A strong professional network - why it matters

By now, you’ve probably come across a million posts from colleagues and connections on LinkedIn and Twitter about why having a professional network matters. Instead of just sharing bullet points, here's a story I thought I would share.

There was a woman that I used to work with . For convenience, let’s call her Fatima.

Fatima was one of the most talented recruiters I'd come across, and one of the top earners in the firm. She grew her book of business to over $1M in recurring profit/year focusing on placing investment professionals. She had a great attitude and was eager to help. Needless to say, she was an A-Player. As good of an agency recruiter Fatima was, she didn’t enjoy the constant hustle that agency recruiting demands.

Fatima ended up leaving for one of the premier investment banks as an in-house recruiter. Fatima and I kept in touch. She was doing very well. Achieving all her KPI's, working on highly visibility projects, revamping interview processes, etc. But then the tail end of 2022 hit, the market started to crash, and Fatima was laid off.

Fatima turned out to be just fine.

Why? Because of her strong professional network.

Let’s dive in to see what she did right throughout her career.

She kept in touch with everyone she worked with.

Past and present. She kept in touch with some key people that she had previously worked with. After she posted about her layoff on LinkedIn, she said she had at least a dozen people from her previous company’s network reach out to her immediately.

From there, a few of them were able to introduce her to their managers, refer her to apply to a role, and point her in the right direction. After taking a week to collect herself, these connections helped start up her interview process.

Fatima didn’t burn any bridges.

Fatima interviewed at quite a few companies before taking her new role at the investment bank.

When she declined other offers, she did so professionally.

She thanked them for taking the time to speak to her, made a great impression on them during the interview process, told them what she liked about their company/team, but told them the best opportunity for her at the time was investment bank.

She reached out to these companies and some of them either put her through interviews for other groups or helped to refer her to other roles.

Fatima focused on having at least one conversation or new connection per day.

She had a network of people she already knew, but she wanted to keep growing it.

Relying on just job applications can quickly discourage you if you don’t receive feedback. An old network will only get you so far.

A recruiter’s job is to connect with people every day and she realized that. She made it a point every day until she landed the job she wanted to speak with one new person each day that she can consider a new part of her professional network.

Finally, the result.

A recruiter from one of the companies she declined before taking the investment banks offer - referred her to a connection of theirs. That person ended up interviewing & hiring her within 3 weeks.

If that didn’t pan out, a few of the contacts from our company were ready to hire her, and she had interview activity from her new connections going on as well.

So, what can we all learn from Fatima?

1. Layoffs effect everyone, including "the A-Player". They are not personal, they’re a business decision. They’re not a reflection of you - but the company’s financial standing.
2. One of the easiest ways to build out your network is with the people you currently work with & by keeping in touch with them when they leave the company
3. Don’t burn bridges - no matter how hot the candidate market is for you. For every candidate like Fatima that kept things professional, you had another that went the other way. She turned a rejected offer into a new 2nd degree connection into a new job. That could be you if you play your cards right.
4. Figure out a way to get noticed. You don’t need to live-document a job search, but you need to find a way to get eyeballs on your LinkedIn & Resume. There are 800M users on LinkedIn, how will you stand out? Comment on target company’s posts and decision makers from there as well (recruiters, managers, peers, etc.). Don’t just rely on job applications and job boards.
5. Focus on new connections. Old and current connections are great, but they have a ceiling. Break past that ceiling and open new doors by challenging yourself to meet new people. LinkedIn, Twitter, Meetups - there are tons of ways to meet new people in today’s new world.

If you would like to discuss a career move or have hiring requirements, feel free to reach out via LinkedIn or email at blessingmajome@michaelpage.ae

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