Networking and Such

Networking is an invaluable tool which is fairly neglected in my opinion. Networking is about meeting new people and talking with them about challenges, interesting tidbits and life experiences. It is not necessary about assessing or gauging their ability to be used to move forward your personal initiative but rather educating the other so they can benefit from your knowledge.

All to often as a recruiter, individuals on all sides (recruiters, candidates and to a lesser extent hiring managers) use the term networkng as a catch all phrase which emphasizes "me-ism". Simply stated, how can I use this contact to further my personal mission versus connecting as a professional. At one of my "previous" employers, there was an individual that constantly badgered incoming employees to share their contacts with them. Almost on a daily basis, he would reach out to new and existing employees to overtly extract the information regarding names of contacts people know to "recruit" them. Most left the conversation feeling violated in a not so pleasant way. When I think of the do's and don't of networking, I think of this person as my standard of how NOT to approach this technique.

I prefer to freely share knowledge with others, who are by my standard less egocentric in utilizing networking as a give versus get approach. With this concept as a frame of reference one gains the trust of the individual with which they network and not their disdain.

I will always be open to networking with individuals to assist in their professional development and growth. If you are interested in networking with me, please feel free to connect with me any time.

My knowledge, skills and experience are always "at your service"

Carol
Recruiting the Best Talent