Advice to new members | Partners - and coping with redundancy | Networking
Preparing your C.V | Preparing for an Interview | " Tell me about yourself " | Job Fairs

NETWORKING uses existing contacts amongst friends, relatives, business colleagues and others, as a foundation for building a new and extended network of further contacts.

It provides a proven route to potential employment opportunities. Careers Springboard holds frequent meetings and discussions on how to make the most of your contacts.

General Guidance

• Research shows that only 30% of all jobs are ever advertised. So if you limit yourself to only answering job advertisements you confine yourself to the most competitive method of recruitment
• Networking is not about phoning contacts to ask for a job. It is about seeking help and advice on job opportunities from people who are in a position to give it, and through them to get more contacts
• Start by listing all the people you know, plus all the people that they in turn know, who may be useful to you
• Include in your list all your friends, relatives, business colleagues, former bosses, former customers, former suppliers, trade associations, clubs and professional bodies etc
• Initially you may feel hesitant about approaching your contacts, but many genuinely would like to help and are flattered to be asked
• You never know when you might be introduced to a useful contact, so prepare and rehearse a response to the question " tell me about yourself "

Make it no more than three minutes long for use at an interview
Have another version, only half a minute long for use on the telephone

• When telephoning use polite persistence until you get through to the person you want. Remember that you are seeking help and advice regarding career planning. Never ask directly for a job. This immediately puts your contact on the defensive
• You may not get invited to a networking interview, if so, then before the conversation ends try to obtain further contacts by asking " who else do you suggest I might contact ? ". Then, you will have another contact to follow up, and you can name-drop without hesitation - using the first contact as the introduction to the second - and so on. Don't forget to thank your contact for their help and keep them advised of your success
• Keep a data base, either on a computer or manually of your growing network. Record the date of all contacts made, together with the outcome

Link this to a call - back diary and always call back on any agreed dates.

Networking does work!