The People You Meet Along the Way
During the period from 1978 to 2008, I worked in the world of corporate America. At that time in United States history, many individuals followed a similar model. They worked for the same company for many years. When they thought of work contacts, they were often individuals like them, long time employees at the same company. In that model, I met many an individual who became life long friends. Some of them I stayed connected with through social activities after my time at corporate. Others, I was able to track through tools such as Linked In, and reconnect with them for networking meetings, and opportunities to help each other in new ventures.
The world of work 2025 works differently for far more people. While some may still be part of a model where they work for the same organization for many years, that is becoming less and less common. When clients come into my life now, the pattern tends to be that they have worked a few years at one company, a few years at another company, etc. Patterns may also include individuals working as a full-time employee for some of the firms on their resume. For others, they may have been hired as a contract employee (one that may have come to the company through a staffing firm, with an understanding that they would work for a company for a period of months until an assignment would end). One may ask, under such a pattern, how do individuals form relationships if many are moving from company to company or job to job? However, those relationships become even that much more important than the relationships of the past.
As I will say to clients, there are 4 ways to find your next job opportunity. One is posting for the job through a job posting board. That method tends to at best have a 5 to 10 percent success rate, given that many individuals (think in the 100’s) are applying for the same jobs. The next opportunity may come through a staffing agency or recruiting firm. Again, while this method may work, it too has attached to it a caveat. As the recruiting company or staffing firm is paid by the company to which you are placed, if the staffing firm does not believe you have the skills sought by the hiring company, the staffing firm will not push your candidacy. A third method is to directly contact organizations and present your credentials. Particularly in smaller type organizations, this could lead to possibilities if a company is looking for an individual with skills to fill an opening they have. However, the 4th way is using one’s network to navigate their way into a company with job opening. Historically, whether we are talking the job search world of 2005 or 2025, or any “time period” you can think of, over 75% of the individuals who connect in companies usually have the assistance of “someone they have met in their career along the way.”
I like to explain to my clients that those who are willing to “recommend” you for a job opening within their company are your “raving fans.” While there may be some benefit to them if the company takes their recommendation if you are hired, (a referral bonus for example), there is also a risk to those individuals if you are hired and do not work out. They are putting their reputation on the line. Those who may recommend you to a company to fill an opening, often help you get past the online application process. Oh, yes, you might have to apply through the online application, but the hiring manager can ask human resources to provide your credentials to them as one of the individuals they want to interview. Sometimes those working at organizations are alerting you to opportunities even before they are publicly posted. In addition, if they enjoyed working with you in a past work opportunity, they are looking forward to that possibility again.
While you may not connect with every individual you meet and some you may out and out not like, ideally those will be in the minority. The others “you meet along the way,” are ones where you may connect with them for a while, it is possible you go your separate ways for a time, and then have an opportunity to work with each other again. Be open to those possibilities, as they may not only help you with your career development, but also in keeping those relationships alive and strong. They often are a major key to your career progression.
