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I was speaking today at the Face 2 Face job fair in Hamilton, Ontario and had the opportunity to meet and observe a number of job seekers. Right away, I could tell which individuals were comfortable and those that felt a little awkward. Research shows that the majority of us are not comfortable with networking and it can easily be observed walking through the job fair.

You could break up networking into two components; 1) motivation and 2) results. The motivational component is simple...set goals and you'll be motivated to connect. Results are a little trickier. Just because you're motivated and connect, doesn't mean that you be able to leverage the resource you're going after. However, clear goals is the starting point if you want to network effectively.

Getting someone to help you, which is essentially networking, is much more difficult. Unfortunately, there's not one right answer or silver bullet. The key is to be able to communicate your goals effectively so that contacts don't have to try and figure out what you're looking for. They most likely don't have the time or willingness to figure it out. This is critical if you want to increase your likelihood of getting a contact to help.

At the job fair, the job seekers were most likely there to gather information. The individual's who where comfortable with networking appeared to be more directed in their approach...a clear career path, what they hoped to get out of a job, etc. Those that hadn't set clear goals were more likely to take a passive approach. Although this is ok in some situations, it's not the strategic way of networking. Having clear goals, being able to articulate will not only help results but in essence be a motivating factor for connecting.

I'm certain if many more indiviudals were able to take the large goal of finding a job and break it down into smaller pieces they would have been more successful. Going to an event to get a job is a lofty goal. Going to a job fair and accomplishing a goal (i.e. contact) that leads to the overall objective (i.e. getting a job) maybe more constructive. By changing focus slightly, success is more realisitic. From this success breads motivation to continue doing the things necessary to find a job.

JP