Does networking really help you get a job?

[Anonymous]

It seems like everybody who posts asking for advice on how to get a job is advised to network, network, network. I have been on the hiring committee for my office for years, and I can't recall a situation where networking helped somebody get a job. People are always asking us to look at their neighbor or their cousin or whoever, but we just interview and hire the most qualified candidates. In the same vein, I am constantly getting calls from acquaintances about what I can do to help them get a job in my office, but if I don't know their work (and how would I unless it's a former colleague?), I'm not going to vouch for them. Do people really get jobs through people they met at some conference or cocktail party?

[Anonymous]

I have gotten all my jobs through personal relationships, and yes, sometimes that relationship has started with something as innocuous as a social conversation. The "networking" in this case is the follow-up that happens after that first interesting chat. More often, though, someone who knows me well has recommended me to someone who respects the opinion of the person doing the recommending.

What I have NOT seen work is informational interviews. I've also done hiring, and have never bumped someone up on my candidate list following an informational interview. So I think it's fine to do them as a job-seeker, but only to actually GET information, not as an attempt to get a foot in the door.

[Anonymous]

I refer friends constantly. Last year, I hired 14 people from my personal contacts.

[Anonymous]

Absolutely. I have gotten all but 1 job through networking.

But it's not as if you recommend someone and "poof" they are on the finals list for a given position. It's more like someone knows I am looking so he/she puts me in touch with someone else who knows there is a position at X place that might be a good fit. From there I make contact with X place, saying that person 2 referred me. Then I go through the hoops like everyone else. But if I get that job, I got it through networking.

It's very possible that many of the candidates you screen are in front of you because of networking, but you just don't know it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I refer friends constantly. Last year, I hired 14 people from my personal contacts.

For what types of positions? I'm a lawyer and would never hire someone based on a personal relationship. Maybe a previous work relationship, but not social.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Absolutely. I have gotten all but 1 job through networking.

But it's not as if you recommend someone and "poof" they are on the finals list for a given position. It's more like someone knows I am looking so he/she puts me in touch with someone else who knows there is a position at X place that might be a good fit. From there I make contact with X place, saying that person 2 referred me. Then I go through the hoops like everyone else. But if I get that job, I got it through networking.

It's very possible that many of the candidates you screen are in front of you because of networking, but you just don't know it.

OP again: Nope. I do the resume review, too. Very occasionally someone high up will urge us to interview someone and we will, but those people never end up getting the job.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on what kinds of jobs you're hiring for. For sales or marketing, maybe chatting somebody up at an industry event will get you somewhere. In my office, everybody we hire has rockstar credentials. No amount of schmoozing is going to get you in the door if you don't have them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on what kinds of jobs you're hiring for. For sales or marketing, maybe chatting somebody up at an industry event will get you somewhere. In my office, everybody we hire has rockstar credentials. No amount of schmoozing is going to get you in the door if you don't have them.

But how does that rockstar apply for the position in the first place? They have to find out about it from someone...

[Anonymous]

If you are lacking skills

[Anonymous]

I've only had two jobs (merrily self-employed now), but both were found through networking. One was a two-fer -- a college professor and a former boss (who didn't know each other) both recommended me to a colleague both of them knew.

I think it's often about finding out about opportunities you wouldn't otherwise discover until it's too late. Many jobs aren't ever advertised, or are filled by applicants who never saw the ad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I refer friends constantly. Last year, I hired 14 people from my personal contacts.

For what types of positions? I'm a lawyer and would never hire someone based on a personal relationship. Maybe a previous work relationship, but not social.

I'm a lawyer, and got my current job and offer for the next one both through professional networking. For my current job, Internal networking at my old biglaw firm gave me experience working with a variety of partners, and those contacts provided great references and other professional contacts. One of those contacts had a spouse at my current firm, and put me in touch. The recommendation was a professional one based on real experience with me, but networking nonetheless.

[Anonymous]

Military spouse with 10+ jobs, none of them through networking. I agree networking is overrated. Competence should be the key.

[Anonymous]

In this country, yes.

[Anonymous]

Currently job searching. I can't get in the door anywhere without a contact I found through networking. If I email a resume to HR, I never get a response, but if someone I met through networking recommends me, I get an interview. So far, networking has not gotten me a job, but it's the only way I get in the door. I have a very solid resume, but my field is very, very tight (layoffs everywhere), so without networking, I'm out in the cold completely.

[Anonymous]

A friend got so frustrated job searching that after nine months of getting nowhere, she walked her resume into HR, and a woman there took sympathy on her, found a job she was suited for, walked her resume to the person doing the hiring and my friend got the job. It was the personal contact that made the difference. My friend had sent in her resume for a half-dozen jobs at this place (a university) and gotten nowhere. Now that she's in the door, she's able to look for other opportunities. Personal contact does make a difference.