Networking without a résumé

Networking is an art. Some people are good at. Some aren’t. People who are really good at networking can find employment without a résumé. Now before you start muttering to yourself that everyone MUST have a résumé I want you to tell you about the “days of old, when knights were bold and résumés weren’t invented.” You see, back in the “olden” days, when a person wanted a job they would go around banging on doors to find out who was hiring. Sometimes they might have to bang on the same door more than once. Each time they went back to the same door, the person on the other side of the door was getting to know them, often on a first name basis.

Well guess what? Not a lot has changed. People get hired without résumés because they are hired by someone they know. Employers have always preferred to hire people they know, and networking is really about getting to know more people. I will often recommend people network without a résumé. There are a couple of reasons for this. Firstly, why would you give anyone a résumé until you know exactly what it is they are looking for in the way of skills and experience, after all that is one of the reason you are networking in the first place. The other reason is that it takes the pressure of you and the person you are networking with. If you are networking properly you are not asking the person you are networking with if they have a job for you. You are trying to find out who IS hiring. The other reason to network without a résumé is, you will always have a reason to go back.

Your comments are welcome.
Glen Slingerlands Skills 101 / Job Development