Career Cube Blog

I’m a career coach for a number of job sites on the web, and one of the most common complaints I hear from job seekers is that they don’t feel that they have a network of people to help them get a job. I remember a time when I felt the same way–really, I do. But then I got off my couch and started getting out of the house a little more.

One innovative way I’ve found is through a website called meetup.com. The site is a place for people to organize events and meet new people. Here’s how it works: say that you are a Johnny Mathis fan and he’s performing at a theater near you, but your friends look at you like you’re from another plant when you suggest getting tickets. You can hop onto meetup.com and form a group of Johnny Mathis Fans who are interested in going to the show. If people are interested, they sign up, and voila! You have a network of people who are Johnny Mathis fans just like you! Going to the show will give you the opportunity to meet people who have a similar interest as you but whom you may not normally come into contact with on a daily basis. At intermission, the conversation could turn to people’s jobs, and you can mention that you’re looking for new opportunities and talk about what you’d like your next job to be. Someone may have a good suggestion of who to contact at a particular company, or a totally different take on your career than what you were thinking of pursuing. Who knows-you may be able to help someone else too. Don’t just be in it for you-make an effort to get to know other people and see how you can help them. After the show, exchange contact information and when you’re home, make a note about what other people are looking for so someday you could help them in return.

Meetup groups aren’t just for social events, there’s plenty of groups set up for entrepreneurs and other business networking opportunities. These groups are established to invite new people to join-if they didn’t want new people to join, they wouldn’t post it on Meetup, so feel free to sign up!

Another online networking opportunity is something called LinkedIn. LinkedIn is primarily to help people use the network of people they know to find contacts at companies they want to work for. Here’s how it works: I can go on and create a LinkedIn profile. I then search the site for other people I know, and then send them a request to link to me. Once you’re linked, you can see their profile and other people they know. So if you’re trying to get into GE Capital, and you find a former co-worker on LinkedIn, and they know someone at GE Capital-you have a couple of options. You can send your friend an email to see what their relationship is with this person at GE Capital, you can send the GE Capital person a request directly and mention that you found them on LinkedIn and that you have a friend in common. It works pretty well because the people who are on there, are there to be found. The more people you know, the better your chances of finding a match. Hey-you can even link to me as a start. I like having friends! Here’s my profile.
Are you on Myspace or Facebook? Feel free to link to me there too. I actually was contacted by a guy I went to high school with, who had connected with another classmate with some pretty impressive financial industry connections.

The only way to grow your personal network is to get out there and meet other people. Everyone is interesting in their own unique way, and who doesn’t like meeting interesting people?

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