Greetings Friends.
As a young professional (although I beg to differ on my level of professionalism), I’ve recently endeavoured on the mission of finding full time work. A task that just never seems to leave adult life – damn you adulthood!! And I’ve come to realize the sad truth that many people speak:
“it’s not what you know, it’s who you know”
I have to talk to people who are affiliated with the job I want….uuuggghhhhhh. Yes, I know, for felow introverts this is the last thing you were hoping to hear.
But, instead of trying to deny it, defy the odds and prove everyone wrong – I’ve accepted this truth. And finally after having embraced this, I set foot on participating in this tactic.
When I first started focusing on this, I’ve gotta say I was pretty diacouraged – didn’t know where to start and felt that the people I did know couldn’t possibly help. But boy was I wrong. And boy was I surprised by who ended up helping me.
It started with having coffee with this person and that person, asking them about their story, and expressing my inyeerest to advance. It lead to some volunteer opportunities to expand the network further. Overall, it didn’t seem as though any conversation I had really held much value at first.
Lo and behold, about a month after one of my coffee talks, I receive an email from the hiring manager of my current position “We heard you’re interested, wanna come in for an interview?”…..ummmm YYEEEESSSSS!! Completely unexpected. Completely off guard. I went in for the interview, used all my helpful interview tips, and landed the job.
It was awesome, better than I could have imagined. And to think I didn’t expect any of these conversations to actually help me! Don’t doubt the power of networking, the influence you can make on someone over having coffee with them. Trust me, only good things come from expanding your network with relevant people.
Do try this, it will put all your designations and “what you know” to good use.
What are your networking stories? Do you agree in the power of knowing people? Let me know in the comments 🙂
Peace out, until next time.
1 thought on “The Power of Networking”