5 Old-Fashioned Networking Tips for the Job Hunt

Even though I am now electronically enabled without blue screen of death experiences, I don’t have the bandwidth to constantly hammer out short messages on my various keyboard devices. Besides, if I am always looking down at a keyboard on a mobile gadget or stuck behind a computer, I am not out in the world engaging with those I would be interested in working with! I’d rather be out front-and-center with people in my job search than fiddling with short e-blasts in a heads-down fashion. Call me old-fashioned, but at least I won’t walk into a manhole!

 

Here are 5 strategies I employ when networking for my job search and how you could do them, too:

 

Get Out!

 

Whether it be getting out of your home office, the library or the local coffee shop, do it. You won’t meet anyone in person tucked behind your computer screen. Make it a weekly goal to go to at least one industry or networking meeting to meet with real, breathing humans. You will feel alive and refreshed, much more so than from that added jolt of java!

 

Make Meaningful Connections

 

When going to one of these weekly industry or networking meetings, strive to have just a few profound conversations with a few people. You don’t have to meet and greet everyone in the room to be successful at a networking event. Remember, it only takes one connection to earn one interview to land that one job. I don’t think I ever went home from an event and said, “Gee, I had 50 great 1-minute conversations tonight!” But I do recall saying, “Wow, I had a really cool chat with ABC person from XYZ company, and I can’t wait to talk with him again.”

 

Help People Help You

 

Being in the moment at such live events also means that you are interested in the other person. What’s in it for them to meet you and add you to their business circle? How can you be helpful to them in the present and perhaps the very near term? Listening is still a highly valued skill set, and if you can do it well in a networking setting, imagine how well you can do it in a job environment.

 

Be Present

 

While being technologically savvy with various electronic gizmos is part of the zeitgeist, being present and engaged actively in conversations with people never goes out of style. Cultivating your network is not just a one-time discussion, rather it is an evolving and expanding conversation that includes not just you, but extends to including many others also focused on the same business goals for that particular firm.

 

Let Your Network Help Connect the Dots

 

As they say, you never know who knows who. A computer won’t make the mental connections about people’s shared experiences and how they may be important in the business world for you. For example, I was researching a local food producer and trying to figure out how to meet the business leader who is known locally for sponsoring an innovative 5K road race as well as growing multiple businesses. While discussing this dilemma with a fellow job seeker, he clued me in that this particular business owner is also a dedicated farmer with a viable farming business that sells product to the local community. My job searching friend also shared with me that this person is almost always at his local farm every weekend when it is open to the public. So that’s the next outing for me and my two young sons. They will get to see a local farm in action, and I’ll meet this business leader who is creating new businesses -- and new jobs.

 

How is your face-to-face networking going in your job search? How does it compare to some of the electronic tools you use?

 

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