Lesson 16: Networking works

Dive into blogs

Blogs are not exactly useful for seeing job offers posted there, but it is important that you use this social network to connect with professionals, the most relevant ones, within your professional field. In addition, many blogs also recommend following other referral pages that you should know about.

Youtube

Youtube doesn’t exactly help you dive into job offers either, but you can use it for example:

Upload your video CV

Create a channel, a “vlog” and gain visibility

Follow relevant video accounts in your industry

networking

You have heard this “word” several times in the videos and in the texts of the previous modules. The words network, networks and networking have made us aware that we live in an interconnected world: sales networks, Human Resources managers, entrepreneurs, social skills, virtual… This is not a recent phenomenon, the truth is that we have always used them. What the internet has done is provide new tools for something that already existed, offline.

To realize its dimension, read this article: “Half of employees in Spain find work through contacts”:
http://economia.elpais.com/economia/2015/06/11/actualidad/1434015818_660846.html

The objective of networking is the exchange of information and the creation of quality links: providing help to be helped.
Today we call “networking” all those activities and strategies related to the management and development of contacts or, in other words, the art of strategically building and cultivating mutually beneficial personal ties.

Applied to your job search or boost to your entrepreneurial idea, it consists of creating a network of contacts at a professional level that can help you get a job, generate new professional opportunities, or clients for your business.
In a world organized in innumerable different networks, in which our availability of time and resources is clearly limited, we are obliged to carefully select the destination of our efforts.

Before deciding to join a group of like-minded people with common interests, we must begin by finding our own desire and purpose: this dream will determine the direction of our efforts. Our planning and management of contacts will have to be aligned with our vision (destination) and mission (means) as one more strategic element. There is no magic recipe or standardized procedure for networking. Each person must define the procedure that best suits their needs and purposes.

Only the knowledge of the essential keys to the operation of social networks will allow us to design our project and personal strategy in managing contacts.

The “Networking” has traditionally been considered to be typical of entrepreneurs, freelancers or freelancers, who create their networks of contacts to attract more clients. However, networking is increasingly important for people who are starting to look for a job, since it is through contact networks that new job opportunities can be generated.

Networking is also a highly valued professional quality in different professional fields. Consulting, service, or product sales companies value more their employees capable of using their networking skills aimed at getting new clients for the company, or to recruit the best candidates.

Networking also helps you manage your professional career in the future. If you are hesitating between
different professions in which you would like to work, what better than contacting people who are already
doing this type of work and share with you his point of view? You will get more information than
reading any article on the Internet.

On the other hand, the information obtained from your network of contacts will give you a huge advantage when it comes to getting a job. Imagine someone who has years of experience in the type of job you want to work in, looking over your resume and telling you exactly what to put, or telling you how to get through job interviews. With that information, you would have a point of view that the rest of the candidates do not have and you will have a better chance of getting that job.

Networking is something anyone can do. Even if you think you don’t have a network of contacts, or
you don’t know where to start, you can create that network of contacts in less time than
you think. Let’s see how you can do it in these specific steps:

• Look for the most suitable people: Think of your closest circles: Friends, family, university colleagues, school, ex-work colleagues. How many people do you know who could help you in some way? Make a list of names, and categorize them in a similar way to how you can do it on Facebook or Linked In. Let everyone know that you are looking for a job, so if your contact knows of an opportunity, they can show it to you first.

• Build your Linked In profile, we have already explained this in the previous lesson. Networking is simple, but you have to take into account a series of guidelines or unwritten rules if you want to be a good “networker”. The most basic rule is that when you network, you must offer first. It is the same idea that I have insisted on a lot when looking for a job, preparing your resume, or answering the questions in a job interview: you must be able to put yourself in the shoes of the person interviewing you and know how to “sell yourself” to show them why the company should invest their time and money in you, and why you are the right candidate for the job.

• Establish a Networking agenda: you must be disciplined. Keep an agenda of contacts in your e-mail in which you write down your progress day by day. For example, write down the number of people you have contacted, how many you are in regular contact with, what opportunities have arisen or may arise, a list of people you should contact, points to improve, etc. In other words, everything that is relevant to make your networking more effective and get you closer to your goals.

• Keep your network updated: you can send them news of interest published on your blog or on your LinkedIn wall, send them emails to greet them and remind them that you are there, invite them to events or conferences, recommend publications, books or any content relevant to them.

And now, what do you think is better, sending your resume through an employment portal, or contacting
directly with people who can give you access to those jobs?