Through the Eyes of a Professional- IV

Name: Avis LaFrance 
Occupation: Image Consultant 
Member of Professional Networking Site: Yes, LinkedIn  


1. From your own experiences can you please tell me about a specific instance or general stage in your career where you found networking to be either beneficial or detrimental to you getting a job or promotion?


Networking has proven to be beneficial on numerous occasions. Most recently, I attended an event where I met a number of professionals that provided possible leads for job opportunities.  


2. To what degree do you feel building a network is important for your career field in comparison to other careers? 


I feel building a network is essential to my career as an image consultant. Many of my clients have been referred to me through workshop participants or clients I have previously serviced.


3. Do you feel that online networking is becoming more important than face-to-face networking? Why or why not? 


I feel that online networking is beneficial, however, it does not lend itself to the credibility of face-to-face networking.  


4. From your own experience and the experience of friends and/or colleagues which form of networking provides job-seekers with the best opportunity to market themselves?


I believe face-to-face networking provides job-seekers with the best opportunity to market themselves. I think verbal and non-verbal communication are essential in having an accurate assessment of an individuals.


5. What advice would you give soon-to-be college graduates entering the professional world regarding networking? 


Networking is the key to the professional world... get busy building your network immediately, your success depends on it.

Take it to the Next Level

When utilizing social networking sites to connect with people, it may sometimes be difficult to figure out the best ways to develop valuable relationships with your online audience. Here are some small reminders that could have a big impact on your success in social media networking, as described by Jay and Jeannie Levinson in their book, Guerrilla Marketing Remix:

It is important to keep in mind that “there are several levels of relationship development in social media.” These levels are as follows:

1. Discovery: This is the first step of an online relationship between marketer (yourself) and consumer (your network). Discovery is made possible by getting yourself out there on your social media site. This could mean posting, finding friends you are connected to, or merely updating your profile so it is visible and relevant to others.

2. Consumption: Once you have been discovered your visitors will consume your content. “In order to engage, establish trust, and make people want to invest more time, energy and effort into learning about [you] and what [you] can do for them, [you] need to exceed prospective customers’ expectations with high-value content.” Your online profile needs to be credible, and able to open your consumers up to trust in your product/personal brand. Credibility is difficult because it is subjective, some may be more open to some content than others, leading some to subscribe to your postings right away, and others to merely scan and move on. Most consumption eventually leads to interaction, however.

3. Interaction: Interaction on social media sites can occur in multiple ways. Sometimes it is merely mechanical, as when you ask a question via your social media tool, and another user answers your question. Your audience can also respond to your posts, or share related content with you. The most important form of interaction on social media profiles however, is that which you initiate. The more you are proactive and visit social media profiles which are relevant to the advancement of your network and interact with those figures, the more doors you will open for the next stage, connection.

4. Connection: This happens when someone “adds you as a friend on Facebook, a connection on LinkedIn or mutually follows you on Twitter.” This doesn’t make you business partners, but merely is a way of saying you are interested in the content the other has to provide. Making a connection is an invitation to get to know someone better, so you can tailor your self-marketing to their “credibility model and values.” This is also a way of making your online relationship public, and a way for others to see who you know, and who knows you.

5. Consent: “If relationships were currency, consent would be the gold standard.” Consent is the highest level of online relationship, and is defined by the interest of your audience in your product or services. In the case of job hunting, this would be an employment prospect. When you have reached the level of consent with someone via social media, you have nurtured your online relationship into one you can depend on for “direct purchases as well as referrals.” In a job hunter’s case, direct purchases would be employment.

As you navigate through your online networks, keep in mind all of these levels and the ways to achieve them and you will have a better chance of achieving success in your employment search, as well as your personal brand maintenance. Remember, “Guerrilla social media marketing is both a strategy and a way of thinking and living virtual lives in the lightning-fast world of digital social networks.”

Source: Levinson, J. C., & Levinson, J. (2011). Guerrilla Marketing Remix: The Best of Guerrilla Marketing. Entrepreneur Media Inc. (235-240).

Keep Your Friends Close, and Your Acquaintances Closer?

Can Facebook, and other non-professional social networking sites (SNSs) help people to develop networks and professional connections in addition to professional networking sites?

     With the new developments of technology and SNSs "changes in interaction patterns and social connections are already evident among young people." ¹  These new interactions are expected to lead to two new changes across society.  At an "interpersonal level, the identity information in profiles helps to enable connections between individuals that might not otherwise take place." ¹  For example, if a person identifies with liking a particular singer, they can link up with other people who also like that singer.  Then at a "community level, the organizing feature of these sites lower the transaction costs for connecting people who share one interest but differ on other dimensions." ¹  In this instance, people can identify as acquaintances without having to make a huge time commitment to their friends on Facebook or other SNSs.

     Facebook is an easy way to connect with people that you meet briefly or do not know well enough to contact."  When we meet these potential acquaintances at parties, etc, each step of the process is fraught with potential pitfalls that can prevent individuals from reconnecting in the future." ¹  It is Facebook and other SNSs, that provide its users the opportunity to stay connected with these acquaintances for long periods of time.  Facebook helps us to meet our "bridging social capital which is associated with our weak ties or friends of friends, past colleagues or other acquaintances." ¹    Facebook helps people to widen their weak ties network.  Although we are not emotionally as close to weak ties as strong ties, "research has shown that we are more likely to receive information about an employment opportunity from someone we see rarely." ¹  So weak ties are more valuable for new opportunities than are our strong ties.

     Facebook helps to increase, the bridging social capital.  Facebook provides "status updates and feeds, enables individuals to broadcast both major life changes and daily activities to their network allowing for social surveillance." ¹   This helps keep Facebook friends keep in tune with what's going on with each others lives.  Even though "knowing these events won't change one's life, the knowledge accumulates into a powerful awareness of one's social network and provides continuous linkage to weak ties." ¹  Another perk is that this "can strengthen offline connections" or "provide a reason to reconnect with an old friend." ¹  

     All in all, it could be extremely beneficial for a person to create contacts through SNSs.  It is a simple way to stay in contact with someone that you meet in class or on a walk through the part.  Since weak ties are more beneficial for the sharing of information, they are more likely to lead to career, job, or internship opportunities.  Having lots of weak ties on Facebook, could help a person to discover an opportunity that he or she would not have known about otherwise.  So when looking for a job, it could be better to keep one's acquaintances closer than one's friends.  

[¹] Ellison, Nicole B, Cliff Lampe, and Charles Steinfield. “Social Network Sites and 

Society: Current Trends and Future Possibilities.” The Potential for Technology-Enabled Connections (Jan. 2009):

 6-10. Google Scholar. Web. 22 Oct. 2011.