These job-search career networking tips -- how to build and strengthen your network, the power of informational interviews and networking, and more -- have been gathered from numerous sources throughout Quintessential Careers and organized here for your convenience.
To understand the importance of networking, it's helpful to examine how people get their jobs. The U.S. Department of Labor says that only about 5 percent of people obtain jobs through the "open" job market -- consisting primarily of help-wanted ads on the Internet and in print publications. Another 24 percent obtain jobs through contacting companies directly -- the cold-contact method of job-hunting. Twenty-three percent obtain jobs through such means as employment agencies, college career-services offices and executive-search firms. The remaining 48 percent -- nearly half of all jobhunters, obtain their jobs through referrals -- that is word of mouth. How do they get referrals and find out about jobs through word of mouth? By networking. See a graphic representation of how people get their jobs.Go to the next tip .
Because communication is growing increasingly global, a person's career network can include persons from a much larger geographic area, observed career development therapist Janet Scarborough in the Q&A interview she did with Quintessential Careers. "This expansion can be really exciting and fun. I would not have met [QuintZine editor] Kathy Hansen, for instance, if I had not participated in ProfessionalJobTalk, a networking forum for career-development professionals. The Internet also offers a tremendous opportunity for free agents and entrepreneurs to sell their products and services directly to consumers. When I first began my career counseling practice, I built a simple Web site. Most of my first clients found me via the Web. It was a rewarding, inexpensive way for me to start my business," Scarborough notes.Go to the next tip .
One of the best sources of networking contacts for college students is the guest speakers that come to talk to your classes. These professionals are a vast untapped resource. One of our students who was interested in a career in pharmaceutical sales went up to a guest speaker from that industry after the presentation and introduced herself. She asked the pharmaceutical rep if she could send him her resume. He agreed, and she kept in touch with him throughout the next semester before she graduated. By the time she claimed her diploma, she had lined up a $40,000 a year job with the drug firm.Go to the next tip .
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