Building Your Personal Network - Issue #4

We all have friends, but we don’t all have professional networks. The irony is, building a network is very similar to building a group of friends. Every friendship is built on giving and taking, just as professional relationships are built. Professional networks are just for finding a job, but they can become a source for continuous learning and community building. This month, I share my thoughts on the value of a network and how to go about building one.

During the first .com bust in the early 2000’s I thought that I had built a strong network. When my start-up’s public offering was pulled, and after the 3rd round of layoffs, I knew I had to find a new job. As I started to reach out to my network, it fell short for me. Everyone I talked to was nice but dismissive. My ability to find a job was to search for open positions and apply. For almost a decade, I dismissed the value of a network, based on that experience, hunkered down and just did my job. While I did invest in myself through training and professional certifications, I didn’t “waste time” on trying to build out a professional network, personal board of directors, or even try collaborating with colleagues in similar roles that worked at different companies. I was merely dismissive of the value of a network.

That is until I realized that I was 100% dependent on the company I worked for and didn’t have that much control of my career. [Read the rest of the article…]

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