It is very likely that networking will lead you to your next job. Surveys consistently indicate that 80-85 percent of jobs are obtained through networking. Internal networking may even be instrumental in your next promotion within your present company. If you accept the fact that professional networking is an active part of more and more jobs today, you are going to be at a distinct advantage in your career.

If you have not already started building a network, now is the right time to start. When you are newly out of a job is not the best time to start networking. But, if you do happen to be in a job search, accept the fact that it is also never too late to begin networking.

Networking, as I am using the term, is the constant process of developing contacts who are willing to allow you enough communications to determine if you can be of assistance to them, or they can be of assistance to you.

Networking is not about "What will you do for me", but more about "What can I do for you". When you are really looking for ways to help someone else, many opportunities will arise. In most instances your goal will be to create a relationship rather than a one-time act of philanthropy on your part or on the other person's part. Some simple examples are:

• If you find this person is going fishing, you may be able to provide them some information about a new fishing location.
• If you find they need some assistance on a project, you may be able to lend a hand, send them an article, or refer them to another resource they may not have thought about.
• If you find they actually have a job opening to be filled, but it is not the right job for you, you can suggest a person for the job or a source to help them fill it.

You may be further into your networking process than you give yourself credit. You may be a member of one or more associations and attend periodic development meetings at which you are exposed to dozens of your contemporaries. You talk with other attendees at these meetings and possibly even volunteer to participate in the leadership staff for the associations. These are ideal opportunities to expand your circle of contacts - to build your network. Professional education may be the top purpose of these associations, but developing a professional network should not be far behind.

As we talk about networking opportunities in either social or business gatherings, quality may be more important than quantity. A little research on your part may tell you who will likely be at an event. You can pre-target those individuals whose relationship may offer the greatest value to you, or better yet, identify those individuals to whom you may be able to offer the greatest value. Of course, meet as many people as you can. Exchange cards and learn enough from each individual to uncover broader opportunities to offer them something of value.

Record critical information on the business cards and use it to strike up more meaningful conversations later or callback opportunities. A 3 x 5 card system or computerized contact management software can assist you in maintaining good records for your network creation or your job search. Personal facts about your contact's interests, birth date, children's names, current challenges, etc. can allow you to show them you were really listening.

On a daily basis, you also have the opportunity to establish contacts through planned telephone campaigns. Build into your daily routine a structure to establish new contacts outside your close circle of existing friends and co-workers. Use every opportunity to conduct surveys, canvas membership lists, advise of coming attractions, and even just to ask for help when it is appropriate.

If you do happen to be in the job market, have your 30-second verbal resume perfected and be able to comfortably describe your background, accomplishments and the job you are seeking. Be responsive and positive to the other party's suggestions and referrals. If they offer you a name, be obvious about writing it down, 'taking possession of it'. Ask for some additional facts about the person. Ask permission to use your source's name and be disciplined to never use your source's name without getting their permission first. There may be some unknown reason the source would want to remain anonymous.

Be genuinely interested in others. Bring your art of listening and communications to a new level. You may call to thank others for a suggestion they made or to inquire whether they caught any fish or how they did on that last certification module, always looking for the next opportunity to offer them something of value. But do not limit your tool kit to any single mode of communications. Follow up encounters by giving appropriate feedback. Send hand written notes to contacts you have made. Use email to send timely acknowledgements. More formal letters of introduction can be used to precede a telephone job search campaign. The telephone, with or without a preceding letter, allows a greater volume of contacts to be made and fits both organized networking and a job-search campaign. And, above all, getting face-to-face with your targeted contact is the ultimate mode of communications and your preferred mode. If a new job is your goal, accept that a job is seldom offered and accepted without a face-to-face step, so get face-to-face with as many people as possible.

You will likely find that the process of networking may have started out as self-serving and a means to an end, but later turns out to be a great deal of fun and quite rewarding in itself. If you try it and you like it as much as I do, I will make a recruiter out of you because that is what I get to do all day.