I wanted to share this story from a client with you regarding networking – and when it doesn’t pay off. We always hear from career coaches that networking is THE way to land a job. Then clients will come to us saying they met with someone and nothing came out of it. Others will tell us (client Christina in Chicago said this last week) that their meeting was awkward and it seemed pointless. This can happen and … it doesn’t mean that networking doesn’t pay off. It’s a game of numbers everyone, you have to put yourself out there as much as possible, just like sales and get a certain number of “no’s” before you get a “yes.” Here’s the story:
“The quick update is that I’m continuing to network and had lunch with the HR guy from Spanx this week. Nothing really there, but glad I hooked up with him. In the meanwhile, I raised my hand for a new piece of business we were pitching and we won the biz. It looks like I’ll be working on this over the course of the next 6 mos or so, and I’m thrilled. Lots of good stuff going on!” -Anna in Atlanta
Anna’s networking meeting didn’t pay off.
I had this happen to me. I spoke at an event that was a bust in terms of gaining business. No one signed up for coaching afterwards and although the event was well attended, it wasn’t a financial success. But – the director for the Mercer EMBA program heard about me through the marketing of the event and contacted me about coaching their students. We’ve been working with them for 4 years, one of our largest contracts as a company so far. So you never know if or when networking will pay off. It might not be immediately and it might not be a direct correlation, but it still is the best use of your time in your job search…
