How much do qualifications really matter? Pretend you are an employer for a moment: you’ve just interviewed two people; one is fully qualified but a little bland in the personality department, the other could use some skills enhancement, but is gregarious, vibrant, and funny! Essentially, the second interviewee encompasses the qualities you admire and would seek in a friend. Who would you hire? Well, the results are in and it turns out most people would prefer to hire someone they will enjoy working alongside. Fact: people hire people they know and like. Thus, whether you are a social butterfly, or someone who prefers more intimate one-to-one conversations, you will reap benefits by learning how to network while job searching.
Networking, by definition, is meeting people to build a supportive web of contacts to learn from, share with, and connect to others. The more likable people you include in your network, the better are your chances of being presented with an employment opportunity. Remember that networking is not meeting people to ask for jobs; rather, it is a relationship-building exercise. Stay tuned for tips on how to network effectively in our next blog post!
Many jobs are filled by word of mouth applicants rather than external applicants, because in a world where time is money, it is much more of a reliable, efficient, cost-saving method of recruiting. Hopefully you will meet someone who will put your name forward!
