Network to Your Next Business Relationship

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Networking should be part of every professional’s strategy in a job search. It is an invaluable tool to create connections with people to share advice, company knowledge and leads to new customers, clients and jobs not yet made public, to introduce contacts at companies someone may be interested in or to share the difficulties one encounters in business.

Many professional associations meet in the area, especially in Boston. There are too many industries and meetings to mention here, but they may be found at various websites like:

www.meetup.com

Meetup.com is a compendium of all types of groups, from specific professional groups to social activities and fitness groups. Simply type in your zip code and other search criteria and join a meetup group of your choice. Some may require permission to join or have a cost.

www.eventbrite.com

Eventbrite is a website event management service. It allows people to create and find events in a global marketplace. All types of meetings and venues are run by Eventbrite—conferences, meetings and specific company events. It also allows you to purchase tickets to events.
In addition to professional associations you might belong to in your vocation, there are many job-seeker networking meetings in the Greater Boston area to aid the job search. Many invite speakers to inform job seekers of relevant information or little known options in volunteering, franchising or consulting, in addition to giving advice on navigating the job search.

Here are some of the groups:

Wind Networking has three locations that hold job search networking meetings throughout the month at a $10 initial cost, plus $10 per attendance fee. Additional information can be found at windnetworking.net.

The Job Search Networking Group meets every Tuesday at 4 p.m. at The CareerPlace in Woburn. Lifetime membership fee of $15 is due at initial signup. For more information, visit thecareerplace.org/network/htm.

For those who are up in the north, ValleyWorks Career Center in Lawrence holds Networking for Professionals free of charge to job seekers and is held on Mondays at 1 p.m. Additional information can be found at valleyworks.cc/events.htm.

A monthly evening networking meeting is held in Andover on the third Tuesday of every month beginning at 6:30 p.m. at Temple Emanuel of Andover and is free of charge. More information can be found at the calendar on templeemanuel.net.

Public libraries in the area also have job seeker networking meetings. Of note are Westford on Wednesdays, Wilmington on Mondays, and Tewksbury, also on Mondays. See the respective libraries’ sites for times and topics.

Acton Networking is a popular group and is most notable for attracting supervisory and management level and even executive level job searchers. It meets every Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Matthew’s Church in Acton. Another branch meets every other Friday in Hopkinton. Additional information can be found at actonnetworkers.com/index.html.

As you can see, there are many opportunities to connect with fellow job seekers and gain valuable information and advocates to aid in your job search. Sign up or stop by one of the following to engage others in your search and reap the rewards of shared interests, insights and camaraderie.

Edie Fossey, a marketing graphics traffic manager, can be reached by email.