Career Planning, Career Management, Job Search, Resumes, Interviews
Here is a presentation on Using LinkedIn For The Job Search by Maurene Grey who is New York, United States based IT industry analyst/consultant; Job seeking at Grey Consulting
Read on:
In a comment to my post on networking “Gabriel Monge-Franco” asked:
“What if you’re new to the field/industry — a recent college graduate who knows nobody perhaps — then what? How do you start networking?”
In this note I will be covering some starters for recent college graduates, where they can start networking.
Internship: Most graduates have option to attend internships. Whether paid or volunteer – the internships offer a great chance to come in contact with people in your area of choice. I will advise students to chose internships not on the basis of earning potential but on the basis of networking potential. A sound network developed during the internship will go a long way in your career to become foundation of your professional network.
Networking with senior batches: A batch which has passed from your college a year before you will also be ideal target for initial networking. Usually they have first hand information about various companies and their employment procedures. And they will be a good start point in finding a contact in that company.
Networking through your faculty: Your college faculty will normally have good contacts in industry and other academic institutions. They may lead you to right contacts in some situations.
Online Professional Networking: You can use websites like www.linkedin.com, www.xing.com and like to start your online professional networking. Even social networking sites like www.orkut.com or www.facebook.com also have a lot of potential for professional networking.
I would invite other readers to share their experience on networking while in college.
How many times we have heard that – “He has got promotion because he has connections” OR “She go this job because she had a known connection in that company”?
The above examples may sound unethical but they are a fact. And only those who fail to network pass such comments. Key to a successful career is networking!
The people whom you know and help will be the people who can help you in your time of need. Many of us ignore this critical area and fail to build a network starting early in our career. Of course you may be busy performing your day to day job? You may already know hundreds of persons? But note that knowing is not networking. Networking is creating relationships who can be of your help. Here are few tests to check your networking status:
Breadth of Network: How many diverse types of people are in your network? Do you have people from all professions in your network? Do you have connections in diverse geography?
Depth of Network: How deep are your relationships in network. How supportive the network connection will be in your time of need?
Networking is not a day’s job or a project which you do in a day or month. Networking is a continuous process. Networking is not only knowing someone – it is nurturing your relationships with whim you already know.
Tools to network: Here are some tools I use regularly to network:
Networking will be even more critical in the bad econimic times that we see now and in near future. With layoffs becoming common everyday – your network will come handy in securing new jobs.
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