Meetings, Meetings, I'm Drowning in Job Search Networking Meetings!

When you first start to network in your job search, you’ll hear about a lot of meetings that sound as though they would be useful for you. However, you probably won’t be able to attend all of them—or benefit from attending all of them. Often job seekers are encouraged to go where every other job seeker is going. That may not be the best strategy for you. Being very selective and strategic about where you spend your time can accelerate your job search.

I’ve had job seekers tell me they are spending many hours a week in meetings. But they don’t feel they are getting much value

The first step is to understand why you are considering attending ANY meeting. Is it to meet other people in job search? Is it to learn more about job search tactics? Sometimes meetings in these categories can be helpful, and if you’re benefiting, that’s great.

However, if you’re not feeling excited and energized about your job search after these meetings, consider skipping them. Or at least cutting down on the time you spend in them.

The following might be more useful questions to decide which meetings are worth your time. Is it to meet influential people in your field? Are you looking for people who just seem to know everyone in your industry/career so you can expand your networking contacts? Do you want to have an opportunity to meet people at the right level to hire you?

How to find out if a meeting is right for you:
• Be really honest in deciding what you want from a meeting.
• Ask about the people who typically attend.
• Talk to the organizer and people who have been to this event before.
• Check out the speaker, not just to see if you are interested in the topic but also to see if it might be someone you would like to meet.

Then you can determine:• If this is the place where you will find the appropriate people for to network with,
• If there will be the kinds of people who would be able to hire you,
• If these other people attending might know the other people you’d like to meet,
• If you might meet people at this meeting you will want to call for information and/or advice, etc.

Then you’ll know there is a high probability you’re going to a meeting where you will meet the best people for your networking efforts.