The way people go about networking has evolved from face to face, to cyber space.  The only faces you see are two dimensional head shots, which are possibly Photoshoped.  The only handshake you share in common is the grip each of you has on your own mice or pointing devise.

Looking back to the pre-internet days it is interesting to note that you also had the option of social networking or business networking (as we do today), but your options may have been a bit more limited.  The major focus of networking was to join a club, fraternity, or lodge with people of similar interest (i.e., the Elk’s Lodge if you particularly liked to eat and drink a lot – please no letters of outrage… I have been to an Elk’s Lodge);

Or the other path, which I chose, was to become a member of a community service organization.  Actually, the benefits of membership turned out to be more along the lines of business networking.  The organization I joined was the Palm Springs Jaycees (way-back when I was a rosy-cheeked 20 something). 

It was great, if you needed legal advice you asked one of the lawyers in the group.  Car insurance, no problem… back gone out… see the Chiropractor.  Having a house warming party for the great home the Jaycee real estate salesman found for you… ask the member who owns the liquor store for a discount.  Need your taxes done… see the accountant.  Swimming pool turning a little black… have the pool guy takeover for you.  

Before I bought anything, or had a service performed I would mentally go down the list of my Jaycee network contacts.  Time for an annual eye exam, I would naturally visit “Doc” McGraw* an aged-out Jaycee that just couldn’t seem to retire.  So, in a relatively small town, that was the way life would move along day to day.  Not exactly Mayberry, being the playground of the rich and famous as it was, but close enough to it. 

Today, it is almost mandatory to have a networking account, lest you be considered both socially inept and business challenged.  And certainly, you don’t want to be the blunt of jokes by friends and colleagues.  But all forms of networking are not necessarily great for job hunting and candidate selection. 

There is sometimes an assumption by the over 40 hiring manager that people on facebook, MySpace, and YouTube are if nothing else, “a little wacked out.”  Current science appears to validate this position by declaring that the human brain is not fully developed until the age of 25 or so, and therefore, you might well do something totally bizarre at any time up to that age.  (I am not going to ask for a show of hand to validate that conclusion… as I was young once myself).

Anyway, that is probably why auto insurance rates drop significantly after you turn 25.  Leave it to those bean counters and actuarial folks with insurance companies to have the pulse of human development and depth of societal issues in their hands. 

Some people even speculate that a whole weird society is growing up around the idea of networking in cyber space, and it is not limited to just a small bunch of nutty bunnies wanting to tell you how to connect on the internet (present company excepted). 

With a few clicks on a search engine you can find an exhausting number of books and articles on the internet about networking.  There is also an equally astounding number of self-anointed gurus out there giving you their list of 10 things to do or not do while networking.  Sometimes I think they must in actuality just be bloggers like me, who are stuck for a topic to write about.  I imagine they are really no different than I am.  They are just hoping to ride a fad topic for as long as they can. To do this they have to dissect the subject from every angle.  (The truth be known, how do you think I came up with this topic?) 

Actually, I have something meaningful to say about all this.  If you asked, “Should I network to find a job…” no matter what anyone else tells you, the answer is definitely YES!  If you were to network with a Riverside County employee concerning job opportunities at the County, what do you think they do?  Well, I can tell you they would be all over you like a duck on a June bug.  

Riverside County encourages its employees to refer a friend, by sharing a bonus with the employee of at least $300 or even $1,000. (That would certainly be enough incentive for me to tell friends and acquaintances about employment here at the County, if it wasn’t already my job.)

I am not ready to suggest to you that you abandon all other means of job search as some more brazen bloggers might.  But rather, first clean-up your image on social networking sites and then, look for job contacts on business sites like LinkedIn.  Plus, continue to use the job boards and employer web sites to also find employment opportunities.  
 

* My Favorite story about Doc McGraw relates to his appearance at a Halloween bash the Jaycees had one year.  The costume theme was the 50’s, you know blue jeans, white tee shirts with a rolled up cigarette pack in the sleeve, and plenty of felt Poodle skirts, sweater sets, and neck scarf’s.  Well, to all of our surprise… Doc showed up in a loin cloth and sandals… 50 BC.

Bye for now…