There's No Avoiding It: You Need to Network

Recruiters tell me that people get between 70 and 90 percent of all jobs through networking—someone knows someone, who knows someone, who knows someone.  It can happen over the back fence, where you get your hair cut, your house of worship or from a friend of your mother’s.  This means that most jobs don’t come from recruiters or job banks on the Internet, even though you need to watch all of those sources, too.  The hard part for most of the physicians I talk to? You have to talk more. 

When I say this on the phone there is often silence on the other end of the phone.  Then they say, “I don’t know anyone.  I’ve been busy practicing medicine.”  They are thinking—I don’t want to talk to more people.  I don’t know what to say.  I know what they are thinking because I feel the same way.  But step one of a job search is to change that behavior. 

The biggest problem for most doctors is getting started. So try these words and see if they will fit in your mouth.  Use them at cocktail parties, breakfast, lunch, breaks, on airplanes, even when you’re waiting in line:

“Hello, how are you?  Where are you from?  What do you do?  I am a pediatrician in Charlotte, NC.  I’ve become interested in the management of our multi-speciality clinic.  Believe it or not, I like being on the finance committee, but I need to know more so I am taking Financial Decision Making at this meeting.  It is challenging but interesting.  What are you taking? 

Keep talking till you make a connection.   You were born in the same city, went to the same college, know someone that went to their college, know someone who was born in their city.  Maybe you went to school with his wife’s sister, know someone from their country or your husband visited their country when he was in medical school.  Then you can get another chicken wing and move onto the next person. 

Networking is hard for me.  I’m an Introvert, which doesn’t mean I can’t walk, talk and tie my shoes but it does mean words do not come easily to me in large noisy crowds.  I have to go into a cocktail party with a plan and a script. 

First, I’ll set a goal. For example, I’ll plan to meet five new people.  Then I rehearse my script: “Hello, I’m Barbara Linney, ACPE’s career counselor. “  If they don’t know ACPE, then I switch to, “I work for an organization in Tampa that provides management education for physicians who are moving into administrative or leadership positions.”  If they glaze over, I move on.  If they perk up, I say, “Physicians can get a masters degree through us and one of our four affiliated universities.”  If I get to the list of universities, the listeners are typically impressed and will ask me more questions. 

Networking is not just asking someone for a job.  It is building and maintaining relationships and friendships. It’s not just to benefit you. You’re also helping people find information, letting them know what you are doing and being interested in what they are doing.  With a little practice, it becomes easier. Even for an introvert like me.