Friends and networking

I’m sure that most of us are a bit reticent about leaning on friends to help you get permanent or contract work – and rightly so.  Our friends may have been made at previous jobs, but that doesn’t mean we should always be working with them.  Friendships should be protected as much as possible from the stresses brought on by asking them to get you a new job.

But that doesn’t mean that they can’t help in lots of ways.  They can be a great source of support, allowing you to forget about your situation for a while.  They may also be good to bounce ideas off, or even to gain new ideas.  Friends also have other friends and work colleagues – so maybe it’s time to utilise these connections for that hated buzzword “networking”.

The quickest and easiest way of doing this is to make sure you are connected online via the major social networking sites.  Top of the list is probably Facebook purely because of its huge reach – it may not have a business/professional focus but it can quickly garner you a lot of contacts.

LinkedIn is a networking site that is much more focused towards the business and professional life and is perfect to gather both your friends off Facebook but also many employment agencies have representatives on the site.  You can also find a discussion group on LinkedIn that is relevant to your type of job where you may be able to gain more contacts.

Other social networking sites are about but the above two are probably the best to start with.

1. Profile Information.  So log-on and complete as much profile information as possible on both sites, it is a pain to have to do it but it makes a much better impression to those who look at your profile.
2. Find Groups. This is particularly relevant to LinkedIn as many industry groups have members who are agencies specialising in that area.  So join the groups, have a read through what they discuss and get involved if you think it is relevant – let your expertise impress people!
3. Always Respond. If you get a message from someone on either site then do respond, e-mail and social networking sites have made people very used to quick contacts, if you wait a few days to respond then your response may no longer be relevant.
4. Keep updated.  Let people know what you are doing – but keep it relevant to the site.  Yes on Facebook you can let people know you are off to the gym, but on sites like LinkedIn then focus on the work you are doing/looking for.  And keep doing it – the more you are in people’s consciousness online, the bigger chance they will think of you if something comes along.