March 14, 2014
Sometimes it takes months or even years to see the results of your networking, but it is powerful, and if you do it right, it will come full circle to increase your success dramatically.
Twenty-five years ago, I was working as a national marketing manager for a healthcare firm. Although it was a good company, there wasn’t much variety on the job. When I was bored, I daydreamed about becoming a community affairs director for one of the local television stations. That had always been my dream job goal.
Sadly, there were a few major stumbling blocks to achieving my dream—I had no television experience. I also had no solid contacts in the television industry. The current community affairs directors loved their jobs and had no desire to leave them. One day, while I was crunching market share numbers, my assistant walked into my office and announced, “Channel 12’s on the line for you!”
I picked up the phone and the president of WISN TV said, “Deb we are looking for a community affairs director and your name has come up several times as the person who’d be best for the job. Would you be interested in meeting with me?” After I closed my mouth and picked myself up off the floor, I stammered, “Sssure!”
Three weeks later, I was in my dream job, earning twenty thousand per year more as the new community affairs director for the ABC affiliate television station in Milwaukee. I still had no idea who to thank for giving the station president my name and recommending me for the job.
Months later my new boss explained how he had “discovered” me. He said that he had asked his best friend who owned a large ad agency to suggest someone for the job. He wanted a person who knew marketing, understood networking, and was respected in the Milwaukee business community. His ideal candidate did not need a television background. His friend asked the employees at the ad agency if they knew of someone who fit the bill and one of his employees recommended me.
It turned out that the individual who sang my praises had moved to Milwaukee five years earlier. She had contacted me because I was then president of Women in Communications. We spent a considerable amount of time together so I could help her achieve her networking goals. I introduced her to other professionals and helped her to identify and join associations in the area that could enhance her networking goals. She never forgot about my willingness to help and my abilities to network.
Who would have thought, that, years later, this person would help me realize one of my own career goals? Sometimes it takes months or even years to see the results of your networking, but it is powerful, and if you do it right, it will come full circle to increase your success dramatically.