2024 will not be remembered as one of the IT jobs market greatest years. New roles were thin on the ground, especially for senior management or those tied closely to the project lifecycle. It was a good year to hunker down and stay put, but between contacts ending, business restructures & redundancies, many didn’t have that option.
Throughout the year, whenever a Project Manager or CIO or a Business Analyst role hit the job boards, there was a veritable tsunami of ad response. Here at Balance our highwater mark for a job ad was 700 applications. And the quality and calibre of the applications was (on the whole) genuinely high. Competition was fierce.
Many PMs, BAs & CIOs are currently on the sidelines and were unable secure new roles in 2024. But many people did secure roles. So what was their secret?
Their network.
And they built and nurtured that network, not when they needed help finding a job, but as part of their normal practice. The most successful people were the ones who had become the ‘go to’ person for advice and introductions across a wide sphere of connections.
We did a straw poll with senior IT people who had joined a new company in 2024, and the bulk of those people had been recommended for the job by someone in their network. And interestingly, often they weren’t a perfect fit for the role, but they were regarded as a known & trusted pair of hands. So not only was networking getting feet in doors, but it would also help address any shortcomings one had as a candidate.
So here at Balance we feel it high time that people revisit their networking practices. With the advent of LinkedIn & Social Media, it’s been easy to become lazy when it comes to networking. So it’s time to overhaul your networking practices & efforts.
Surely though LinkedIn is the tool of choice when it comes to networking?
A strong network is made of people not technology. Yes, LinkedIn is a good platform to help manage your network, but if you want to be the person who someone will stick their neck out for, you need to be more than a connection on LinkedIn who they last physically sat down with in 2020.
So here at Balance, we thing the best networking tools are (1) your mobile phone, and (2) any coffee shop that will sell you a couple of flat whites. Call people, text people & catch up for coffees (or a post work vino) where possible. Cultivate the relationships and try ensure you’re kept front of mind.
We absolutely recommend using LinkedIn, but just keep in mind there’s much more to networking than LinkedIn.
Remember that networking is a 2 way street
Some people baulk somewhat at the feeling of leaning to hard on their colleagues & peers. It’s important though to remember that networking works both ways – there will come time when they too are looking for advice, guidance & introductions.
It’s also important to understand that very rarely will the leaning be at equilibrium at any one point in time. It’s OK to take your turn to do some leaning.
This needs to start now
A strong network is something you need to spend time building & working to cultivate. You can’t simply expect to forge all these meaningful relationships spontaneously at the moment you need them.
The best time to start networking is now. Here are 4 things you can do immediately:
- Go through your diary and company directory and send a LI to everyone you’ve engaged with the in last 6 months
- Book a coffee a week. Ideally 2.
- Share a really interesting article or insight every fortnight with your network
- Attend an event a quarter (seminar, networking event or similar) and invite 10 members of your network to join you