A Network Is Important Because It Helps You Land On Your Feet
The fact that you need to develop a network (while employed and while unemployed) is the single most important message I can provide to job seekers. A network is important because it helps you land on your feet.
The developer in the video below, Kilo Loco, is a great example of why this is the case. He’s recently been fired, but he’s absolutely, 100% going to land on his feet because he was working on creating a network of people before he even got hired at his most recent job.
The Engineer In The Video Below Is Going To Be Fine Because He Has A Successful Personal Brand
A Network Is Important: Especially When You've Been Fired
Kilo Loco has got 17,500 subscribers on YouTube alone. Do you think out of one of those 17,500 people one of them isn’t going to be willing to help him get his next job? Of course they will; having built this network Kilo Loco has essentially created career security.
But his network isn’t going to help him because they feel bad for him. They’re going to help (if he wants them to) because, over the course of ~200 videos, he’s provided value by sharing his coding knowledge for free. (And his videos are good! I used them a ton when I was learning to code. If you need an iOS app, hire this guy).
I’ve said that building a network is important here, here, and here. And guess what? I’m going to say it a lot more, because it’s the most important thing you can do while you’re employed and unemployed.
Conclusion
If you’ve currently got a job, now is the time to develop a network so that if something bad happens, you can land on your feet. If you don’t have a job, getting started on this is as urgent as ever, and can be a more direct path to employment than simply sending off hundreds or thousands of resumes.
So, get started on building your network and getting career security. Job seekers can get started hiring Stand Out Professional Branding to help them develop their networks to gain career security here.