Why You Should Start Making and Working Your Professional Contacts NOW
1. Personal interaction, informational interviews and requests for referrals (i.e. networking) do not equal begging for a job. Rather, they are great ways to learn about and make contacts in your chosen career field.
2. The process is mutually beneficial. The professionals you contact generally appreciate the opportunity to give back to the legal community by serving as a mentor and you get the benefit of their advice and referrals throughout your job search. Remember, no one can help you if they don’t know you!
3. Everyone who knows what you want to do is a potential job-scout! Your friends, family, neighbors, and former colleagues can’t tell you about a great opportunity if they don’t know that you are looking.
4. Personal interaction with professionals can help you find a job by encouraging potential employers to focus on you rather than what is (or is not) on your resume. For example, people typically do not discuss G.P.A. when first meeting other professionals. Instead the discussion often focuses on common interests, practical experience, and career goals. If he or she is impressed with your professional demeanor, experience, and communication skills, grades often become a secondary concern.
5. It takes less time and will likely lead to better results than sending out mass resume mailers. Fact: 42% of 2008 Washburn graduates found their first jobs through self initiated contact or a referral from a friend or relative. If you are not getting out there to talk to and meet professionals, you are ignoring one the most successful ways to find a job.
6. The skills you gain by networking, meeting and talking with people, will serve you throughout your career. The contacts you make while searching for your first job may lead to a great second or third job and/or business referrals later in your career.
7. Many available jobs never become job postings…because they are snatched up by those who know someone in the office that is hiring! Think about it, would you rather review a huge stack of resumes that flood your office after you post a job or simply interview a few people your colleagues recommend?
8. Wondering who to contact? Check out the list of potential contacts in the Document Library of the Washburn Law Career Manager System (Symplicity).