What are Networking Events
Networking events are face to face meetings, online virtual meetings or social meeting places to bring together people or groups of specific areas of interest. A networking event can be for a group of business individuals and group, or to help the job seekers find opportunities to meet recruiters or local business owners.
Who Organizes them
Organizers for such meetings could be professional organizations, clubs or small business associations at a specific business event or any social place like a church or a community center. Also note that as a job seeker you will see that you may or may not find a specific networking event aimed for those in job hunt only. You must know which groups are best suited for your current needs.
Online Retargets for finding Networking Events
Some of the online websites which you can use to find local or directed networking events are:
Eventbrite (select Networking from the category navigation)
eWomenNetwork (specializes in women’s business network)
Twitter, Google+ and Facebook are also your social media channels to networking and it is hard to ignore these in current times when a large percentage of recruiters are sifting through to find the ideal candidate for a position.
Tips
- Another good retarget on finding out where and when an interesting networking event is happening is by looking up your weekly newspaper – usually the weekend listings or mid week listings for local events.
- Though many who offer job search advice ask you to attend these events it is NOT required that you attend each and every event in your area or online, time consuming as they are it is very important to chose those which best suit your requirements. Ensure you allocate certain time to attending such events either once a week or twice a month.
You might also want to read: What to do if you find Networking Events Intimidating
Do you know of other places which have helped you find good networking events in your area? Pls share.