8. What is networking? Networking is about building strategic relationships that involve a win-win, reciprocal exchange of information, support, and/or referrals.
25. The Tweet caught the attention of a channel partner advocate for Cisco, who responded with the following “Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.” Oops!
Editor's Notes
As we are discovering, outside of your education, your network is probably the second most important determinant of the types of jobs you will have access to over the course of your career.Even though strategic networking has been discovered to be as important as it is, hardly any time is devoted to developing this skill when compared to other parts of your professional career development, such as your education or job training. It is something that, for the most part, has been left up to you to discover on your own. However, recent findings in the field of social network theory have indicated with some confidence that, with some training, job seekers can become more competent in this skill.Graham, Dawn M. 2008. "The impact of networking skills training on job search behaviors and attitudes of graduate students relative to personality." US: ProQuest Information & Learning, 2008. PsycINFO, EBSCOhost (accessed April 5, 2010).
The thought of networking can be scary for some people, especially those who tend to be more introverted. However, this need not be the case. Networking can be designed to fit any personality type. I’m going to talk to you today about some of these techniques…
Different types of cells form different clusters, depending on the function of the cell/node. The more specialized the work, or the less complicated the function, the less connections the cell tends to have. Cerebellum nerve cells can have as many as 1000 dendrites, due to it’s complex functioning.Retinal nerve cells tend to be bipolar, meaning only one dendrite per cell, and have highly specialized functioning.
At birth, at age 3 yrs, at age 12, and age 20.
Ego-centric, didactic, and organic. Notice how the organic one is more netted out, and notice the strength of the entire network.
“The shape of a social network helps determine a network's usefulness to its individuals. Smaller, tighter networks can be less useful to their members than networks with lots of loose connections (weak ties) to individuals outside the main network. More open networks, with many weak ties and social connections, are more likely to introduce new ideas and opportunities to their members than closed networks with many redundant ties. In other words, a group of friends who only do things with each other already share the same knowledge and opportunities. A group of individuals with connections to other social worlds is likely to have access to a wider range of information. It is better for individual success to have connections to a variety of networks rather than many connections within a single network. Similarly, individuals can exercise influence or act as brokers within their social networks by bridging two networks that are not directly linked (called filling structural holes).”Scott, John. 1991. Social Network Analysis. London: Sage.
Volunteering in your community with organizations whose values align well with your own.Choose a cause that you can get behind.Choose organizations strategically – your time is a finite resource. Chose ones that offer a chance to come in contact with those who can help your career. Identify the people who are on organizational boards in non-profits, or follow those people whom you admire and find out where they volunteer their time.Choose roles that align with your career goals, as well. Volunteer to do things that you already know how to do, or in areas that you would like to gain more experience. E.g., fundraising puts you in contact with a lot of different organizations and people of influence, as well as offers skill training that would easily transfer to other types of work. Or pro bono marketing services, which could put your skills right in front of an influential marketing department!Joining professional associations, volunteer for those associationsAustin AFP – Association for Financial ProfessionalsAustin Chapter, TSCPA – Texas Society of Certified Public AccountantsAESP –Association of Energy Services ProfessionalsAny of these will have regular meetings, have a conference now and again, and will need organizational help throughout the year.Austin Chamber of CommerceHelp local business ventures develop a business plan, etc.Joining your alumni association, McCombs Alumni Network, connect with successful alumni that are in positions similar to what you would like to be doing, find a mentor, or be a mentor… Networking with Alums creates a positive feedback loop since connections are based on the common factor of having attended a great school, thus building the school’s reputation, and reciprocally, reflecting back on you and your degree from McCombs.Participating in social and professional online networksLinkedIn, Facebook, Friendster, Classmates, Twitter, nowadays there’s a social online network for just about any interest… just be selective and use caution.Offer to take select people out to lunch!
Link different networks together by forming triadic relationships.From leadership research coming out of USCs Marshall School of Business we now know that leaders of small networked groups go out of their way to link smaller networks together by making introductions from one group to the next. From social network theory we have discovered a concept called triadic closure: an increased probability that if two people share a common friend or contact, they are more likely to know each other, as well. Harness this natural tendency by making these triadic bonds within your networks. Use the image of bringing smaller clusters closer together on the network map through the use of introductions. When sensible, i.e., among your strongest ties, you should practice this since it will tend to make your network more cohesive, and you will tend to be remembered more as the person who facilitated a link in the newly formed relationship. ‘Tribal Leadership’ by David Logan, John King, and Halee Fischer-Wright, 2008: HarperCollins Publishers, New York.‘The Strength of Weak Ties’ by Mark S. Granovetter, Johns Hopkins University: American Journal of Sociology, Vol 78, Issue 6 (May 1973), 1360-1380.
Don’t unplug yourself form one of your networks.Or, if you have through no fault of your own, make periodic reappearances and apologize for losing touch.Don’t forget where you come from: From sociology, we have family of origin/ family of choice – I propose we also have network of origin/ network of choice. Examples include your family, the classmates you were around during your compulsive education (elementary through high school), may even involve the church you were raised in, the sports and other extra-curricular activities you were involved in as a child. Both are going to serve different functions throughout your professional development, and you never know where an opportunity might arise. Don’t underestimate the value of those connections.Don’t cast your net too wideIn doing so, you will just be wasting precious resources. Remember, the key is to diversify, but do so strategically. Don’t do what Cisco Fatty did… guard yourself in your network.
This exchange on Twitter is a painful lesson in how NOT to use Social Networking in this tough economy.A lucky job applicant tweeted the following:Cisco just offered me a job! Now I have to weigh the utility of a fatty paycheck against the daily commute to San Jose and hating the work.This tweet caught the attention of Tim Levad, a channel partner advocate for Cisco. To which he responded:Who is the hiring manager. I’m sure they would love to know that you will hate the work. We here at Cisco are versed in the web.Ouch! The person who dissed the Cisco offer quickly took their Twitter account private. But Twitter search retained the record.
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