No matter what you do for a living – and especially if you’re not currently doing anything for a living, because you’re looking for a job – networking is crucial to your success. The more people you know (and maintain relationships with), the more likely you are to receive the 3 Rs: Recommended, Referred or Requested.
As we’ve discussed before, ‘networking’ doesn’t just mean ‘people in your industry, role, or profession. Your personal network, including friends and family, can also be a powerful network – after all, your friends and family are more invested in your career success than that VP Finance you met last week at a conference.
However, if you’re the sort of person who keeps their ‘personal’ and ‘professional’ lives separate – in other words, if you don’t believe in talking about work when out at a pub with your friends – you may not have realized that your friends have more to offer your career than just the 3 Rs. They may have all kinds of job-related skills, knowledge and insights that would be relevant to your professional development, but which simply don’t come up around the dinner table.
So, your organization needs to fill 32 junior/intermediate roles in the next 3 months, but your recruiting department consists of 2 juniors and an intern who are already working 50 hours a week.