Importance of Professional Networking - Essay Example

? Professional Networking Introduction Over the past few years, the market place has become an extremely competitive place, both for the corporations and for the individuals. Throat cutting competition, survival of the fittest, increased demands for work and effort and lesser security has become the order of the day. Furthermore, to make matters worse, financial crunch and economic recession did hit our markets in 2006 (Nierenberg, pp. 3-4). Since then, thousands of people have lost their jobs. This unemployment rate is climbing up because of people losing jobs and also because of new people who are graduating or who have just finished their studies, looking for jobs but not finding any (Baber & Waymon, pp. 63-64). Therefore, today, finding a job has become an art in itself. Many experts have repeatedly identified that this art can be mastered by learning “professional networking”. This paper is an attempt to look at this argument from various ways. Discussion Important here to understand is the fact that recruitment of candidates for white-collar jobs is often very costly for organisations. A study conducted in 2007 by Consultants from Angela Mortimer revealed that on an average, an organisation spends more than 5000 pounds on recruiting every candidate (Zack, pp. 103-104). Despite the fact in the past many corporations have failed to understand these hidden costs, today those organisations are looking for innovative, creative and cost savings recruiting techniques. It is the probably the credit crunch and recession which has added fuel to inclination towards these unorthodox techniques. One of them has its roots in professional networking. Many executives, managers and head hunters are keeping a close eye on the internet and websites like LinkedIn so that they could minimize the time, energy and costs required for this process (Frishman, Lublin & Steisel, pp. 52-54). Building on the point of related to recruitment in recession, many small and medium sized and even large organisations as well, prefer not to use advertisements, recruitment agencies, job centres and others similar sources because they are expensive and time consuming. In fact, during a recession, the company may even show reluctance in filling those positions. Therefore, even when there is a job opening, people may not know about it (Zack, pp. 103-104). They only method that the company would use is that of “personal recommendations” of the employees which are already working in the company. Quite understandably, if someone has a friend in a company due to his networking abilities, he may be the first one to know about that opening thus increasing the probability of him getting the job (Baber & Waymon, pp. 63-64). It is also very much a matter of enthusiasm and interest as well. The point here is that when employers are hiring, they always want focused, hardworking, and determined people to perform those tasks. In a way, professional networking is the manifestation of the same. If an individual were really determined about getting a job then only he would spend his time and energy in networking with the professionals (Vermeiren, pp. 89-93). Most people would prefer to spend their time with their friends, family or by entertaining themselves in some or the way. However, a person who has created and kept himself in close contact with his network of professionals, he must be really very passionate and eager about his work as well. Furthermore, it also depicts that the person has a healthy set of communication and presentation skills as well. May be a few decades back, it was all about “what you know,” your skills, knowledge, attitude, results, school, education and others. However, today is not only about what you know but it is also, about “who you know.” It may sound a bit unfair and unethical but one should look at it in a way that if you have all the skills, knowledge, and abilities but if no one knows about the same, then all of that is useless (Baber & Waymon, pp. 63-64). Furthermore, professional networking always does not contribute directly towards getting a job. However, it has some indirect advantages in terms of getting a job as well. For example, a person who has a bigger network of professionals would have greater chance of learning and training through them by listening to their tips and tricks, experience, work stories, case scenarios and others. Before an interview, Person A who has been doing professional networking for ages would go to his friends working in the professional networks and those people would definitely give him some good tips. Person A must have attended many seminars, lectures, presentations, conferences, business parties, lunches, dinners, and other social events where he would learned a lot from other professionals. However, person B who does not know any such people and therefore he would be on his own (Frishman, Lublin & Steisel, pp. 52-54). Another aspect of looking at the same would be taking in note the factor of diversity. Without any doubts, this is one of the biggest workplace variable and issue that is under spotlight for the past many years. Gone are the days, when only people from specific background or culture surrounded us. Today, for example, in United Kingdom, people from many different backgrounds are living in the country (Darling, pp. 174-175). They speak different languages; they have different rituals, and are different from the majority in terms of cast, creed, colour, customs, demographics and others. Important here to note is that today we are living in a society where the need is to embrace diversity and celebrate the differences rather fighting with it. This is being followed not only because it ethical or morally right but the corporate world is following this mantra also because it generates goodwill and attracts superior human resource talent which then translates into higher profits for the corporations (Nierenberg, pp. 3-4). Therefore, people who are good at social networking are better performers when it comes to understanding people from diverse backgrounds. They know how to deal with people in their own styles. Therefore, they present themselves to the company as great candidates for available jobs (Frishman, Lublin & Steisel, pp. 52-54). Moreover, professional networking is also a viable option for job seeking because of the new “online” element which has came onto the scene. There was a time when people use to restrict the limits of their professional networking or social meetings because of too much information storing, time, energy and effort that it required. However, with this new online element added to the traditional professional networking, life has become so simple for job seekers (Frishman, Lublin & Steisel, pp. 52-54). All you need to do is get hold of your notebook or phone, log in to LinkedIn dot com and a whole world unfolds in front of you. If you want keep in touch with someone, all you need to do is add them to your friend list and they would stay there forever. Follow up for some event has become so easy and has not remained awkward and embarrassing at all. One can contact the other at any time of the day, any day of the week and any week of the year. Cross border networking has become possible. Information about a new job reaches to these people in blink a second whether it is as long as a million pages or simply a small “yes” or “no”. You would have in front of you, your whole record of communication, meetings and activities, in short the website will do all for you, all you need to do is buckle up (Baber & Waymon, pp. 63-64). Conclusion Therefore, towards the end of this paper, it is understandable to conclude that professional networking can be a really helpful tool when it comes to finding jobs. This can really increase the effectiveness and efficiency of an individual in doing the same (Darling, pp. 174-175). Furthermore, considering the current recession in United Kingdom, the importance of professional networking, increases to a great extent. In fact, with time, it is becoming some what a mandatory requirement for jobseekers. Like internet has dominated or on its way to hijack all other aspects of our lives, it appears that the same in terms of job seeking is on its way (Darling, pp. 23-25). Works Cited Baber, Anne, & Waymon, Lynne. Make your contacts count: networking know-how for business and career success. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn, 2007. Darling, Diane. Networking for career success: 24 lessons for getting to know the right people. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2005 Darling, Diane. The networking survival guide: get the success you want by tapping into the people you know. McGraw-Hill Professional, 2003. Frishman, Rick, Lublin, Jill, & Steisel, Mark. Networking Magic: Find the Best--from Doctors, Lawyers, and Accountants to Homes, Schools, and Jobs. Adams Media, 2004 Nierenberg, Andrea R. Nonstop networking: how to improve your life, luck, and career. Capital Books, 2002 Vermeiren, Jan. Let's Connect: A Practical Guide for Highly Effective Professional Networking. Step by Step Publishing, 2007. Zack, Devora. Networking for People Who Hate Networking: A Field Guide for Introverts, the Overwhelmed, and the Underconnected. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 2010. Read More