Career networking is much more than the occasional get together over chilled chardonnay and finger food, with people you don’t know, trying to sell you thinks you don’t want.

It’s a much bigger game and this is an excellent job finding tactic to use to get what you want - that job of your dreams!

You have a great existing network - you do. All those people you already know, so ask!

The summit of your job finding tactics is to get people working for you. So you need to let them know that they can help you - they are valuable people you know will support and help you.

It’s a big emotional shout, is asking for help, especially when you use the words, ‘I need your help’. So you can use it to your advantage, without showing that you are desperate.

Remember, this comes after you’ve earned your credits and built the conversation around them, so time it perfectly, when they ask you what’s going on in your life!

Feel free to exploit the network of friends, family colleagues and anyone, anywhere that you know who might be able to help you.

Dig deep and get creative with it!

Building your capability to move your career along is a huge step forward for anyone in the job search game. Making this happen is not as difficult or as complicated as you might think, because of the hundreds of contacts you already have.

These folk are on your side, so as a job finding tactic, it’s so much easier than anything else you might want to try. It’s about leveraging what - and who- you already know, so it’s time to get going!

Getting help is more than a case of asking. Much more. Stephen Covey, in ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” talks about an ‘emotional bank account’.

You make deposits by doing things that others value - like listening well; being interested in them; being trustworthy and keeping your promises (to name a few!). When you want something from someone you have to make these deposits and often in the circumstances you are in, in very short spaces of time.

Listen really well - ask them questions about what’s important to them; pay attention; listen much more than you talk; be patient and wait till they ask about you - then ask!

It’s an age old job finding tactic that you can consciously use and add to your portfolio of skills. Yoiu see most people get a job through contacts they already have, whatever the recruitment agencies would like you to believe.

It’s just time to use it consciously, to your advantage!