Networking
Networking requires physical action. Networking relies on your active participation in building and maintaining relationships with family, friends, community circles, sport clubs or teams, former classmates, neighbors, alumni networks, previous colleagues, and potential job fair recruiters, regarding your career. When you network, you inform people that you are open to any new job opportunity, or prone to take any advice to boost your career pathway. It's the perfect time to deliver your elevator speech.
Networking can also be proactive. You may ask your contact if they could help you pass along your resume and cover letter directly to a hiring manager. About eighty percent of available jobs are not advertised; most employers prefer to recruit friends of their workers directly rather than posting a job offer and going through hundreds of resumes. In addition, it is cheaper and less time consuming. It's also reassuring for the employer as they may assume that the friend of the employee has been informed about the culture, management, expectations of the company, which implies there should not be any negative surprises.
Friday morning Coffee Meetup in Pasadena happens every week. It's a free event.
http://fridaycoffeemeetup.com/
https://www.meetup.com/Innovation-friday-coffee-meetup/
The meetups are weekly coffee meet-ups to increase and enhance the vibrancy of the great Pasadena tech and start-up community. Organized by Innovate Pasadena, there is a cross section of interested innovators (investors, entrepreneurs, programmers, CTO's, VC's, angels, etc) who are eager to more actively engage with other members of the Pasadena local community. These sessions occur every Friday from 8:20am to 9:40am and are informal. There is typically a short structured presentation on a specific topic or a deeper dive on a local company. All interested parties are welcome to attend. The meetups are a fantastic way to network and learn a new topic such as "13 Questions to Help You Cut Out Small Talk and Build Genuine Connections", "The Future of Virtual Reality", etc...Bring several resumes, be ready for your elevator speech and take advantage of these weekly opportunities. Visit the Spouses link if you need information more information, specifically about resume, elevator speech, interviews
Online Networking. LinkedIn is an online networking site that allows you to create a profile and connect with professionals you may not otherwise have access to. You can follow companies, join groups, discuss, and search for jobs within and beyond your personal network. To help you get started, visit the LinkedIn Help Page.
Networking with social media. Create a friendly, positive professional online presence. Before "branding" yourself, google your name to know what is visibile to other people about yourself. Pay attention because any negative, work-related posts on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram will be visible to your future supervisor. Furthermore, recruiters are very social media oriented and they may know how to find the electronic tattoo you thought you had cleaned up. Being friendly and positive can only be beneficial and may make a strong impression on the hiring manager; it shows that you are digitally skilled and know how to intelligently use social media. For example, people looking for jobs in the arts fields should post their portfolios online.
DISCLAIMER: The information provided on this website is for general information only. Caltech does not endorse or recommend any of the organizations listed.