I have collected the following three networking success stories. I want to share them with you because it helps us to remember why we focus on networking. Sometimes when all you hear is “You have to network, network, network” you want to punch the next person who says that to you… then again that would be counter productive to what we are talking about here.
The first story is about a friend of a friend of mine who got lucky one day at the dry cleaners.

Story: A woman, we’ll call her Sue, goes to drop her dry cleaning off as she has been doing for the past couple of years at the same dry cleaners in her town. Though she has used the same dry cleaners for quite some time she never took a second to get to know the owner of the company. (this is going to be a future article about the importance of networking with people where you go often).

Sue has been struggling to find a teaching job (just like many aspiring teachers now-a-days) One day Sue was so bummed out that she was feeling that she just needed someone new to talk to because her family and friends have been telling her the same thing time and again, “You’re going to find a job just hang in there.” So when Sue walked into the dry cleaners she simply started talking to the owner and told the owner her hard times story for seeking employment.

The owner familiar with her face was taken aback when she began to talk to him but he was more than eager to listen. After hearing the story the owner mentioned that one of his customers is the principal of X and Y High School.  “Why don’t you leave your resume and I’ll give it to him.” Well of course she does it she had nothing else to lose. Whatdya know… she got a call back the next day for an interview.

I followed up with Sue later on to find out how her networking success story turned out. Found out that she got the job! Though she ended up leaving that district a year or so after getting the job for a better position.

Moral of this story: If Sue would have had a networking mentality in mind earlier she would have been able to connect sooner and possibly even get an offer sooner. In closing make sure you talk to everyone…especially those you see often.