Paper Clips, Mountaintops, and Frogs: The World of Networking
Hiking down Mount Seymour last fall, my father got to talking with a couple of strangers: a woman and her teenage daughter. He learned they were from Quebec, where the woman had worked twelve years as an employment counsellor. Having moved to BC, she continued her occupation at a French-speaking centre, but then was laid off. Unable to find similar employment, she was hired at a bank, a job she found unrewarding.
As a natural part of the conversation, my father volunteered that he had a daughter (me) working in Surrey at a career planning program. The woman mulled this over and towards the end of the hike confessed she would love to get back into the field. Would my father be willing to convey her contact information to me? Perhaps I might know of any upcoming positions. My father said yes, and the next night phoned my home.
As a result of that contact, the woman re-worked her resume and cover letter. She researched information on current BC employment counselling. She applied to one position-unsuccessfully-and with great anxiety underwent two interviews for a second. She was accepted. She quit her bank job and in January 2006 began work as a counsellor at a Surrey employment centre. All this because of a fortuitous encounter on a mountaintop.
Or was it just fortuitous? In the book The Frog and Prince: Secrets of Positive Networking (Frog and Prince Networking Corporation, Canada, 2003), author Darcy Rezac mentions several points this incident illustrates well. Foremost among them is his definition of networking as "discovering if you can do something nice for someone else" (p. 13). I'd always thought of networking as much more self-serving: you exchange meaningless pleasantries with people while hoping to get out of them what you need. But Rezac claims it's really about what you can do for the other guy. You might even call it a Golden Rule. My father did it unconsciously-do you think the woman on the mountain is ever going to forget him, or pass up an opportunity to help him if she can?
Rezac also speaks of small worlds and "the strength of weak ties" (p. 21). Our webs, our connections, overlap in the most serendipitous ways-and often it's the farther acquaintances, the weak ties, that prove fruitful. As an extraordinary example of these phenomena, you might want to check out the website www.oneredpaperclip.com. This site is the blog of Kyle MacDonald. On July 12, 2005, he offered one red paper clip for trade. His goal was to trade up until he got a house. Since then he has acquired-and traded-a fish pen, a doorknob, a Coleman stove, a generator, an instant party, a skidoo, a trip to Yahk, a cube van, a recording contract, a year rent-free in Phoenix, and an afternoon with Alice Cooper. Do you really have any doubt that Kyle is going to get a house? This is networking at its most imaginative and generous, employing in large part the principle that: First, you make an offer.
A fourth observation made by Rezac is that it's wise to treat all people as equals. You are a source from which good things can come; and so is everyone else out there, regardless of what lowly position a person appears to occupy. So if you want to be a prince of networking-kiss a lot of frogs, go for a hike, and approach the world with a question: What can I do for you?
Gillian Derksen, BA, is an Employment Assistant with SCCI Project Restart Ltd, a free 17-day career planning program in Surrey. Published in The Recruit June 9, 2006.