Effective Networking Part 1

Every good opportunity has come from people I knew

Starting with my first job in my career, every new opportunity has come from a relationship with someone I knew.  The best jobs, the kind of jobs you really want, don’t make it to the job listings.  The interesting, challenging jobs that require thinking will never be listed in the Help Wanted ads or recruited for at career fairs.  The open-ended jobs that require responsibility and innovation will always be given to someone with whom the hiring manager has a relationship.

That sounds unfair to people that don’t have any contacts.  It did to me when I was a student and my classmates were being offered internships from friends of their parents.  “Must be nice,” I’d think to myself as I spent my afternoons online applying for summer positions.  But the reality is, there’s no point feeling bitter about it or feeling left out.  Networking is the great career equalizer.   Anyone can do it and everyone should. 

I'll give one example... after the jump.

Get involved        

Join clubs. Start clubs.  Take on projects.  Work hard. Be a good person.

In college while studying mechanical engineering, I signed up for the electric race vehicle team.  (I realize how nerdy that sounds.) My main goal was to have something interesting to put on my resume.  We had a successful car and won some races. 

The real benefit of this experience was much greater than filling space on my resume.  Through this experience, I made a connection with a local salesperson, Garth Black, who sold the monitoring equipment that we used on the car.  He was impressed with our work, and recommended me specifically for an internship. My internship led to a job offer at a company that provided a great start for my career.   Garth has become a good friend and I am proud that we have stayed in touch since then.

Contacts > Strong resume

My point in telling this story is that I joined the club with the intention of building my resume. Once I developed the relationship with Garth, however, it didn’t matter if my resume consisted of five handwritten lines on the back of an envelope.  The referral from someone inside the company automatically put me at the front of the pack.

How have you developed your most cherished contacts?  Join the discussion in the comments.