Job Tuition

Discriminatory Networking

December 31st, 2006 by Andrew

Now that I have your attention, let me explain what I mean by “discriminatory.” I use the word in its older, traditional sense. As Dictionary.com explains, “3. the power of making fine distinctions; discriminating judgment: She chose the colors with great discrimination.”

Is this not a key component to networking? You physically cannot network with every other human on the planet, so you must have some criteria by which you judge the people with whom to network. This article will go through several different criteria and attempt to discern the best ones to use in your discriminatory networking.

Money

You could only network with people who have money (or at least the appearance of having money). The rationale for this factor appears to be that money = power. You want powerful people in your network, right? Sort-of.

There seem to be two problems with this idea. First, does money always link to the kind-of power with which you want to be associated. In other words, does money always equal positive power that aligns with your beliefs and ideals? I hope you realize that this question requires a prompt response of “NO.”

Also, what about people who don’t have money today, but might in the future? If you base your networking solely on money, you will not network with these up-and-coming people until they are already wealthy and have left you behind. At this point, lots of other people will seek them out for networking, and you might not be able to develop a relationship. Problem, right?

Job

Another criterion you could use is to network with people depending upon the current job they have. In theory, you would select people with jobs that are either similar to yours or might be beneficial to your career in the future.

This principle is more sound than money, but it still has some weaknesses. First, how do you determine which jobs qualify for your network? You have no idea what job market you might be in after 10 years. Also, you have no idea what kind-of services or different people with whom you will need to be connected down the road. Thus, it’s difficult to come up with your ideal list of job types to seek out when making network contacts.

Second, and similar to a criticism of the money factor, how do you foresee what jobs other people might have down the road? Today’s bus boy might be tomorrow’s CEO. If you don’t network with him while he’s a bus boy, you will have probably lost a great relationship.

Character

One of the fundamental critiques of the job and money criteria is their changing nature. Thus, networking distinctions require a more fundamental quality: character.

If you choose networking contacts based on a person’s character, your problems should be solved. You will most likely be drawn to people with character like yours (and they will be drawn toward you). Also, you will not have the problem of predicting what people will be earning or doing down the road.

If you trust your instinct, you will hopefully network with people today who take on important positions tomorrow. Regardless, you should at least make more valuable relationships. In many cases, a great friend (regardless his/her status in life) is better than a wealthy or powerful acquaintance.