NETSHARE, ECADEMY, & NETWORKING

Last Monday I spent an hour on the phone with Netshare members answering their burning career questions. If you want to get in on these weekly calls, get registered with Netshare today!

Following last week’s blog update, one of my readers emailed me to ask about my decision to create a profile on Ecademy. His experience has been that it has been a waste of time and that there has been “no forthcoming effort to help anybody get a job.” I suspect this is a common feeling among discouraged job seekers. Let me address what I have taken away from reading between the lines.

The job search process is frustrating. It is filled with rejection. And it can be grueling. Success requires hard work. If finding that next great opportunity was as easy as posting a profile on Ecademy and sitting back and waiting for the job offers to come in, I guess everyone would already be employed (and I would be a millionaire!). Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

Effectiveness in social networking requires a great first impression (your profile), an aggressive campaign to grow your network, and a mindset that you are willing to give first (help others) in order to get (help) in the future.

Building a profile on Ecademy builds visibility. Visibility is a great career management tool and one that will become increasingly more important to the savvy candidate. Here are some suggestions straight from the Ecademy website:

––Raise your Profile online – If you become a Standard or Power Networker, post as much useful advice and information as you can and comment on what you read. This helps to get you noticed, people will contact you about your content. Read the weblogs and articles, post comments, and let people know what you stand for and what you believe in. Get to know people there – who are the passionate ones, who are the interesting ones, who are those who invite controversy and engage them. If your posts are interesting, people will contact you to get to know you more.

––Become active in clubs – Join the clubs, read the content, post responses and interact with people around topics and ideas that most interest you. That way, you get to mix with like-minded people and build relationships.

––Become the hub – Create your own club if you cannot find one that fits your interest. Have online discussions and organise offline events where people can come and get together. Networking is all about being in a position of influence and putting yourself out there. It’s when you give that people notice you and recommend you.

––Finally – You get as much as you give – Ecademy is not about sitting back and enjoying the ride. Be active in the community, share your knowledge, wisdom and contacts. Ecademy’s ethos is "Winning by Sharing" – It’s about sharing, and contributing. Because that’s the essence of building strong relationships. Once that’s done, the business will come.

What will also come are the opportunities that people – with whom you have built trust –are more than happy to pass your way. As my good friend at Netshare, Kathy Simmons, says, “networking is a noun and a verb!”