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November 19, 2008
Networking: It’s not a scary thing!
Around Halloween every year thoughts turn to scary movies and scary costumes. The CSO knows that, for many of you, networking is about as scary as the scariest movie you’ve seen. But it shouldn’t be, and it doesn’t have to be.
And here’s why it shouldn’t be scary: You’ve been doing it your entire life without once stopping to think about it.
You read that right. Every person you know is part of your network, and I will bet that network is larger than you think. It is built of all your family, friends, neighbors, teachers, hairdressers, classmates, organization/sports team colleagues, and so many more. When you refer your barber to a friend, you’re networking. When you ask a classmate for ideas on what student organizations to become involved with, you’re networking. The natural ease with which you engage in this sort of networking can just as easily be applied to networking in your job search.
When it comes to networking for a job, and you don’t know where to start, start with these people. Why? Because each of them has a network at least equally as large as yours, and they might know of someone that you should talk to about your career goals and that someone might know of a job opportunity. That’s why networking is an absolutely critical part of any complete job search.
To learn more about how to get started in networking, check out Chapter 10 of Guerrilla Tactics for Getting the Legal Job of Your Dreams, 2d ed., available in the CSO Resource, and make an appointment to talk to your CSO counselor.
Posted by kcc17 at November 19, 2008 05:12 PM