How to find contacts while networking

Job networking contacts are essential to career advancement. Watching this video will establish that there are a wealth of job contacts for you to draw upon, how to find them and how to use this network to your full advantage.

1. Job Networking Contacts You Know
* There are a lot of potential job contacts in your immediate family. Included in this network is your extended family, friends of family and friends from high school and college. You can also find networking contacts through your alumni office, Facebook or Myspace.
* Formal and informal organizations are also a way to find job networking contacts. These can include churches, sports teams, your gym or even a book group.
2. Hub People
* Hub people play a vital role both as job contacts and as a means of how to find them. These are people who know a lot of people.
* Hub people who can act as job contacts may include your doctor, post man, real estate broker or minister. There are also extroverts who network naturally that can act as a job contact.
3. Job Networking Through the Strength of Weak Connections
* People and job contacts can still help you if you both know and trust the same people in common. For example, you know Jack and Ellen. The recruiter may know either Jack or Ellen, and through this job network, would give your resume further consideration.
* People you haven't talked to in a long time can always serve as a job networking contact. For example, you call a job contact or friend you haven't spoken to in years because you're new to California. While your contact lives in New York, they know a motion picture recruiter in California and you have video production experience.