A Case Study on the Power of Networking and Strategic Career Planning
Think about this:
✔️372 Applications
✔️9 Interviews
✔️1 Job Offer
Would you continue your job search after 372 applications?
This individual was referred to me by a former colleague who knew she was struggling with her job search, and it wasn’t for a lack of trying. Having returned to Toronto and with a limited local network, she faced significant challenges in finding the right opportunity.
When I first spoke with her, I was struck by her indomitable spirit and ability to persevere despite the many setbacks.
Here’s an excerpt from a recent email:
“𝘏𝘪 𝘋𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘺, 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱. 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘶𝘱 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦.
𝘛𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘐 𝘢𝘮, 𝘐 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 372 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴, 𝘩𝘢𝘥 9 𝘏𝘙 𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 1 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘨 𝘯𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘛𝘰𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰.
𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘯 18-𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘱𝘢𝘺𝘴 $95,000 𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 “𝘰𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯” 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵.
𝘐𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘶𝘦 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘱𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘸𝘵𝘩. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘶𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘰𝘣 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘴, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦.”
Not only did I open my network to her, but she eagerly jumped at workshop and networking opportunities that I shared with her.
Now that she has a job, she is focused on:
📌Identifying growth opportunities within her current role
📌Leveraging job postings as a guide to ensure her experience aligns with her long-term goals
📌Attending networking events which are proving to be invaluable in building relationships and expanding her professional circle.
It would’ve been easy for her to give up after 372 applications, but she recognized the importance of relationship-building, perseverance, and strategic planning, and it worked out for her.
If you have reached a bump in the road in your job search, now is not the time to give up. Keep working at it because there’s a job somewhere with your name on it, and it will find you!
