Why You Need to Network Even When You Have a Job

Why You Need to Network Even When You Have a Job
Posted Apr 21st 2010 3:13PM
By Liz Lynch

I know many job seekers look forward to the day when they can accept a job offer, settle into a nice work routine with their new employer, and never have to network again. Meeting new people can be awkward, especially if you feel you're in a disadvantaged position and need their help. I get that.

But that's exactly why you should network when you have a job. Instead of feeling like a second-class citizen, you can approach people more confidently, you have more value to add, and you can build mutually beneficial relationships that can help you over the long-term in your career and your life.

Here are some other key reasons why it makes sense to keep networking if you have a job, and especially if you just landed a new one:

Makes you more valuable in your current position. Expanding your network inside your company as well as making regular time to attend industry events to build your network outside your company will give you a broader perspective and increase your knowledge of trends and important initiatives. It will also give you access to people, information and resources that can help you do your current job better.

Helps opportunities find you more easily. You may be happy with the job you have, but being an active networker keeps you on the radar screens of people who might want to offer you a better job at a higher salary, and who wouldn't want that?

Increases your options if you want to leave, or are forced to leave. You never know when you may want to make a change at a moment's notice, so it's smart to have your network primed and ready to go. In fact, that's where real job security is: when you don't have to worry what might happen if you have to leave because you know things will work out.


Liz Lynch is author of Smart Networking: Attract a Following In Person and Online, founder of http://www.smartnetworking.com/, and co-creator of the Job Search Marketing Blueprint system.

Project Runway Season 8 - Casting Now!

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10 Job-Search Mistakes of New College Grads

People entering the job market (and all job seekers) should avoid these common errors.

Enter For a Chance to Win $1000!

If helping the earth is your bag, enter Kroger's 3rd Annual Design a Reusable Shopping Bag Contest Today! Enter for a chance to win $1000 Kroger gift card! Click here for more info.

TOMS Shoes Artists Needed!

Are you an artist?

TOMS is looking for local artists to join the TOMS Artist Roster. TOMS Artists get to use their creative talents while spreading the One for One message. When they have an event that could use your talents, they contact you.

There are two art-based events you can participate in:

Style Your Sole:

Decorate blank white TOMS Canvas Classics.

Art n' Sole:

Paint Murals while TOMS supporters shop for TOMS

You could be creating art on behalf of TOMS anywhere in the city, from the little mom & pop boutique to the floors of Nordstrom.

If you're interested in learning more, please email your name, phone number, address and three digital samples of your artwork to TOMS.artists@TOMSshoes.com.

Career Killing Facebook Mistakes

6 Career-Killing Facebook Mistakes
by Erin Joyce, Managing Editor
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
provided by INVESTOPEDIA


With more than 400 million active visitors, Facebook is arguably the most popular social networking site out there. And while the site is known for the casual social aspect, many users also use it as a professional networking tool. With that kind of reach, Facebook can be a valuable tool for connecting to former and current colleagues, clients and potential employers. In fact, surveys suggest that approximately 30% of employers are using Facebook to screen potential employees — even more than those who check LinkedIn, a strictly professional social networking site. Don't make these Facebook faux-pas — they might cost you a great opportunity.


1. Inappropriate Pictures
It may go without saying, but prospective employers or clients don't want to see pictures of you chugging a bottle of wine or dressed up for a night at the bar. Beyond the pictures you wouldn't want your grandparents to see, seemingly innocent pictures of your personal life will likely not help to support the persona you want to present in your professional life.


2. Complaining About Your Current Job
You've no doubt done this at least once. It could be a full note about how much you hate your office, or how incompetent your boss is, or it could be as innocent as a status update about how your coworker always shows up late. While everyone complains about work sometimes, doing so in a public forum where it can be found by others is not the best career move. Though it may seem innocent, it's not the kind of impression that sits well with a potential boss.


3. Posting Conflicting Information to Your Resume
If you say on your resume that your degree is from Harvard, but your Facebook profile says you went to UCLA, you're likely to be immediately cut from the interview list. Even if the conflict doesn't leave you looking better on your resume, disparities will make you look at worst like a liar, and at best careless.


4. Statuses You Wouldn't Want Your Boss to See
Everyone should know to avoid statuses like "Tom plans to call in sick tomorrow so he can get drunk on a Wednesday. Who cares that my big work project isn't done?" But you should also be aware of less flamboyant statuses like "Sarah is watching the gold medal hockey game online at her desk". Statuses that imply you are unreliable, deceitful, and basically anything that doesn't make you look as professional as you'd like, can seriously undermine your chances at landing that new job.


5. Not Understanding Your Security Settings
The security settings on Facebook have come a long way since the site started. It is now possible to customize lists of friends and decide what each list can and cannot see. However, many people do not fully understand these settings, or don't bother to check who has access to what. If you are going to use Facebook professionally, and even if you aren't, make sure you take the time to go through your privacy options. At the very least, your profile should be set so that people who are not your friend cannot see any of your pictures or information.


6. Losing by Association
You can't control what your friends post to your profile (although you can remove it once you see it), nor what they post to their own profiles or to those of mutual friends. If a potential client or employer sees those Friday night pictures your friend has tagged you in where he is falling down drunk, it reflects poorly on you, even if the picture of you is completely innocent. It's unfortunate, but we do judge others by the company they keep, at least to some extent. Take a look at everything connected to your profile, and keep an eye out for anything you wouldn't want to show your mother.


Facebook Can Help You Get Hired … or Fired
The best advice is to lock down your personal profile so that only friends you approve can see anything on that profile. Then, create a second, public profile on Facebook purely for professional use. This profile functions like an online resume, and should only contain information you'd be comfortable telling your potential employer face to face. Having a social networking profile is a good thing — it presents you as technologically and professionally savvy. Just make sure your profile is helping to present your best side — not the side that got drunk at your buddy's New Year's party.

You're Invited... Career Services Week. April 19-22

Alumni - would you like to attend Career Services week? RSVP to jjanik@aii.edu
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AiD Alum, Jim Sharp, Edits New TV Show

Read an exciting article on Jim Sharp from starlocalnews.com!

Jim Sharp edits new tv show
By Mary Wright

Published: Wednesday, March 17, 2010 9:44 AM CDT

Jim Sharp, a former resident of The Colony and 1998 graduate of The Colony High School,is the senior editor of a new television program premiering April 9th on CMT - Country Music TV. The show, "Gator 911", documents alligator rescues in Beaumont, Texas, from personal properties, golf courses, municipal drainage systems and so on. The alligators rescued come in all sizes and temperaments, including new hatchlings and even one that is sick. The show will air Fridays at 8 p.m. Central Time and run for ten weeks. After the third episode, on April 23rd or later, the show's star and owner of the 'Gator 911' enterprise in Beaumont will appear on the David Letterman Show with an alligator. Jim is associated with the Dallas video production company "Twelve Forward" and earned a degree in video editing from the Art Institute of Dallas.

An Invitation from Blake Malouf, an AiD Alum

Blake Malouf is having an exhibition of photographs and artwork at Estates & More in the Design District in Dallas from April 29th-May 21.

You are invited to attend the OPENING RECEPTION on Thursday, April 29th, 2010.


...and everything in between...Photographs and Artwork by Blake Malouf
Thursday, April 29th 6-8pm
Estates & More
1444 Oak Lawn Avenue
Space #604
Dallas, TX 75207

ENTER ON DRAGON STREET!

Directions:

http://maps.google.com/maps?client=safari&rls=en&q=map+of+1444+Oak+Lawn+Ave.+Dallas,TX&oe=UTF-8&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=1444+Oak+Lawn+Ave,+Dallas,+TX+75207&gl=us&ei=pMuyS_3OIYmssgOyjbnmAQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CAwQ8gEwAA