There are certain people who have jobs which are dependent upon networking for survival. These include stockbrokers, bankers, real estate agents, insurance agents, even barbers--all are dependent upon personal networks for their livelihood. If you have a personal relationship with someone in one of these or other sales-oriented or personal-service professions, ask if they will tap into their personal network to assist you in your job search.

Our company recently hired an individual from out-of-town who had originally contacted a real estate agent our company works with for high-level relocations. The real estate agent was aware of our hiring needs and referred the person to our office. The networking link between candidate and employer had come from a third party. Yet the real estate agent will also benefit, since the new employee is now her dedicated lifetime customer and part of her network of contacts for future business.

Is the networking concept starting to sink in? In practice, it can be extremely powerful. The business world is like a large web, with many interconnecting parts. You may not always know where each part connects in, but you do know that there are many more connections from there. Your job is to tap into the initial connections, then work further out into the web of connections as your gain more introductions.

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