Networking...

If your can find what you enjoy doing in life, you are lucky… This is one of the key points in life…

I was listening to the radio (CBC) and they were talking about how to find a summer job. According to this radio program, the first thing that you have to think it is why you are looking for a job. There are two main reasons: financial objectives or work experience. If you need the money, perhaps it is not a priority what kind of job you can get as long as the money you receive is what you expect. But if money is not a problem, you can think about what you would like to do in order to get experience in something related with your future, field or career.

Which is the best age to start working? In Canada, teenagers can get their first summer job at the early age of 14. However, their parents’ permission is needed, and it depends on how faster parents want to give their kids wings.

How is the process to get a summer job? If you need to find a summer job, the procedure is the same as to get a regular job. In this process, although having “knowledge” and “training” is essential, it is not enough. The most important thing is “Networking”. It could sound “unfair” (life is unfair, sometimes) but it is the way the world works.

Networking is the art of building alliances. How do you build alliances? Here are some examples:

You are networking when you:

• attend professional or trade association meetings
• talk to other parents when attending your child's sporting or music events
• volunteer for a local park "clean-up" day
• visit with other members of your social clubs or religious groups
• talk to your neighbours
• strike up a conversation with someone else waiting at the veterinarian's office
• post messages on mailing lists or in chat rooms
• talk to sales persons who are visiting your office
  http://www.rileyguide.com/network.html

In few words, networking is your ‘social life”. Even if you are in the gym, talking with the person who is training right besides you, you are networking. Even if you are waiting for your turn in the doctor, talking with other patients, you are networking. Sometimes, it is not a conscious activity. Human beings are “social animals”, they need “networks” in their life.

I used to think that “networking” was the worst way to find a job. “Why did I study so hard if at the end all my effort is not valid”? I wondered. Well, education is the most important thing a person can get. But it is not the only thing that matters when you have to find a job, compete for a position, or achieve objectives.

This reminds me a famous Waltz Disney’s quotation:

‘You can dream, create, design and build the most wonderful place in the world, but it requires people to make the dream a reality.’

“Puedes soñar, crear y construir el mejor sitio del mundo, pero se necesitan personas para hacer los sueños realidad”

Nothing else to add.