While I was writing a blog post about my first job (Pizza Hut) I realized something: I’ve networked into almost every job I’ve ever had.
I even networked into Pizza Hut, which is pretty awesome if you ask me.
Today I’m going to walk through every job I’ve ever had and how networking played into each one.
I’ll also share a bit about each job and whether I liked it or not. Hopefully you’ll learn a bit more about me in the process. Ultimately, though, the big takeaway is that I networked into almost every single job I’ve had.
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut was my first job. I actually learned quite a bit working at Pizza Hut and look back at it as one of my favorite jobs. I had a great manager and got to work with one of my best friends, as well as met a lot of new friends.
Anyway this post is about how I networked into jobs so I’ll get to the point. I networked into this job because my friend worked there. He knew I was looking for a job, so he talked to the manager and soon enough I was a freshly minted Pizza Hut cook.
I worked here for almost a year. The manager left for another company because he got screwed out of a bonus. All the cooks were pretty loyal to “Rocky” so we all decided to quit even after demanding raises (and getting them). We were young and rebellious.
Minnesota State Fair ticket-taker
I was a ticket-taker at the Minnesota State Fair one Summer (the Fair runs 10 days). It wasn’t a bad gig since I got to work with a bunch of my friends. We also got free admission to the fair, which can be quite expensive.
My friend’s Dad is head of ticketing/admission for the Fair and has worked there for decades. Essentially my friend got me the ticket-taking job through his father.
Fun Fact: The Minnesota State Fair is the biggest State Fair in the United States.
Fun Fact 2: I once wrote a post about the Minnesota State Fair. If you’ve never seen a deep fried candy bar, here’s your chance!
Davanni’s
Davanni’s is a chain of pizza and hoagie shops that are only located throughout the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. My claim to fame is that I’ve probably had over 500 of their Turkey hoagies. It sounds ridiculous, but if I walked you through the math it would be a little more understandable.
Anyway this is the only job I didn’t network into. Instead I simply applied and got the job relatively quickly. I guess this would be the first job I got where I actually had some sort of relevant experience beforehand.
My University’s IT Department
The IT job I had at my University was probably the best on-campus student job you could possibly have. I had a great boss, was designated a “shift lead” – never hurts to have a title like that – and had tons of time to do homework in-between questions from students and other tasks that came with being an IT student worker.
I got this job through someone I met in my orientation group. He secured a job even before we got on-campus, but his referral landed me a job within the first month. That meant no working at the Davanni’s that was right next to campus! I held this job the entire time I was in college.
A&M Business Interiors
In addition to my IT job I also worked a second job during college. This one only lasted for a year or so, though.
A&M Business Interiors sets up, tears down, and moves cubicles. They also move people’s stuff from one cubicle to another, including full building moves. My friend worked there full-time for about 9 months after high school until he went to Australia for a year. He told us about Friday night and Saturday work they sometimes have where they essentially just do the cubicle moves (makes sense, employees are gone for the weekend). It was good pay and very flexible scheduling. You could take off any weekends you wanted with no advance notice.
So this job was nice because it was usually fairly straightforward work and I got to work with friends. I also just had to tell the scheduler by Wednesday if I wanted to work on the weekend. Easy.
Marketing and SEO at a personal finance blog
I used to be a political blogger throughout college. I had always been interested in politics and was even a double-major in political science (along with finance). I became very into politics during the 2008 Presidential campaign when I Googled “Ron Paul.” It drastically changed my views on economics, the Constitution, and more.
Well, one personal finance blogger was also a Ron Paul supporter and was looking to find five people that would pledge to donate $10 to his campaign. He came across my political blog and that’s how we first came in touch.
We ended up talking regularly and it eventually led to me doing marketing, SEO, and some writing for his blog. It was a great gig for me and I really enjoyed the work.
Accountant at a Health Insurance Company
Okay last but not least – my current job as an accountant in the health insurance industry.
First let me preface with this: there is a chance this had no bearing on me getting an internship and subsequently a full-time job at this company. But it sure as heck didn’t hurt. Here’s the story:
I went through the on-campus interviewing process for a Summer internship. I made it through the first round as well as the second round. The third – and final round – was at company headquarters. I was technically interviewing for a finance internship, which ended up hurting me. There was only a couple of FP&A (financial planning & analysis) internships and about 5-10 times as many accounting internships. Well, I didn’t quite make the cut and did not initially get an internship.
During college my wife and I volunteered in the youth department at church. One of the guys in my small group just so happened to be the son of someone who worked at the same company I had just interviewed at. It also just so happened that he worked with the head of college recruiting at a different company in the past. I had no idea during the interviewing process that this was the case.
When I called to thank the recruiter for allowing me to interview and to re-iterate my interest, I also mentioned that I had a connection at the company so I may have a bit of an advantage as far as networking in. When I told him who it was he instantly drew the connection and was excited that I knew him.
When someone backed out of their accounting internship, I was in.
And that’s how I networked into almost every job I’ve ever had.
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I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or a bad thing that networking can play such a big role in jobs. I think it’s good in the sense that you really have no idea what opportunities will come your way from simply knowing people. It’s bad in the fact that perhaps many of us take jobs that we are referred to simply because it’s easier to network in versus apply to jobs.
How about you – how have you gotten most of your jobs? Have you primarily networked? Applied? A mixture of the two?
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Photo by Samuel Mann
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I always find the topic of networking fascinating. So many people seem to use it, but in my professional career (4 positions, plus 2 internships), I’ve never networked. The one exception is possibly my current job. We moved north for my husband’s career and his employer was the only one in my industry. They tend to have a hard time convincing people to move to their area, so I probably got hired just because they knew I had to move there anyway! But my husband did not exert any influence. On the other hand, I’ve helped two people get spots :-)
I love all of these examples! I will say that I, too, have networked into most of my jobs! Even though I sometimes applied the normally way, it always turned out that I knew someone there who put in a good word, at the least.
theFinancegirl I did get a job offer recently that came entirely through the formal application process, but I ended up taking one that I was referred to. It’s interesting how big of an impact it can have if you are referred or know someone within the company.
indebtedmom I think sometimes networking is stressed too much, but for the purpose of this blog post I really wanted to stress how it has helped me out. I think you can do just fine going the traditional route, and one of the two job offers I got recently was 100% through the traditional route.
It’s always good when you are moving somewhere where it is hard to attract talent. Definitely probably makes your career prospects brighter!
These are all great examples DC! Most of my jobs have been a mixture of the two. You can definitely find jobs through the formal process of applying and such, but have always preferred the networking route as you get a foot in the door and can potentially come in knowing more about the company.
I have also networked into several jobs. Some good, some bad, but it certainly helps to know people!
Good job on being a master at networking! I didn’t network for my retail management job or my financial analyst job, but I do a lot of networking now as a online freelancer :)
Definitely networking. It’s a real compliment to be sought out for job postings within your own firm. However, this does not preclude you from going after and applying for jobs you are interested in too. I’ve also had my fair share of rejections. In retrospect, some jobs I was turned down for ended up being a blessing in disguise. But whatever, you make the most of where you are and if you don’t like it then change it.
FrugalRules Very true, and something I worried about when writing this post was making it seem like networking was the only way to go about finding a job. In some of these cases I didn’t intentionally network, but by just talking to people about work/jobs/careers opportunities came up in conversations.
Holly at ClubThrifty I agree. I think people trust referrals a lot more than they do someone coming in blind. At the same time I think it’s important for hiring managers to not weigh networking too much, unless of course that’s one of the skills you are looking for in an employee.
SenseofCents I can only imagine how important networking is for the full-time freelancer. I know that networking led to all of my writer hires on my site and also led to my freelance contributor job at FeeX. I think networking can help in the corporate world but isn’t the only way to land jobs.
debt debs You mention something that’s important to keep in mind: just because you were sought out or referred does not mean it will be a great job. You also likely won’t know if it will be a great job until you’ve been in the role for at least a few months. Additionally I also agree that if you aren’t happy you can – and should – look for other options.
I’m right there with you. Nearly every job I’ve had was due to knowing someone, with some notable exceptions when I moved to new areas. But, still, who you know matters…we really do have to nurture our relationships.
And delivering pizzas at Dominoes was one of the best jobs in my life. No stress, free pizza, just driving around and listening to the Dead…
I’ve primarily applied for jobs but I’m realizing more and more it’s who you know. My wife networked into her current job at a CPA firm, a position she probably would not have been able to secure had she not known someone.
It’s funny because I never networked to get a job (it was all applying, career fairs, job boards, etc.); however, networking is a HUGE part of my success in my professional life. You never know why people come into your life or how they will impact it; but if you value the relationships and treat people as you would want to be treated along the way, they can and will have a “6 degrees” influence on your future. As a mentor, I encourage everyone to network and build relationships because you never know where they could lead.
I’ve secured most of my jobs through a mixture of networking and applications. Though my current job was obtained entirely via networking . As I get older (just turned 30!) and more advanced in my field, I think it will become nearly impossible to get a job without some element of networking or at least referrals. I think it’s interesting that you networked into even your early entry-level jobs. Thanks for sharing!
DonebyForty I worked at pizza shops when I was too young to deliver (under 18), so I never got to experience it. I was pretty jealous of the drivers, though, because they made a lot more than me when tips were taken into consideration. I still think it’s one of the best gigs out there if you need money asap or a burner job.
Brian @ Luke1428 Applying to jobs works too, and I recently even got a job offer from applying to a position. I think your chances increase, though, if someone is vouching for you.
Ahhh networking, the thing that’s sort of hard to make happen if you force it, but that is in part difficult to construct. Getting out there and doing things is really the biggest part of making sure you have a network in place. I sort-of got my current position from networking, someone I knew within my company and site had a bit of a lightbulb moment when he figured that I could do the job he was having trouble getting qualified candidates for. I am so, so glad that it happened!!
blonde_finance I think that’s the biggest benefit of networking. You don’t have to network specifically for the purpose of your career, but you inevitably benefit your career when you meet other people and maintain relationships.
mrsfrugalwoods Good point about how networking may be more important as you advance in your field. I think that it can play a big factor at any level, but I’m sure that at the higher levels more and more people have bigger and bigger networks, so you’d hope there is some overlap that can help you.
I’ve primarily applied for jobs but when you work in a large corporation networking is key I think. Many times it’s about who you know.
moneypropeller It seems like a lot of networking is more “random” than most people would like to admit. In almost every job I’ve networked into it’s been through unintentional networking. A friend at church, a member of an orientation group, etc.
Raquel@Practical Cents It’s interesting how much referrals come into play at companies. I think it has a lot to do with trust. I trust the opinions of those I know, so if they are referring someone I typically will feel better about hiring them because someone I know vouched for them.
I love that your networked your way into Pizza Hut. :) I do believe that networking is becoming more and more of a necessity, especially when job markets are tough. Hiring managers are overwhelmed with resumes and when a valued employees mentions someone – it’s a huge relief. Now I do lot of networking with other professionals in my community. I am a Rotarian and I also have a network small women business owners in my area that i meet with as well.
ShannonRyan I hear you about the large stacks of resumes. I think sometimes at larger companies recruiters can help filter down the stack a bit, but overall it seems like a personal referral gets put at the top of the list. That’s great that you have a few meetups that allow you to network. As someone else said in the comments, the best way to meet people seems to be to just get out and get involved in things where you end up meeting new people.
I applied for about 90% of the jobs that I have had. I’m all about networking now though. I know that’s how I will receive my next opportunity.
I’ve gotten so very few jobs/projects through just sending my resume to the big black resume hole. Especially for freelancing, 90% is word of mouth. BTW, I’m not very hungry after reading your post. :)
Jason @ The Butler Journal Nothing wrong with going the application route. It was just strange to look back and realize pretty much every single job I’ve had was through networking.
Beachbudget Hey WHAT’S WRONG WITH PIZZA!?!?!? Just kidding, but seriously I still eat at Davanni’s and Pizza Hut all the time – delicious! I think freelancing is definitely a high level of word-of-mouth referrals, and for good reason: it’s hard to find someone you can trust when there are hundreds of thousands of freelancers out there.
I haven’t applied for an actual job since my residency, and I actually didn’t get the position I applied for. I got one that I found out was vacant through one of my instructors, so I guess I networked that one as well. If you know someone who can vouch for you, I think it goes a long way. I know when I’ve hired employees, word of mouth referrals were better than any resume.
1st professional job – an internship led to a part time job led to a fulltime job after graduation.
2nd job – actually kind of the same thing (applied for internship, wound up with a tiny bit of regular freelance work and eventually a job offer … sort of in parallel with the first job but slightly different timeline)
3rd job – cold application BUT had previously worked with the manager which I am sure helped a lot.
My very first high school job at a drug store I got the “old fashioned way,” but when I got laid off from there I got a job at a restaurant primarily because I knew other people that worked there. In college, I got a job at the computer lab because my brother worked there. I got an on campus internship with IBM primarily because the people running it knew my brother. I’ve worked for IBM ever since…so it definitely has paid off to know people. :)
Me too! Particularly as I get older, almost every job comes from people I’ve worked with before or recommendations.
Me too, that is best way to land a new job! I am HORRIBLE during interviews! Fortunately, for me the jobs that I landed were because the people already knew me and whether or not I was good. :)
Love your stories. After 30+ years of working, my experience has been the same. Keep adding contacts to your LinkedIn profile. Those contacts will pay off. I once interviewed for a job and didn’t get it, but ended up that the interviewer was the aunt of a friend of mine. She later became a client. Then years later I hired her at a different company. Networking is huge!