{"id":902,"date":"2013-08-01T15:34:44","date_gmt":"2013-08-01T15:34:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.jobma.com\/?p=902"},"modified":"2021-07-14T07:21:17","modified_gmt":"2021-07-14T07:21:17","slug":"how-on-earth-do-i-start-networking-from-scratch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/how-on-earth-do-i-start-networking-from-scratch\/","title":{"rendered":"How on Earth Do I Start Networking from Scratch?!"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By now, we all know that networking is crucial to a successful job search. We know that a large majority of positions are staffed this way (80% according to an ABC News report!).&nbsp;But how exactly do we go about throwing ourselves out there? What if you don\u2019t have any old contacts to get in touch with and you\u2019re starting completely from scratch? That\u2019s okay! With a little bit of time and effort, you\u2019ll be able to create a network for yourself in no time.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-23166 aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/How-on-Earth-Do-I-Start-Networking-from-Scratch-1-300x175.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"681\" height=\"397\" srcset=\"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/How-on-Earth-Do-I-Start-Networking-from-Scratch-1-300x175.png 300w, https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/How-on-Earth-Do-I-Start-Networking-from-Scratch-1-768x447.png 768w, https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/How-on-Earth-Do-I-Start-Networking-from-Scratch-1.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 681px) 100vw, 681px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>To help you get started with your networking efforts (or to help you continue to expand your network), consider finding people to reach out to in the following places:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><b><\/b><b>Family and friends: <\/b>This is a great place to start when you\u2019re still getting comfortable with reaching out to people and figuring out how you want to present yourself to potential networking contacts. Tell your family and friends that you\u2019re searching for a job. It could be that your aunt\u2019s friend is the owner of your dream company!<\/li>\n<li><b><\/b><b>Informational interviews:<\/b> If you don\u2019t have a lot of contacts that can necessarily help you land your desired position, then consider contacting someone who does have this position. Introduce yourself, provide your resume and video resume, and ask to meet for an informational interview. Not only will you gain more insight into your desired position, but you\u2019ll also be creating a new networking connection.<\/li>\n<li><b>Social media:<\/b> Writing a Facebook status or tweeting about your job search is an incredibly easy way to initiate networking. You\u2019ll hopefully be reaching a wide audience, so you never know who might respond! Be sure that your work history on your Facebook profile is updated and complete before posting. Perhaps include a link to your <a href=\"https:\/\/www.jobma.com\/auth\/register\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">resume or video resume within your profile information<\/a> or within the Facebook post. Also be sure that your social media profiles are professional and appropriate.<\/li>\n<li><b>Community groups: <\/b>Book clubs, volunteer organizations, cooking classes, and even the bar you frequent for happy hour. These are all places where you can strike up an informal conversation about your job search and fish for potential networking contacts. Ask a fellow club member what they do for work and they\u2019ll most likely ask you back, giving you a natural opportunity in the conversation to brand yourself and talk about your job search.<\/li>\n<li><b>Professional associations: <\/b>Nearly every profession has a professional association that aims to further the interests of the specified professionals and also promote public awareness of their professional field. This can be a great way to meet people within your industry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As you can hopefully see, networking from scratch is not impossible and certainly not as daunting as some job seekers think it is. You have the resources and knowledge you need, so start building your network and increasing your chances of job search success right away!<\/p>\n<div class=\"gsp_post_data\" \r\n\t            data-post_type=\"post\" \r\n\t            data-cat=\"jobs-2\" \r\n\t            data-modified=\"120\"\r\n\t            data-created=\"1375371284\"\r\n\t            data-title=\"How on Earth Do I Start Networking from Scratch?!\" \r\n\t            data-home=\"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\"><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By now, we all know that networking is crucial to a successful job search. We know that a large majority of positions are staffed this way (80% according to an ABC News report!).&nbsp;But how exactly do we go about throwing ourselves out there? What if you don\u2019t have any old contacts to get in touch [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19528,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[156,64,168,147],"class_list":["post-902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jobs-2","tag-job-search-help","tag-job-search-tips","tag-networking","tag-networking-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=902"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24176,"href":"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/902\/revisions\/24176"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19528"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.jobma.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}