Networking is an ingrained habit, and it isn’t something that is easily put on paper. If you were asked to write an article called “How to Drive a Car,” you would most likely focus on safety and the rules of the road. But, if the reader had never been in the driver’s seat, that would not suffice. What would be needed would be an article describing the actual hands-on-the-wheel process – a list of “to do’s” in numerical order, starting with “Get into the driver’s seat and put your hands on the wheel.”
While it is easy enough to write up a protocol for driving, I wouldn’t want to be anywhere on the road near the person who learned to drive in this manner. Similarly, if you are just getting out there to network, you’ll find that this is a living, breathing activity with a mind of its own. You might crash and burn on an attempt or two. How it will fare for you depends on many outside factors, as well as a significant amount of determination and persistence on your part.
Networking should be a habit for you. It is my goal this month to get you as comfortable as possible with all the elements of your developing habit. Like driving a car, networking should become such a part of your life that you don’t even need to think about it. You may consciously put a campaign into motion when you need a job, but good networking is so much more than just a job seeker’s tool.