I was excited to attend a job search workshop at the Science, Industry and Business Library in July. I have been to many such events, and I have found them to be helpful to my career development.  I am happy to blog about this much-needed resource. Lisa Hennig has been a career coach for over a decade, and I definitely learned helpful information for job search techniques, but also for networking within your career in order to perform your job better.

What Is Networking?

First, Hennig helped us address the fundamental question of what defines networking. Essentially, this quandry is what led to my attendance at this event. A whopping 80 - 90% of people land jobs by networking. A saying that Hennig likes is "People hire for culture; the fire is in the fit." Some definitions of networking follow:

• figuring out a way to work together
• reaching out to people in order to converse, which may or may not lead to future career connections
• making new friends and building relationships
• maintaining relationships by following up on work information
• mutual exchange of ideas and information

Benefits of Networking

Networking leads to minds working together for a greater good. Other benefits of networking include the following:

• meet people in the industry so that you can learn more
• broadens your interpersonal skills
• learn more about yourself
• learn about a new career
• learn more about a company that you are interested in working for
• get referrals to other people to talk to
• learn about industry events
• generate ideas

Types of Networking

1. casual meetings - includes meals, weddings, meet-ups, professional events, etc. These meetings are unscheduled.
2. exploratory meetings - professional association meetings and informational interviews. If you want to get involved in a particular field and do not know any one in that field, professional association meetings can help you meet individuals who care about their jobs and are happy and willing to help newcomers. Think about how you feel when you leave the professional meeting. Are you energized or drained? This will help you determine if you want to continue associating with the group.
3. fact finding - At this stage, you are looking for specific information about certain careers. You have clarity in terms of what you want and why you are there. Be careful of the person's time, and ask pertinant questions.
4. strategy meetings - help you figure out how to get the job that you desire
5. referrals - these are additional people that you find out about from your first contacts. You talk to people to get the real story of what the job is like. Talk to many people to gain a variety of perspectives!
6. proactive email - be sure to say thank you to your contacts for spending time with you! Some people prefer email to phone calls.

Elevator Pitch - Three Seconds

This pitch should be a couple of sentences. The intent is to let others that you meet find out about you in a few seconds. Say something that is memorable and quantifiable, similar to how resumes should be written. Vague adjectives and unspecific generalities are unhelpful. Following is my own attempt at an elevator pitch. Who knows if I will ever say it to anyone in person!

"I am a librarian who has written over 375 blog posts on library events, libraries and literature in the past four years. I have weeded and maintained over ten different collections, and I love to inform customers about the terrific information resources that are available to them."

Do Not Ask For A Job! 

You are meeting people in the field that you are interested in to gain insight into particular jobs. The vast majority of networking meetings are for information gathering only. If one of these meetings turns into a job interview, so much the better; however, this will never be on your request. Your contacts are generously donating their time to help you. Do not take advantage of the situation, and the person that you are talking to may not even have the authority to hire!

Have a great time learning about careers and meeting new people.

This course gave me insights about how to network within a career in order to perform your job better. I highly recommend the job search classes that SIBL offers, as well as the free career coaching and personal financial counselors. It was great to meet job seekers, and we were able to practice networking during the event.  

• Books about networking
• Career Coaching is free
• Job Search Central
• SCORE counseling