Disconnected

Posted by Cynical Sarah on August 10, 2007

I’ve now been living in Vancouver for more than two years, I recently come to the realization that I haven’t really formed many connections here except through my husband and work.

I’m sure I’ve talked before about how hard it is to meet people in a brand new city like this. I had a ready made social outlet with my husband when I first moved here, and I didn’t really have to force myself to put in the effort it takes to make friends in a big city then.

So here I am, two-plus years later and anytime I feel like getting out and doing something with someone, my choices are Helper Troy or his sister.

It’s not as sad as I made it sound, but lately I’ve been on the lookout for another job. In this city, having friends is invaluable for networking to find the good jobs that are out there.

A girl I know from work proved to me how important it is. She’s been looking for a new job for months. She actually got to the point where she was so unhappy where we work that she gave notice before having another job lined up.

But during her second to last week in the office, she gave an old friend a call. She had applied for a job where he works about a month ago, and even though the company hadn’t filled the position yet, she hadn’t gotten a call for an interview or anything either.

So she met with him for lunch one day, and he offered to put in her resume for her instead of through the recruiter she went through before.

Within days she had a call back asking her to come in for an interview.

That’s the power of networking. Knowing people, or at least knowing people who know people can make a world of difference in the job market. I used to think that would mostly be useful in a smaller town where just about everyone knows each other anyway. But really, it’s more important in these big cities.

Companies don’t always advertise the positions they have open, because they know they can fill them through word of mouth. Why bother paying for advertising when you don’t need it? Or they go through recruiting companies who don’t always advertise positions either if they know they have plenty of applicants already lined up for the job.

I always thought the big city environment would bring me opportunities that would never have been possible back in South Dakota. In some part that’s true. It’s hard to imagine getting a job writing and editing news for a poker site back in South Dakota.

But, this isn’t a city with a big editorial market. The jobs for a girl with an English: Journalism degree are few and far between – either in the media market or the business sectors. It turns out most of the cool jobs in my field are all the way across the country in Toronto.

That means I’ll have to work extra hard to find the jobs that are in my area, and work extra hard to make myself stand out from all the other people just like me looking for something a little bigger and better in the job market.

That’s where networking comes in. It’s time to make good on all my threats to get out and find ways to meet people and make friends. You never know who you’re going to meet out there, and even if a lifelong friendship isn’t in the cards, perhaps a future job is.

- Sarah L. Polson

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