If you are not networking to find a job or networking in your current job, then you are NOT-working! Unless you are so good and so well-known that the world beats a path to your doorstep, you will need to have a healthy online and face-to-face networking strategy. No matter your career stage, YOU MUST establish an online identity and commit to building your brand so that you are found by employers as well as those seeking advice and referrals. Networking is to the Job Seeker what Business Development is to the Company. For a short introduction on setting up your job search strategy on the popular social media sites, click here.
There is so much free information online about how to use social media tools to advance your career on the job as well as in your job search. Job seekers today are expected to be able to educate themselves on the latest career tools. This means that employers will expect you to follow them on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Youtube, as well as other social media. Companies have invested so much time and money in using these tools to connect to current employees, customers, clients, and potential employees. If it's important to them then it should be to you. Using these tools will show your career management savvy and ability to get ahead of your competition.
You should constantly be communicating with key people in your network who can contribute to your professional success. Otherwise, you are NOT-working. How long would Mckinsey & Company stay in business if they stopped doing business development? Even with their status, could they really afford to stop talking to potential clients and engaging existing ones? If they can't do it, then what makes you think that you can? Is your current job so secure and guaranteed that you don't have to continue building and engaging your professional network? Is your job search so easy that you don't have to ask for advice or assistance from your network - let alone invest in building your network?
I personally don't know of any business that can survive without some form of business development. Consumer tastes change much too rapidly and are a factor of not only local factors, but increasingly global factors. You think the little Mom & Pop store doesn't think about how to retain its loyal customers in the shadow of global behemoths like Wal-Mart and Carrefour? So remember, the next time you are just sitting around with nothing to do, try engaging someone in your network. Especially if you are job seeking! There really is no excuse for a job seeker to not be in constant communications with their existing network. And as a job seeker, you should not solely focus on what you can take from your networking activities but on what you can give - professional organizations, clubs, conferences, volunteer activities, etc.
-- Bob Burg, Author and Speaker
"The richest people in the world look for and build networks, everyone else looks for work."
-- Robert T. Kiyosaki
