Navigating Your Network

If there's a No. 1 rule of job searching, it's that networking is the No. 1 thing you should do.

"Having a strong network is critical in any job search today," said Camille Fetter, managing partner at TalentFoot, an executive search firm in Chicago. "It's a competitive marketplace, and building a strong network is the easiest way to advance your career. People with larger networks tend to hear about more job opportunities and are invited to participate at more speaking engagements and industry panel discussions. Your network is your lifeline to building a name for yourself, which ultimately allows you to climb the corporate ladder."

But many question just how you are supposed to network today. Networking used to mean working the phones, attending industry events and trading business cards. It still does. But today you can augment and support those efforts with the click of a button (or the touch of a finger to screen, if you're so inclined).

The ease of networking online has made it easy for people to neglect the more traditional methods, Fetter said. A smarter strategy is to continue the traditional methods, but in a different way, she said.

"People are no longer wasting their time attending general audience networking events," she said. "Instead they are attending specific industry events relevant to their careers or leveraging their already existing networks on LinkedIn by asking for an online introduction to new contacts through the already existing relationships they have established."

Michael Surkan has been on both sides of the "new networking" fence — as a job seeker and as a social media facilitator and coach.

Surkan, who has worked in the technology industry for more than 20 years as a programmer, IT manager, journalist and entrepreneur, dove into social networking after being let go from Microsoft in 2009. Surkan primarily used LinkedIn and podcasts to build the connections he needed to find a new job. He ended up finding two: one as a program manager at a software startup and the other running Linked:Seattle, a LinkedIn community with more than 23,000 members.

Double the Effort

Surkan said sites like LinkedIn and Facebook have made it easier to find groups and people to network with online and offline. The flip side is that that competition for networking has increased, especially as new sites spring up in hopes of rivaling established players.

"With so many people feverishly trying to network in a sparse job market, all this technology sometimes means that you have to work twice as hard as before," said Surkan. "It is much harder to get anyone to agree to informational interviews than 10 years ago. A Rolodex of 50 business professionals doesn’t mean a thing in a world where people count their LinkedIn connections in the thousands."

The speed, volume and sheer number of social platforms available means you must tread carefully to network successfully, Surkan said.

When it comes to social media, experts advise job seekers to focus on the biggest, most business-oriented players. It's critical that you maintain your presence and respond in a timely manner to any direct or indirect opportunities. That can be difficult to do if the online you is spread out over dozens of social media sites.

It also means winning the attention of an influencer is more difficult.

Laurence Stybel, co-founder of Stybel, Peabody & Associates Inc. and executive in residence at the Sawyer School of Business at Suffolk University in Boston, said networking has never been tougher. Not only are more and more social media sites competing for your attention, but colleagues (and potential colleagues) stressed by the current business climate may be less than eager to take a meeting or even just sit down for a cup of coffee. "The world is divided into those who have given up hope, those who keep seeking to meet people and those who are employed," said Stybel. "The employed typically are overworked, over-stressed and not wanting to spend more time on yet another deserving person needing help."

To get the ear of these people — whether virtually or in person — it's important that you not approach them hat (or, in this case, resume) in hand. Surkan, who has parlayed his Linked:Seattle success online into several face-to-face events with up to 800 attendees each, said you need to bring something worthwhile to the table. "Otherwise," he said, "you might as well stay home."