Recently I’ve been questioned by a number of unemployed professionals on the basics of networking. Ever since the major shift of the economy, networking is the latest buzz word and a very hot topic. For a large number of the unemployed community, this new trend of “networking” is not only intimidating and uncomfortable, but very confusing. The old rule of the game was that you should not network when you have a current need, you should network for a future need. But due to the competition out there in searching for employment, people are trying to find ways to stand out, form new relationships quickly, and meet potential employers or people who can connect them to employers. Many people are becoming easily discouraged with networking because they are not meeting the types of individuals they had hoped to meet. They are not seeing the value of networking on a regular basis and they are continuously spending money that they do not have. So why is everyone promoting networking events as a great resource for job seekers? Where is the value and where are the jobs? How do you know what events are useful and which ones are a waste of your time? There are so many questions and there is so much confusion. Here is my advice on networking on a job search…
Stay away from events that are related to your own industry! In this economy, and with the current job market, every networking opportunity is filled with job seekers. The beauty of attending events that are not in your own particular industry is that even though there are mostly unemployed professionals in attendance, the diversity eliminates the competition you see in other groups. When you group together individuals who are in the same industry, profession or level of professional experience, there is a very limited amount of information to be shared. Everyone is basically looking for the same thing. Example: Why would an unemployed Mechanical Engineer share his professional connections with another unemployed Mechanical Engineer?? He wants those connections for himself because he needs to find work too. Now, a new grad who may be two years out of school and just got laid off of their position as a Financial Analyst may have come across some great connections for the Mechanical Engineer and would have no internal conflict with sharing this information.
Also, try volunteering using your professional knowledge. There are plenty of organizations out there that do not have the budget to hire someone right now with your skill set, though they may still have the need. Offer to volunteer on a project or part-time basis. Everyone who doesn’t have a job, has the time to volunteer. Not only is this a good way to keep up with your professional skill set and industry changes, but it doesn’t cost you any money to attend…and you’re meeting new people, helping people, and bringing yourself some good karma! You never know, things may shift and they may decide to hire you! Or at least give you a good recommendation or referral.
Having a variety of people in one group to share connections, experiences and advice is a very rare and useful resource for people who are actively searching for new opportunities. Networking is not only about the WIIFM factor. (What’s In It For Me) It’s about Paying It Forward. What can you contribute? Who can you help? How can you develop new connections and relationships with other professionals in your city? Once you do these things, it’s easy to shoot someone and email or give them a call and ask them for an introduction or an opportunity for a new connection. Who doesn’t want to go out of their way to help someone who helped them?
There is one networking organization for job seekers that I have attended and become regularly active in called Out Of Work Chicago. No only is this a great event for job seekers to meet potential employers, but a great event for employers to recruit candidates! This organization holds monthly events in the city and now in the suburbs of Chicago as well. They provide so many different resources for the unemployed community, you are almost guaranteed to walk away with at least one piece of valuable information. From their expert panel of professionals volunteering to give free advice, to the topic roundtable discussions, key note speakers and corporate sponsors looking to recruit new employees…this is definitely a great resource all around. Their next event is in Chicago on November 17th. I’ll be there, so come say hello!
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