The Network Way to a Better Job - the technique and benefits of business networking; includes information on job-search clubs

Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine,  May, 1999  by Marc L. Schulhof

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The wider the web you spread, the better your chances of success.

Career counselors proclaim it as gospel: Networking--making contacts with a widespread web of people who might be able to help you--is the key to a successful job search. Though the concept may conjure up images of smarmy backslapping and insincere glad-handing, you needn't stoop so low. Just ask Larry Sisel, who credits networking with getting him from out of work to the executive suite in only four months.

"Once I focused on my job search, I went hard to work networking," says Sisel, 47, now the chief financial officer of Laidlaw Transit Services, in Overland Park, Kan. "I called friends, neighbors, business contacts, bankers, lawyers, public accountants--you name it. I probably had 300 resumes out within six weeks." The flurry of activity not only calmed Sisel, it actually worked: "I got several interviews and a lot of leads," he says.

You say you don't know 300 people, or even a couple of dozen who might assist you in finding a job? Neither did Sisel. But that didn't stop him from casting a broad net. The job he landed came from a direct contact at the company, but he was also considered for positions he had heard about through one, two and three degrees of separation--that is, he learned of the opening from someone who had been tipped off by someone else who had heard about it.

Clearly, for job hunters who don't have bulging Rolodexes, the most daunting aspect of networking can be where to begin. Once you've asked all of your acquaintances for leads, use these methods to expand your spectrum of contacts:

NETWORKING AND JOB-SEARCH CLUBS. Exec-U-Net (800-637-3126; www.execunet.com), which Larry Sisel joined after leaving his previous job, holds monthly networking meetings in major cities around the country, posts jobs (generally paying $100,000 or more) daily on a members-only Web site and offers newsletters on topics such as career management and job-search strategies. Three-, six- and 12-month memberships cost from $125 to $325. Networking meetings cost around $25 each; nonmembers can attend for about $30.

Members of the Five O'Clock Club (212-286-4500; www.50 cc.com) get career counseling with their networking. Prices vary by city, but an average membership costs $225 for five hourlong sessions (or $400 for ten), plus a $35 annual membership fee and about $30 for books and other materials. One drawback to the Five O'Clock Club is that turnout may be slim in start-up chapters. For example, a recent Washington, D.C., gathering drew only four people.

Forty Plus (212-233-6086) operates 20 cooperative chapters in metropolitan areas nationwide; programs and membership fees vary widely by location. As the name implies, its services are geared toward older job hunters.

The success of these clubs depends in part on large attendance, which enhances your chances of running into someone in your field. But all the groups expect their members to help each other--for instance, a journalist who knows a lawyer, an engineer and an accountant would be considered a source of contacts for an engineer. So the networking may be diluted but can still pay off.

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS. For the cost of an annual membership fee (usually $50 to a few hundred dollars, which your employer might even pick up), a professional association will give you access to hundreds of contacts through regular meetings and conventions. Becoming active on the local level could be even more valuable than joining a networking club because you're guaranteed to meet the "right" people.

Members of the Special Libraries Association, for example, pay $125 annually to join one of 56 regional chapters, which meet monthly. SLA's Web site contains a members-only job database and networking chat rooms. And at its annual convention, which draws 7,000 people, the association hosts an employment clearinghouse--at a separate hotel--where job seekers can talk privately to potential employers.

To find a national or local association, crack the three-volume Encyclopedia of Associations, available at most libraries, or search the Gateway to Associations at www.asaenet.org. Networking for Everyone!, by L. Michelle Tullier (Jist Works, $16.95; 800-547-8872) lists a broad sample of national associations alongside extensive job-search advice.

ALUMNI GROUPS. Sure, football games tend to dominate their activities, but alumni associations offer participants a casual, local network when it's job-search time. The University of Iowa Alumni Association's Twin Cities chapter, for example, recently held a social hour to give its members a shameless opportunity to network. Some universities split their alumni chapters into subgroups for the different schools, such as engineering or business; they mimic professional associations with the added tie of rooting for the same team.

Even for graduates who don't have time for social events, alumni-group Web sites link individuals from around the country and often post proprietary job listings. The University of Iowa's site includes a job-search message board and the Career Information Network, which puts job seekers in touch with other alumni in their field.