Welcome to Discuss HR, the HR blog written by Human Resources UK.
Today’s edition of Discuss HR is by none other than myself, so I’ll get straight to the point! (Ed Scrivener)
Networking & Schmoozing
If you’ve been reading Discuss HR since we started 3 years ago you will know I have written a number of posts relating to networking. I have commented about how I felt HR could and should do more; I have arranged numerous HR networking events; and I have written how those entering into the world of independent HR consultancy need to appreciate that good sales isn’t phone bashing, but relationship building. My twitter profile refers to me as a “networker and schmoozer”, the sentiment is sincere albeit expressed in a rather tongue in cheek manner. In short, or at least short for me, I like networking!
I have spent the bulk of my career as a service provider, so it is easy to suggest my networking was sales focused. I freely admit that there certainly was an element to that. I have always believed you need to enter into a networking relationship with the belief that you are looking to help the other person, not just seek their help. There are so many benefits to good networking; you can learn from your peers; you can find opportunities of all sorts; or you can just make good friends!
I recently benefited from my years of networking. Late last year I decided it was time for me to make a career change and move away from being a 3rdparty provider to become an in-house recruiter. I looked at how I could achieve this move and decided to make a two pronged attack, firstly via social media and secondly via my network. I reached out to everyone I knew professionally to seek their help and advice about my move and hopefully to hear about suitable opportunities. To say I was overwhelmed by the response is a huge understatement! I had numerous conversations with experienced people in the field that were able to advise me as to what information I needed to include in my CV and what approach I needed to take. I had several referrals from people who flagged roles they had seen advertised. Probably most valuable of all, I heard about opportunities with organisations where the role has not gone to market yet. Therefore I wasn’t up against countless other applicants. I had managed to catch a number of people who were in the process of reviewing their resourcing strategy and so my approach ended up being incredibly timely. Not every approach resulted in a formal interview, but it would be naive to think it would. Instead and importantly I become a known quantity within the field for the organisation which should hold me in good stead for the future. But most importantly of all, these approaches did result in formal interviews (8 in total via networking) and crucially I secured exactly the type of role I wanted. To further add to the proof that this is the best way to secure a role, I applied for 2 roles via traditional job boards; I wasn’t interviewed for either!
I firmly believe that following my years of taking the effort to go out and meet people both virtually and in real life, coupled with my desire to help them when they needed it resulted in this very positive resolution to my job hunt. So my advice to anyone, whether you’re looking for work or not, a business owner or employee is to get out and do that networking and schmoozing!
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Discuss HR is the HR blog written by members of Human Resources UK, the 10,000 member strong LinkedIn group dedicated to the HR professionals in the UK. Discuss HR is published twice weekly and looks to take an insightful, informative and sometimes irreverent view on the world of HR – all with the purpose of generating a discussion.
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