the network, so they often have a better attitude toward their serach (and, thus, more success).
- BEST - Ending the need to conduct a job search. After you've networked for a few years, you don't usually have to look for a job again. The jobs find you through your network! You go seamlessly from one job to the next. Think of it as 21st century job security...
Employers in competitive labor markets (like hospitals) and smart employers often have "employee referral programs" that reward employees for referring a friend who is hired and stays a specific length of time. Research seems to support the idea that a hire made as the result of an internal referral is usually more successful that an "outsider" hired.
So, go out there an NETWORK! IT WORKS!!!
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