Networking has become a commonplace term in career strategy literature, but few people know how to build a strong network for their own job search in any logical manner. Productive networking requires ongoing efforts to acquaint yourself with your fellow hospital administrators and business leaders. There are several sources for building your own network:
- College and graduate school class members
- Professional associations
- Professional conferences
- Professional journals
- Former co-workers and employees
In your present job, keep a record of the names, positions, and addresses of the influential individuals whom you meet or whose work you respect. Make a point of maintaining contact with them by telephone or mail on an annual basis. For example, say you speak with a particularly accomplished attorney in the health care field at your class reunion and you exchange business cards. Although that person may live on the other coast, telephone him or her a month or so after the reunion and say how much you enjoyed your conversation. Discuss a current issue and ask for the person's opinion. This phone call builds an acquaintance with a dynamic person, who is actively involved in health care, and sows a seed for your network.
Your demanding work schedule may preclude you from attending seminars and conferences every month, but you owe it to yourself to attend at least two conferences per year. The American College of Healthcare Executives typically schedules Eastern, Western, and executive sessions annually. Its annual Congress on Administration is especially productive. Make time for one of them every year. Not only will attending conferences give you a new perspective and keep you apprised of current issues, but you will also have a chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones.
Another way to network without leaving your office is by subscribing to and reading professional journals. Keep track of career moves via. Healthcare Executive's "Focus On" feature, which addresses the concerns of health care executives in every third issue. The "Professional Development Calendar" provides a schedule of upcoming meetings across the country. In Modern Healthcare's Weekly Business News, the following three features regularly provide useful information: "Professional Exchange," "Career Opportunities," and "Calendar/People." Another publication, AHA News, features a section called "Personal Update," which also tracks the career moves of health care professionals. By reading these features, you can keep track of who is working where and when upcoming meetings are scheduled. Staying informed is an important part of networking.
Staying involved also contributes to the strength of your network. For example, when you read a thought-provoking article in one of your professional journals, you should copy it and send it to people who might be interested in it. This is one way to interact with other health care executives whom you rarely have an opportunity to see, but with whom it may be worth your while to maintain contact.
Throughout your career, you will meet people with whom you share similar interests and goals. Your former employees and coworkers, especially the hard-working and ambitious ones, are an excellent source of potential members for your network. Stay in touch with them after either they or you leave your organization. You will have contacts in many organizations, each of whom, in turn, knows several other people who are themselves potential contacts.
Expand your network by including professionals in related fields like physicians, attorneys, and health care recruiters. Civic and business leaders tend to know a great many people. The more varied and extensive the membership, the more useful your network may be when you are conducting your job search.
One common-sense reminder when building a network: We are often judged by the company we keep. Just because someone holds a very responsible position does not qualify that person for your network. Does that individual have the integrity you require? I remember reading about a hospital administrator who served time for embezzling funds from his hospital. Nice guy, but a crook nevertheless. Admittedly, it is difficult to tell if someone is capable of stealing, but be alert to clues about a person's character. Invest the time it takes in maintaining contact only when the person passes that subjective test. Another consideration is whether or not you like and trust the person. Can you count on this person passing on helpful information to you if the need arises?
Just as networking computers increases their power, networking professionally increases your working capacity, expands your sphere of influence, and connects you with others who share similar concerns and goals. If you include networking in your workday, not only will you have opportunities to discuss work-related issues regardless of whether you are in the job market, but you are storing up goodwill chits to call in if the need arises.
Two hundred years ago, long before the notion of career development and its specific vocabulary existed, the eminent lexicographer Samuel Johnson defined "network" as "anything reticulated or decussated at equal distances, with interstices between the intersections." An "interstice" is a space that intervenes between two objects. Think of your contact as an interstice who can intervene on your behalf, and move you to the next intersection. When you contact someone and obtain even one new name to contact in your job search, that contact, or interstice, has been useful.
Networking brings results. Stephen Rosen, an astrophysicist and career counselor who works with professionals from the former Soviet Union, tells his clients unfamiliar with the American business culture to "network or not work." It's that simple.
