It's Not What You Know, It's Who You Know: Networking More Valuable Than You Think When Going For Your Dream Job

There are a number of different elements or emphases that go into landing your "dream job." There are such important issues as the job seeker's qualifications, education, the source of job listings, knowing how to find the right companies to work for, salary and wage issues, and doing work that makes you genuinely happy.

One of the most important of these elements is the ability to network and make contacts. Getting an excellent job is often more a matter of making social connections and meeting the right people than some may realize. Let's take a look at some reasons why paying attention to this job search area can be important and instrumental:

The Job Market and Employers are Networks

One reason making contacts and networking is so essential is that employers (i.e. businesses, organizations and corporations), and the entire job market itself are networks - groups of individuals all interconnected.
They represent a segment of society which is itself, of course, a network. Thus, finding a job requires contacting the individuals in that network in some way. Emphasizing networking in the informal social sense can be a great way to familiarize yourself with all the individuals involved in these networks in a way that bypasses formality and superficiality.

There are managers, human resources people, employees, people at associated businesses or corporations, and the friends and family of all of these. These people are interconnected in a large network or web-work  and each can give valuable insights into the job search process or facilitate things for you.

Insider Information

A related point is that if you meet and deal with more individuals than the "official" ones - staff in charge of hiring, managers, and so on - you're more likely to get useful insider information. If you make friends, say, with employees that you meet at a local hangout near the workplace and chat with them they will most likely give you some juicy insider advice about both getting the job and what working at it is like.

Finding Where the Best Jobs are

Networking is helpful in simply locating the jobs in the first place. Looking at the classifieds and job listings (whether on or offline) will only show you so many of jobs available. Talking to various people already in the field of your interest can open up many other avenues and let you find out about positions that are becoming available.

Trust and Affinity

As soon as people regard you as a friend and not merely a job seeker or employee, their level of trust and affinity with you will increase. Anybody would hire somebody they felt they knew and liked over someone they didn't. Impartial as hiring managers are supposed to be in theory, the reality is that they have personal responses and feelings just as anyone does. The framework of friendly and informal interaction definitely influences these people in a positive direction.

Finding Like Minded People

Networking is a way to find people with interests and talents similar to your own. Even in a specific field there are many substrata or sub-networks of people that share a common interest or attitude. If you simply network and talk informally with individuals in a certain field you're likely to gradually gravitate toward people of a like-minded character and can then focus on becoming employed by or with them.

For all these reasons it is important to regard job searching as a networking opportunity. Networking is a fundamental activity and occurs whether you are consciously setting out to do it or not. By making yourself aware, however, of its importance in finding your dream job you can often boost, accelerate, and clarify your search for that ideal career position.

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