The new year is here and you may be looking to land a new career somewhere. A recent survey of thousands of local Arizona professionals showed that 83% of professionals found their current job through networking. That statistic should show you something significant, so what’re you doing to network? Networking is the single most effective way to take a lot of burden off your career search. Here are 3 tips to networking better in 2014.
1. Join LinkedIn!
LinkedIn is a website where you can become acquainted with other local professionals, develop relationships, and put yourself at a competitive advantage with other job seekers going after the same jobs you are. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account you’re already behind, so go now and jump onto www.LinkedIn.com and create an account! Once you create your account, do some Google searches on how to effectively build it out, or ask a friend who might know.
2. Do My Family And Friends Know I’m Looking?
The first people you should inform about your career search is your family and friends. They know a lot of people and your family are the ones who typically care the most about you and helping you with the things you need, so go to them for help.
3. Where Else Can I Go To Network?
Job fairs are a great place to go. Do a Google search of local job fairs going on and go network with the professionals in attendance, even if they’re not the hiring managers in charge of the type of job you’re looking for, they should know who the appropriate person is within their organization.
Another great networking resource is www.networkingphoenix.com. This site has a lot of local networking events you can go to; a lot of the events are free, others have a nominal fee. The main objective is simply to become more connected in your professional community.
CareerConnectors is another great resource to get involved with where you can go network with hiring employers. Find local events at www.CareerConnectors.org.
As you rely more heavily on networking, your job search will go better; you’ll get more interviews and more connections with hiring managers, Recruiters, business owners and other folks who have the power to hire you.