Poll for professionals: How much do you network and talk to your colleagues?

[JadedStar]

Networking has a negative connotation because it promotes the idea that advancement and opportunity are based on WHO you know and not WHAT you know. In the experience of many people, this turns out to be true, and inevitably leads to resentment.

 

Sorry to say but it is who you know in many cases. If you are sending out blind resumes into a pool of 100s...how will it get noticed? Yes, networking is your way to stand out....you have a tiny leg in as it were.

 

It is what it is. That is why i said for job seekers networking is absolutely critical. If anyone thinks that blindly sending resumes to job boards is the best way to get a job they are kidding themselves.

 

YOu have to get out there and network. You HAVE to sell yourself if you want to stand out, but that has nothing to do with a white boy club.

[melrich]

It helps and is a consideration but not the decisive factor.

 

Where networking is a part of the job it is a decisive factor. It is a skill like any other and not one that is easy to impart. In professional services, usually the hardest component of the job is knowing who to go to and who can do what for you. If I plonked you in my job, gave you all my knowledge about the technicalities of my role but not my contacts and industry knowledge, you would fail.

[JadedStar]

And meritocracy works like this. Two candidates come into my office. I ask the first what he is capable of in our field, and he shows me 4 things that he's done. I ask candidate 2 the same question and he shows me 10 things that he's done....points to number 2.

 

In any industry where knowing contacts is a requirement to actually do the job successfully, i.e. more contacts=more earnings, and it's as simple as that, then I entirely understand the need for networking, as part of the job. But that isn't the case for most jobs, and many people's objection is that the networking concept extends way beyond those jobs, and results in a seemingly corrupt system where people are given jobs on the basis of who they know, ahead of candidates who are actually more capable.

 

Strong networking doesn't mean you do the job better than those who don't network. It means that you are better able to put yourself in front of the right people who will be able to NOTICE what you do well.

 

It is a sell job, and if anyone thinks that skill alone will sell them, they need to go back to Interviewing 101. Skill is critical, but you have to be able to market your skill somewhat. There is no more critical time than the present economy where 500 very skilled people are competing for one job to understand that networking has a lot of value. You have to have something that will make your resume get noticed. This does NOT mean you will get the job. Your skill and merit gets you the job, but the networking just gets the skill noticed.

 

If you have no job skills, you need more than networking.

[JadedStar]

Networking is not isolated to the upper class.

 

I have a close friend who is an auto technician. About as blue collar as they come. He doesn't like white collar industry much, but he has people skills and knows how to talk to people. I'll call him person A. We have another friend in the same industry. I'll call him person B. He doesn't think anyone knows his craft better than he, and really knows no one else who does what he does. However, person A is very much in the 'know' with new trends in his profession of choice. He knows about the latest tools and what not because he networks with other mechanics. Person B is isolated and doesn't think he needs anyone. Thus, he never seems to get very good jobs because no one knows him and he never keeps up with what is the latest out there.

 

These are not rich people and not even business people in the traditional sense. They are two auto mechanics. One knows everyone in the local area who practices his craft and he keeps up on technology by networking and staying abreast of new trends. The other has no clue because he doesn't think 'anyone else knows more than he does". Who gets more work?

 

This is not a trick quiz. There is no mystery here as to which self employed mechanic gets more customers.

[CaptainPlanet]

Where networking is a part of the job it is a decisive factor. It is a skill like any other and not one that is easy to impart. In professional services, usually the hardest component of the job is knowing who to go to and who can do what for you. If I plonked you in my job, gave you all my knowledge about the technicalities of my role but not my contacts and industry knowledge, you would fail.

 

You didn't say if it was entry level, mid, senior or what. You just said that you would hire the person with the most number of contacts. Which is entirely different to needing an experienced person with networks to run the shop.

 

For all I know you could be hiring entry or low level based on networks. Which is entirely discriminatory in my opinion because I can't see how it would be immediately relevant to the job.

[JadedStar]

You didn't say if it was entry level, mid, senior or what. You just said that you would hire the person with the most number of contacts. Which is entirely different to needing an experienced person with networks to run the shop.

 

For all I know you could be hiring entry or low level based on networks. Which is entirely discriminatory in my opinion because I can't see how it would be immediately relevant to the job.

 

I have no idea what melrich's industry is, but an example that would support his statements would be let's say you are a sales person for a major pharmaceutical chain...i don't know much about that industry, but i know sales. Let's say you all of a sudden have gained the skills necessary to sell the products in question. Went to all the classes and had all the ride alongs with the right people to learn. Yourself and a peer are both doing this job, and the company might find themselves in a position to only keep one of you. You both started at the same time and have the same performance skills based on technical knowledge. Your peer has been doing something you haven't. He has been networking and has a rolodex of contacts already. HE knows this business in and out, his networking techniques not only landed him a rolodex full of potential clients, but also has given him some very keen insight into this business. As a result, his sales are tremendous. He is busting quotas out the ying yang.

 

Now you have aquired the job "skill", but this other person mops you up in sales that he gained while you didn't really get much.

 

Which one of you will be more valuable to an employer whose bottom line depends on sales? NO clue which person the company will retain, but any layman could see which one is more valuable to the bottom line.

[melrich]

You just said that you would hire the person with the most number of contacts.

 

I ask the first one who he would consider himself close to in our industry and he gives me 4 names. I ask candiadte 2 the same question and he gives me 10 names.....points to number 2.

 

No I didn't. I said that would be points in their favor. It is only one of many criteria you judge a candidate by.

[JadedStar]

You just said that you would hire the person with the most number of contacts

If I plonked you in my job, gave you all my knowledge about the technicalities of my role but not my contacts and industry knowledge, you would fail.

No, CP he said you would fail in his job, not that you would not get the job. He said you would fail because you might have the skill, but no contacts, and no industry knowledge. In some jobs, that is as critical as the skill. Of course the skill is critical, but these other factors in some jobs are equally important - which is what I attempted to illustrate in my last example.