Building a Nashville network
Posted by Christina | | Posted On Friday, February 19, 2010 at 12:41 PM
Despite my profession, I’ve never been one to get into networking too much. Sure I do all the good PR things like having a profile on Facebook, LinkedIn and BrazenCareerist, getting to know my co-workers, and staying in touch with college friends, past colleagues and professors. But I’ve never really pursued professional relationships with much gusto. With our impending relocation on the horizon, however, I’ve really been kicking up my socializing a notch with amazing results.
Classmates I meet in my master’s program know PR professionals in Nashville, so on to LinkedIn I go to find them…instant connections! My membership in Public Relations Society of America offers access to the Nashville PRSA branch…even more connections! Even my half-hearted networking strategies for the past few years are bearing fruit. The COO of a local PR agency that I interviewed with more than a year ago recently contacted me about an opportunity in Seattle. Although I had to decline the opportunity, I shared our plans and she is making an introduction on my behalf to a PR agency VP that she knows in Nashville …cha ching!
The further I get in my life and my career, the more I understand the value of networking. Two of my last five jobs were a result of a connection. I also serve as a valuable connection for my contacts, and have helped several friends gain important information for their own jobs, get interviews and even land great opportunities at my company, a former company, or a friend’s company.
Even outside of the workforce, having a network of people to lean on, share life with, and just have a good time with is so crucial – and one of the most agonizing parts of leaving my life here behind. I am not looking forward to reverting back to my college days of insecurity, desperately seeking friends in an effort to stave off loneliness. But my prayer is that God will bless this work I’m putting in ahead of time – hopefully a job, but even more important, familiar, friendly faces to welcome me to my new hometown.
Classmates I meet in my master’s program know PR professionals in Nashville, so on to LinkedIn I go to find them…instant connections! My membership in Public Relations Society of America offers access to the Nashville PRSA branch…even more connections! Even my half-hearted networking strategies for the past few years are bearing fruit. The COO of a local PR agency that I interviewed with more than a year ago recently contacted me about an opportunity in Seattle. Although I had to decline the opportunity, I shared our plans and she is making an introduction on my behalf to a PR agency VP that she knows in Nashville …cha ching!
The further I get in my life and my career, the more I understand the value of networking. Two of my last five jobs were a result of a connection. I also serve as a valuable connection for my contacts, and have helped several friends gain important information for their own jobs, get interviews and even land great opportunities at my company, a former company, or a friend’s company.
Even outside of the workforce, having a network of people to lean on, share life with, and just have a good time with is so crucial – and one of the most agonizing parts of leaving my life here behind. I am not looking forward to reverting back to my college days of insecurity, desperately seeking friends in an effort to stave off loneliness. But my prayer is that God will bless this work I’m putting in ahead of time – hopefully a job, but even more important, familiar, friendly faces to welcome me to my new hometown.
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