I am a true believer in the power of networking. Reflecting upon my multi decade career, I can trace nearly every major job I landed from an introduction obtained through my professional network. On more than one occasion, I literally wrote my own job description upon hiring. Although I have applied to hundreds of open positions over the years, I can’t recall any that led to an offer, with the exception of a couple internships I did while in college.
So for me, professional relationships have been the main driver of my career. It remains so in my current consulting/coaching practice.
One of the best and effective ways to network is by volunteering for a professional organization. This is a strategy where you invest your personal time upfront to serve and grow a group’s mission. However, this strategy requires patience because the immediate goal is to generate goodwill and develop relationships first. Opportunities will then arise later.
Let me share a story of how this approach led to a job offer in just one day! It was the early 2000s in the wake of the first dot.com bust and I had just been RIF’D by a large consulting company. During that time, I was an event volunteer for a small professional association called the New England Learning Association (NELA). Having the title of Director of Events for NELA was a great cover to get access to the types of people I may want to work for.
One of our event speakers was Jonathan Levy, a noted e-learning expert. He was setting up an e-learning team at the Monitor Group, a prestigious consulting firm in Cambridge. Afterward I asked him if we could meet since I had experience in both strategy consulting and e-learning development. He graciously invited me to lunch near his office.
I can still remember our lunch at the California Pizza Kitchen in the Galeria Mall. As we were talking about his new team he suddenly asked, “why aren’t you working for me?” To which I responded, “you haven’t asked.” To which he then replied, “Well, I’m asking now.” I received a formal offer letter the very next day. This turned out to be a tremendous experience that eventually led to me becoming a co-founder of a SaaS start-up that spun out of Monitor.
Another notable networking win came later when I had the honor of being a board member of the BPMA. Although I was employed at the time, I became aware of a super opportunity at Forrester Research, a new Vice President of Product role. This was my “dream job” and honestly, I felt a touch of imposter syndrome.
Fortunately, the relationships I built with my fellow BPMA board members helped boost my confidence. Even more, Bruce McCarthy (then President of BPMA) coached me as I prepared for my interviews and product strategy presentation. It made all the difference.
Although jobs come and go during one’s career, the most valuable asset that any of us truly owns is our professional network. Build and nurture yours every week.
About the Author:
Ed Arnold is a solopreneur who coaches product and sales teams on customer value strategy. He publishes a weekly newsletter on Substack, The Valorizer. Ed has worn multiple hats in his career, company founder (LeveragePoint), product leader (Forrester, the Monitor Group) and consultant (Communispace, Diamond). He is a former board member of the Boston Product Management Association (BPMA).
