HOW TO NETWORK FOR A JOB IN 2023: My (Proven) Formula Used by Successful Job Seekers

Research shows that networking for a job is one of the most powerful strategies you can use. In fact, according to a study by Deloitte, as much as 80% of jobs are filled through networking. 

If you’re a job seeker, networking to find a job can be extremely effective, but in many cases it can also be extremely stressful.

A few questions that might come to mind:

• How do I network for a job if I don’t have the right network? 
• What if I don’t have time to network for a job because I need a job ASAP? 
• How can I build the right job network? Where do I even start?

There are a lot of articles out there with generic advice for networking, this post won’t be one of them.

In this post, I’ll share my actual formula for networking that I’ve used to land multiple jobs and over $45,000 worth of freelancing gigs. 

I’ll also cover the biggest career networking mistakes and I’ll also share two networking strategies: one strategy if you need a job fast and one strategy if you aren’t in a rush.

Why Should You Network to Find a Job?

Before I dive into the formula for job networking, we should probably discuss why networking to find a job is even recommended. 

A little historical context may be helpful here. 

“Back in the day,” a company would post an ad in their local newspaper and receive 20 or maybe 30 applicants. The process was very manageable.

But, with the invention of the online job board, all this changed. While online job boards opened a tremendous amount of opportunities for many job seekers, they also created an overly crowded marketplace.

The average job posting today gets 250 applications and top companies receive much more. An extreme example of this is Google, which receives over 4 million applications to their positions every year!

So...

Should You Apply to Job Boards or Should You Network for your Job?

The answer really depends on your skill set. Some job search experts, such as Austin Belcak and Sarah Johnston, have helped thousands of job seekers land their dream jobs using networking, so it’s definitely worth a try.

I personally prefer applying to job boards because I have a very analytical way of thinking. When I was applying to jobs, I managed to optimize my resume and application so that it would be brought to the top of those 250 other applicants.

I did this through a combination of LinkedIn analytics, resume improvements, and a few other tricks. I eventually had everything so dialed in that I was getting 4 interviews for every 10 applications I sent.

In many cases, if you've recently been laid off, you may not have time to do networking, in which case applying online can be better.

If you’re interested in landing a job by applying to job boards, you can learn the techniques I found most helpful in our Accelerated Resume Program, which you can join for free here.

I do, however, recommend that everyone try both job boards and job networking to see which approach works best for them. 

If you’d like to try networking for a job, I'll break down exactly what to do below. If you're short on time though, here is a great video by AJ Eckstein, Founder of The Final Round Podcast, where he summarizes how to network for a job:

How Should You Network for a Job?

Here's my job networking formula:

Let’s break it down into words: 

Your relationship with someone is equal to the amount you give multiplied over time. But, and this is important, if you take too much from the relationship, the relationship will get weaker.

First, let’s go over what most people do when they are trying to network for a job. (This is what NOT to do)

The most common mistake job seekers make when they’re networking to find a job is “take” before they’ve even built value in the relationship.

Here’s an example of a common message I receive:

This type of message doesn’t work because this message puts this person in relationship debt. They’re trying to take from the relationship before they’ve even given anything to the relationship.

Before you start sending any networking messages, I recommend looking at these 3 LinkedIn message templates that actually work.

Here’s what this message looks like if we plug some imaginary numbers into the formula:

Now, I totally understand why people do this. 

When I was unemployed for 14 months I did this too.

As my savings began drying up, my need to get a job was growing every hour of every day. I didn’t just need a job, I needed a job fast.

But the truth is that the more I reached out to people asking for a job, the less success I had. 

Instead, here’s what I wish I had done, and what I recommend job seekers do now.

There are two ways to be successful at job networking:

Job Networking by Giving BIG

If you’re pressed for time and need a job quickly, the only way to network for a job is by giving in a big way.

A big give isn’t “hey can I buy you lunch sometime?” That’s just a sneaky way of taking.

A big give is helping someone with something that might take them a lot of time and can’t just be bought easily.

Here’s a real example from a friend of mine:

My friend, Sam, wanted to get a job as a Blog Writer. After doing some research, he realized he’ll most likely need to get the attention of the Director of Marketing or the Content Marketing Manager. 

Sam realized that one of the biggest pain points of either of these two roles is fixing broken links and making sure that there aren’t any SEO problems.

So, Sam spent several hours running analytics on the company’s website and compiling a list of all the broken links. But, he didn’t just stop there. He then researched where each broken link should have been pointing to and he even included several places where they could improve the links.

He then compiled the report into a beautiful PDF document that was super easy to read and digest.

He sent it to both of the managers and simply ended his message with “Hope this is helpful! If you ever need help with any other blog activities I’d love to work for a great company like yours. Thank you.”

Sam didn’t get a full-time job with them right away, but they did bring him on as a freelancer, which brought in some much needed income for him. And, eventually that experience led him to the full-time role he was after. 

This is how you make a big give without taking a thing. It instantly puts you in a positive relationship with those people that stands a much bigger chance of paying off.

Doing a big give is a bit of a gamble. It takes a lot of effort and it may or may not work, but if you’re short on time it’s a good strategy to try.

Job Networking by Giving Over a Long Time

If you aren’t in a huge rush, a better way of networking for a job is by making small gives over a longer period of time. 

Remember that in our formula, your relationship is multiplied over time. So, rather than making a one-time big give, we can also make several small gives over a longer period of time and get the same result.

Here’s a real example from my own experience:

5 years ago I was looking to make a career pivot. I was trying to change industries, so I didn’t have any contacts in the new industry I was trying to get into.

I started by joining two small Facebook groups dedicated to the new industry (tech marketing) I was trying to get into.

Every day when I would check my Facebook, I would see people posting in these groups. I wasn’t an expert in this new field by any means, but I was reading a ton of materials and listening to a lot of podcasts to get up to speed on the subject.

Whenever I would see someone posting a question, I would try to link to a useful resource I had read or listened to that could help them solve their problem.

After 3 months of doing this, the moderator of the Facebook group took notice and reached out to me.

He told me that one of the writers he works with at his company had just left and they needed someone to fill in while they found a replacement. Since he knew I was an up-and-coming marketer, he offered to bring me on as a freelancer for just a couple of projects.

I took him up on the offer (and did a huge happy dance in my bedroom). 

Over the next 6 months I wrote a few posts for them and put all of the knowledge I had studied into every post I wrote.

The company he worked for actually ended up closing the entire division, so I didn’t get a full-time job with them. But, I did add that experience to my resume and it helped me get a job just 2 months later.

But, more important than the job, I ended up making a powerful connection with someone in my target industry.

We became good friends and over the next 4 years we brought each other thousands of dollars worth of work. 

Networking to Find a Job Takeaways

Regardless of which approach you take to job networking, it’s important to remember that giving without taking is the only way you’ll achieve your job search goal.

In both of the job networking examples I covered, the most important thing was NOT to ask for anything at the end. As soon as you ask for something, your kind gesture becomes just a transaction (and usually an unfair and unsolicited one). 

Again, the recommended LinkedIn message templates I shared earlier don't ask for anything.

Now, this doesn’t mean that you should never ask for anything. Of course someday you’ll want to tap into your relationships when you need them. 

The important thing is to respect the time portion of the equation.

Over time your relationship will multiply and, if you’re patient, you’ll be able to get value from it without hurting it at all.

That’s how strangers become acquaintances and how acquaintances become friends.

As you navigate your job search, I recommend trying both approaches to finding a job. Job boards and job networking are both good options as long as you take the appropriate strategy for each.

If networking doesn’t sound like it’s your thing, you can look into our accelerated programs where I’ve put together cheat sheets, video tutorials, and even a resume grader that can help you succeed at applying to jobs on job search sites.