Network, Network, Network!

February 8, 2010

It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.

I discovered the true value of this saying the hard way. When I was laid off, I realized that the only connections I had were in my current industry, which had just taken a hard hit. Everyone I knew was looking out for himself, just as I was looking out for myself. I had just moved from Louisiana to Texas and had no intentions of returning to my home state. The only problem was that I hadn’t done any networking in Texas.

Because of my lack of networking, I was basically cold-calling for jobs. Sure, I was responding to ads I’d seen on jobboards, but so was everyone else. I had no inside connection anywhere. It was a long four months of unemployment.

I learned a valuable lesson. Or so I thought. Even after finally landing a job, I still didn’t start networking. I guess I got content with having a profession and a paycheck.

But then I started thinking about the economy. Recovery is coming much later than everyone had hoped for. People are still losing jobs. The job market is extremely competitive.

And I asked myself a question: What if you get laid off again?

Now I make a conscious effort to network, both online and offline.

Take it from me, you don’t want to get caught with your pants down. As numerous other people have said, you can not put off networking until you need a job. At that point, it’s too late. Instead, always be looking, no matter how good you think your current gig is. Build relationships. Give yourself an alternate route.

Network, network, network! Give yourself a chance. Put yourself out there.

P.S. After writing this post, I realized I should say that I thought about writing this after reading a by Dan Schawbel on the same subject.