Last week I was delivering a workshop to a group of senior professionals and executives who had been let go by their previous companies, many of them after one or two decades or more of service. One of them observed that with the advent of social media, in particular LinkedIn, it highlighted for him how important networking was in the job search process.
It also equally was observed by another in the room that when you are employed, networking becomes more of an after thought, especially when it comes to your own career. While you may have networked regularly in your job capacity for your employer, now you are on your own you realise very quickly that you have lost touch with people that could be key to helping you find your next opportunity now.
To be honest we probably are all guilty of this to some degree of another. But as you fire up your LinkedIn profile and start reaching out to 'lost connections' make sure that you are as committed to staying in touch and helping your network as you are in getting in touch in the first place.
A reader recently pointed out how guilty certain political figures have been with this on LinkedIn, like John McCain and Hilary Clinton.
Any social media gurus or networkers out there looking to offer some pro-bono advice?
Paul, a very timely piece. Several weeks ago I was speaking with a senior executive with 300+ LinkedIn connections, yet most of these were ‘insiders’ – people within his own organization but scattered around the globe. Now he’s on the outside, he is at a loss in trying to grow his network.
Daisy – great example, its especially hard to go back to past colleagues and ask for help too.
Hi Paul-
As usual your thoughts are worth so much more than two cents!
Your piece reminded me of the need to focus a bit more on LinkedIn. With so many tools and distractions it’s easy to forget something.
Friday is my business development day / admin day and I try to take a few minutes to go through my LinkkedIn contacts and leave recommendations for those I know well and have direct experience with. I try to be as specific as I can about my experience and memories of the person. I also try to keep in mind that it’s quality not quantity when I’m leaving comments.
Great tip Winnie, doing a little bit all the time is a great strategy to ensure you are always doing something!
The social media is a marketing tool that has become very powerful these days. People can market their business to millions of people worldwide. Social media could also be used to interact with individuals from all over the world. Nowadays celebrities are making use of social media sites to boost their popularity.
Braden, thanks for the input. I totally agree, social media is a tool. The danger I see is people thinking that having a great online brand is the begiining and end of personal branding, rather than ensuring they have clearly defined their brand before embarking on the social media trail.
Hey Paul
Great post – You should get a loudspeaker and shout this message again and again …. I wrote something similar a while back – LinkedIn is for Life, and not just for Christmas — http://ow.ly/2QYQb
Thanks P
Thanks Paul and for the link to your article, we are definitely on the same wavelength!
Hi Paul.
Excellent post. I spent about 5-6 months looking for a new opportunity after my employer at the time had a change in direction. Fortunately, I already had an active blog for a few years, LinkedIn, was on Twitter etc. and that helped. I attended many networking events as well.
Now that I am back with a full-time job, finding the time to keep up with all the networking, blog posting, keeping LinkedIn up to date, and everything else is very difficult. What has worked for me is to just make it a priority. It is usually on the weekend, one evening when my daughter and wife have gone off to bed, but I try to do a little bit.
I do this because looking for work has made me realize the importance to constantly network. I know people that just network when they need something, but you have to give back. People are smart and will catch on and if there comes a time you do need them again, they may be less likely to help you, if you were not there to help them.
Some very salient points Michael, thanks for sharing.