It’s not WHAT you know, but WHO you know!

"All things being equal, people will do business with a friend; all things being unequal, people will still do business with a friend."

- Mark McCormack 

Colleges that charge $75,000, $40,000 or $20,000…what does that difference gain you? School work, studies, grades, these are all the easy things to focus on during the transition into adulthood. Not that they are easy to accomplish with high marks, but the immediate grades, the focus on GPA, etc. are all front and center. You get a reminder at the conclusion of every semester, and you can now check your current grade online at any time.

This is where most of the ‘white collar’ job hopefuls go and study to learn the ‘What’.  The ‘What’ can be referring to equations, theories, languages (human and computer), history, legal rules, etc.  It also refers, perhaps more importantly, to the ‘How’…how do you get homework done on-time? How do you organize your time and schedule to be successful? How do you interact with your professor and fellow classmates? These skills will translate more to the workplace in many cases than the details of the course material.

So, you spend all this time and money to emerge with a diploma and a GPA. Now what? To be clear, I’m a supporter of the college experience for young adults.  The task of carving out your own space, being independent and responsible, stepping out of the home and high school situation is all very important. This is called human development, but we should also be conscious of what it isn’t.  Getting a good GPA and a degree does not mean that most of you will be flooded with job offers.

Landing your first job after college or trade school is the next big hurdle, and I will submit that expanding your network and exercising your network will often be the keys to landing that job. You have equipped yourself with some of the ‘What’, but now your resume is in a virtual pile with a hundred other ones.  How do you get yourself on the top of one of those piles? This is where the ‘Who’ comes in.

Where does the ‘Who’ come from?  Apologies if this sounds a bit like a Dr. Suess question or a bit by Abbott and Costello. It is worth reinforcing here, that you are often not looking for a job from one of these immediate contacts…but you are looking for a connection to one of their friends or friends of friends, etc. Social networking sites like LinkedIn and Facebook are great tools to help find connections with people in your extended network.

The ultimate goal of the ‘Who’ is to get a referral of some sort. A job referral is when a current employee of a company recommends a candidate, often someone they know, for an open position or as a general candidate for future roles. It is a formal or informal endorsement that can significantly impact a job application because hiring managers often trust the judgement of their employees.  It provides credibility to your application.  Companies often have referral programs to incentivize and reward employees for finding quality candidates that get hired.  Sometimes these jobs are posted and sometimes they are not.

Here are a few ideas:

1)        Family – for a few people, there will be opportunities to work for family members.  However, for most of us this simply means approach family members near and far for any possible contacts that might be in the field you want to work in. The great part about this network is that they are usually very approachable and want to help you. Blood is thicker than water and most of us are willing to go a bit further for family than we might for friends. Don’t be too shy. You will also have to embrace the idea that ‘it never hurts to ask.’

2)        Internships – getting yourself an internship or any sort of ‘on the job’ work experience is perhaps one of the most important things during your school years. This instantly creates a new network of people for you to interact with.  It also has the benefit of giving you real life experience in a working company.  This is the leap from a textbook to the real world. Hopefully the company you intern with will have a great experience with you and want to hire you.  Make sure you take the internship seriously and do the best you can.  Even if they don’t make you an offer, the contacts you make and experiences you can use in interviews are invaluable.

3)        Friends – Your friends are not likely to employ you, unless you create a new company together…which can be a great experience too.  However, your friends have family that you should network with and as they land jobs they will create connections of their own.  Keep your eyes and ears open for possible interesting areas of intersection.  Your parents also have friends and acquaintances.

4)        Clubs and activity groups – This might be the reason that justifies you joining a fraternity or sorority.  This is why you go to church, play pick-up basketball, volunteer, have a parttime job or participate in a book club.  Connecting with other people, forming relationships and expanding your network all can help with finding a connection to a company looking to hire someone like you.

5)        Professors – Academia isn’t known for their job connections typically, but depending on the professor and the area of study this can be a good resource for connections.  They will know past graduates who are now into their careers.  They will know companies that they have interacted with for research or collaboration. They will invite people in to talk to classes.

It's not what you know but who you know. Where will your ‘Who’ come from?