culled from:linkedin.com
Time and again I talk to candidates about why networking is important and almost without exception, many wait until they decide to change jobs, or worse they get called into the office Friday afternoon and told their employment has been terminated. Then I find out they haven’t updated their credentials and are now scrambling to remember all they have done over the last few years, and who they need to call to see if they can use their friends and co-workers as a reference.
That’s not the time to prepare for the future. Careers are like living and breathing. You need to continue to update your credentials that includes having an up to date resume, and a listing of professional references (don’t bother with personal unless you are just starting out in your career). The day a candidate starts a new job, they should take the time to get the new job title, start date, company name, city and state, etc. and file save the detail. As the new job progresses, open the file and start thinking about accomplishments you might want to display if and when you are terminated (always a possibility) or decide to leave your employer.
And on networking, continue to update your contacts. Call them to talk about how they are doing. Let them know what your current circumstances are and encourage them to update their reference list and include your name and contact information. A list of references should include the persons full name, email address (preference for personal not company), phone number (preference for a cell), job title and the company they work for. This should be done at the same time as updating your resume.
Don’t let time slip by and wait until it’s crunch time and the tension can build because now you have to have the information available. The time when we stayed at a company our entire working career is long gone, and most of us will have a number of new employment opportunities over the life of our careers. Doesn’t it just make sense to prepare for it.
