3.20.2014

The Other Kind of Networking

The following events took place within about 4 minutes.

I awoke suddenly, early this morning to the sounds of birds chirping merrily out on the...never mind, wait that's my phone! Tweet received, 

[Call Me]. Done. 

Long story short, a guy I know, knows a gal, that knew a guy, that has a guy...that needs help with a network. Phone calls proceeded (in that order).  "What seems to be the problem?". Four words come up; the network and blew up. 

"Can you come in to help troubleshoot", and, absolutely I can. 

"OK the address is..." 

Where's my pen?! I'll head out right away.. actually wait, he needs to call me right back. They may have figured out the problem.  If a cell phone made an audible click while hanging up, here's where it would... *click* 

Where are my pants?! *ring ring* "Sorry, they figured it out."

Not a problem, glad it's working again. He says, "So tell me about yourself." I explain, IT Networking student about to graduate... here's my email. 

"We'll be in touch," he says. *click* ...

*You've got mail*  [Nice to meet you Ike, send me your info, are you looking for work?] 

I go to my LinkedIn profile copy URL,paste, and send. We're now connected. 

I Tweet 'the guy' that started this all, [Wow thanks for the referral!.]

Breathe!

Why did I even bother to write down the events of this fine morning? To be reminded that the importance of staying connected cannot be overstated here.  This kind of networking has real value, especially as an IT student that's about to graduate and enter the job market. Maintaining connections and keeping your professional profiles up to date is so important. In the span of minutes, I traversed through 2 social networks, 4 phone calls, and emails that, in the end introduced all of my professional information to the president of an IT company.

Treat the networks that surround you as seriously as the networks you work on.

Treat the networks that surround you as seriously as the networks you work on. You never know when there's opportunity for you to make a connection.