By Bill Meyer
Janice Templeton a forty year old marketing representative lost her job because of company downsizing. Upon hearing the news, she immediately started calling recruiters and then turned to her friends to keep her in mind if they heard of anything.
When several months passed without Janice uncovering a suitable position, she became very frustrated and engaged in much soul searching to discover what was wrong.
During a counseling session with Janice – I reviewed with her the approach she was using to network which had been pretty much limited to just telling all the people she knew that she was looking.
What is Networking?
Honestly, most people take the approach that Janice took and restrict their networking strategy to a brief phone conversation that shares the bad news that they are out of work and looking. To use networking to it’s fullest extent you must realize that it is a well orchestrated planned process that provides you a vehicle for seeking information about opportunities or alternative uses of your skills as well as a means of expanding your contacts.
Too often people approach networking as a game that is to see how many business cards or resumes they can pass out and then sit back and wait for the phone to ring. It isn’t a game, but rather a dynamic systematic process of acquiring information to enable you to make informed life decisions; included in these are career decisions.
Some people experience hesitancy or fear because of their upbringing, which has taught them to be independent and self sufficient. Asking for help may conjure up feelings of embarrassment or imposition on others. But just the opposite is true. When people are asked to provide assistance they usually feel flattered because their opinion is valued – by not networking we eliminate the possibility of giving others the opportunity to be of assistance to us and thus providing them an ego boost.
Most of us would not think twice about asking for help finding an ethical financial planner or a quality babysitter, but find a level of discomfort when it comes to discussing material related to job or career.