Another Great Networking Story

I have to admit that I'm a pretty good networker.  I don't love doing it, although I usually find I leave  network meetings feeling more positive and hopeful than when I walked in.  And, when I look at the list of people I've met with, even I'm impressed.  I operate with the belief that you never know who someone knows until you ask.  It's also proven true that when you follow up with network leads, they tend to lead you to other network leads and so your network grows.  I'm not talking about telling everyone you know you're looking for a job.  I am talking about getting out there when there's no apparent opening to meet new people and gather advice, suggestions and more network leads.

My connections have come through all sorts of people.  My first line contacts were obviously already part of my network web.  I don't mean the web you're surfing on, but rather think of what a spider's web looks like and how it's built.  The spider starts in the middle and slowly works to add ring after ring, making the web larger and larger.  You start in the middle and reach out to your first line or primary contacts, people you already know from a former job, your team at the bowling alley, a professional association, a friend or family member.  You meet with that person and give them a sense of what you're looking for and they recommend you to others so you're adding the next ring or your second line contacts.  The contact for my first job as an adult was my mother.  It didn't feel very adult to work through my mother, but she was the one with the contact in the company I was interested in and so she became more than my mother.  She became apart of my professional network.

One of my best network connections this time around came through my niece.  She was in for the holidays and we got into a conversation about my job search.  I mentioned that I wanted to talk to someone at a specific university and, to my great surprise and delight, that someone turned out to be her best friend's father.  Another great connection came through a friend who had a friend who had worked at several different colleges.  This mutual friend made her introduction through e-mail.   I arranged to meet my new network connection for coffee and once she got to know me and understand my goals she connected me to colleagues at two major universities.  It turned out one of them did have an opening for which I interviewed.  The other helped me network into several other departments on campus where he thought I'd be a good fit.  Again, they had no openings, but I'm now volunteering in one of those departments, which has allowed me to confirm that I'm on the right track in targeting a position as a career counselor in higher education.  It has also expanded my network, because the head of the department has become an important part of my web.  I truly mean it when I say that you simply don't know who someone knows until you ask and you have no clue where your network can take you.

I have found the network process a true reflection of the roller coaster I've written about so often.  I come out of some network meetings feeling a bit frustrated or dejected and I come out of others just soaring!  Yesterday, I was soaring.

The contact I'd made through my niece referred me to one of his colleagues.  While I was upbeat about the meeting, I've admittedly been in a bit of a slump of late.  After an hour-long conversation, it felt like I'd known this person for most of my career.  I walked out totally energized!  I also walked out with some suggestions about groups I should join, people I should contact, people she is going to contact on my behalf and leads about some possible openings.

Some network contacts will give you names of people to contact and suggest you use their name as the connection.  Others will send an introductory e-mail that basically says 'this is a good person' who will be contacting you to schedule a meeting.  Then there are those people who send out that e-mail and say, 'you must meet this person, they're terrific!'  Or better yet, 'I think this person would be great for your open position.'  These people are rare and yesterday I was lucky enough to meet with someone rare.

Most of my network meetings have been very fruitful.  I've received valuable advice and, in almost every case, names of others I should contact either within their organization or at another university.  I've had four network meetings after which my belief in myself was reinforced both through the words and actions of the person I'd networked into.  Those meetings are truly gifts and help balance a process that can often knock the stuffing out of you.

So just keep at it!  There will be those meetings where you try every way possible to get the name of someone else you might talk to and walk out empty handed.  And there will be those meetings where the person truly gets networking and becomes a valuable contact and fan in your growing web.