Building a Professional Network

Posted by Krista at 8:52 pm

Are you waiting for your dream job to fall into your lap? Have you used every job board out there but still no offer? It’s time to start building your professional network. 

Though there are many vehicles (online or offline)  for building a professional network, the formula is simple.

For starters, contact someone you know that is well connected in your professional community. Try to schedule an informal informational interview over lunch or coffee. In addition to getting answers to some general high-level questions, ultimately your goal is to get a short list of people that can help in your career search. Then just  repeat the process until you feel like you have built the right group of professionals to network with. Just remember, giving every new connection the third degree isn’t the goal!

Here is a list of people you might want to have in your professional network:

• An executive
• A mentor
• A co-worker
• A public leader
• A recruiter or headhunter

Remember that joining groups, attending networking events and connecting through social media are also great ways to meet the right people. If you want to land that dream job, you are going to have to work for it.

For more tips on job searching, click here.