Quite literally, for me it has been 18 years since I was in the job market. Every career move I’ve made since then has been through connections and so to be honest, other than my first job, I’ve never applied for a job during my career in HR, and hope that I never have to do so.

Being responsible for this list, I’ve had the opportunity to observe the job market, hear both the horror and success stories, and have come to understand the true importance of networking. I am amazed at how impactful this circulation list has been for those who have chosen to participate.

The world of job search has changed. To use an overused change management expression, someone moved the cheese. Sure, there are still the main published sources (where 300 people might submit a resume—long odds). There are also literally dozens of different “nooks” where you can find job opportunities in the HR field now which aren’t as visible and for which you may only compete with 10-15 people—much better odds). But even if you find the nooks, it takes much more than that to be that right candidate. That’s why networking is a crucial element to finding that right opportunity. Networking helps to find the nooks, and can help connect you to the decision-maker. While what I am about to say flies in the face of “good search” practices, the truth we don’t like to admit is that we have a tendency to gravitate towards others with whom we have a connection. I believe this is a more common outcome because we have so many qualified professionals in our field, and a connection may be the only differentiator in the decision-making process.

Do you have an interesting job search experience that involves a “network” experience. Do you fundamentally disagree with anything I’ve written here? I’d love to hear about it. Please e-mail me if you have something to share.