I will start this post by posing the question, have you ever heard of a piece of software called Sidekick from Borland? Well this was the first application that I used to keep track of contact information. It helped me to keep track of my network. I am not sure those people were even called a network at the time. I also know that I did not work at meeting new people and trying to maintain a real relationship with them. In my early days in business you did business with people in your community, people that you could summon to your place of business. The internet did not exist as we know it today. Networking has changed! Now we network with people around the world, without a second thought. We can communicate with others who do not speak our language through translation software and smart phones.

Today I really work hard at growing my network, and very much enjoy doing it. Today my network  grows through face to face meetings, on line meetings, phone interactions and via referrals from those already in my network. Then after we meet, it is off to LinkedIn to see if they are out there. If yes, then off goes the connection request. Then there may be a look at twitter and facebook. If I do connect with someone via social media it seems to ramp up the connection faster. Back in the ’80′s I simply did not meet at the same rate that I do today. Life has accelerated.

Now here is another and new angle on networking, If you are out here in the HR space you may have seen a post from my friend Jay Kuhns – Jay was looking for a key employee. so he wrote a post saying so, and then he found some damn good talent. So this networking can take many paths today. Now, I would like to copy from Jay’s post and do something similar via my network.

My oldest son Danny’s girlfriend is graduating from Missouri University of Science & Technology with a degree in Business and Management Systems. She wants to move from Rolla, MO to Memphis, TN so that she can be near man Dan. So I thought this would be a new way to use networking, just like Jay had done. Rather than trying to find an employee for an organization, I would try to find an organization for a person. She has done internships and understand processes, logistics and information systems. If you know of something looking for a sharp young graduate in this area; let’s talk.

I will let you know if I am as good as Jay, in using a blog post to network and create a new employee/employer relationship. Wish me luck,

Posted: 01|31|12 at 11:56 am. Filed under: Dave Says.
Tags: LinkedIn, MS & T, Networking, Recruiting
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