I just read this article (the title above is linked!) from the Jobs section of philly.com today. I was directed to the article by @thescottbishop on Twitter. It reminded me of a very important thing to remember in networking. Collecting business cards, or contacts on LinkedIn and Twitter do not matter. It does not matter how many you have, it matters what you do with those business cards, or twitter/LinkedIn/FB contacts once you have them. Everyone on twitter preaches it, but really, you have to engage with people, several times, before you can legitimately label them as someone in your network.
One of my favorite lines in this short article was :
“The first step – asking to stay in touch – obviously requires follow-through on your part. “Remember, it’s not who you know but when you know them. Keep in good contact with those in your network to stay top-of-mind,” Christine Bolzan, Graduate Career Coaching
It’s not WHO you know, but WHEN you know them. So true. I was a Yamaha intern 3 years ago, which seems like much longer than that. With so many interns that have came through over the years, the chance of anybody in the division really remembering me was low if I didn’t stay in contact. Luckily it’s much easier in 2010 to stay engaged and in contact with former coworkers than it was 10 years ago. But you still have to take the time and make the effort. So I try to stay engaged with all of my former coworkers at Yamaha via Twitter and Facebook. I stop in and see them at any industry trade shows I attend. Do I do this because I think it’s going to help me find a job? No, I do it because I genuinely like these people and love to hear from them, but it also can’t hurt to have more people in my network that actually know me and could give a killer recommendation!
