The Wall Street Journal reports that 94 percent of successful job searches happen through networking. As John Challenger, CEO of Challenger, Gray & Christmas says, “Time and again people work very hard and are good at what they do, but they don’t know anybody. They put their heads down and spend no time developing social capital…. [As a result,] they have a hard time finding a job.”
Networking with people in and around your industry is the best way to:
- Gain perspective on yourself and your career.
- Learn about new or unpublished job opportunities.
- Keep up to date with industry trends.
- Meet and get to know your industry’s key players.
- Learn about the problems in your industry, and the solutions people are developing.
- Find out about the competition for the best job openings.
- Learn about the new training you may need.
- Discover ways to help others (who may someday be able to help you).
That’s the real reasons for networking.
