Blog Archives

Networking Thursdays - Volume 35

9/28/2017

Susan Kang, born and raised in Seoul, likes to go biking and didn't realize how important staying connected was--fortunately, it wasn't too late for her. You, too, can stay connected!

I was always fortunate to have my neighbors in California, Peru, and, now, Korea find my next job for me so when I hear someone is going off the grid by choosing not to have Social Networking Services (SNS) like Facebook (FB), I can understand. Especially, since I didn't jump on the bandwagon for Twitter or Snapchat either (I've downloaded both due to peer pressure, but less than two months later both were unused and deleted). Yet, one serious thing to consider is now, thanks to Facebook Messenger, I am employed and work Monday to Friday at a university in Seoul!

People can feel busy, but thankfully one afternoon I learned from my past not to ignore messages. So, in the instant that I received a relatively short, but prompt message from Tim, I became delighted that I didn't choose to live alone like a hermit crab. It was a job offer he saw on Facebook. Due to the promptness of seeing this fresh post and my ability to apply in a timely manner, I was able to edit my resume that day and have it proofread by Tim and another friend. Then, by the next day, I sent in my application package via email. It had been three days since the job was posted.

Unlike applying to government jobs in the US, quickly closing on time-sensitive private-sector jobs in Korea always seemed common. Thus, having SNS accounts is crucial. At least, this was a grave element in my case. (I couldn't imagine email being more satisfying or instant nor waiting until word of mouth to apply since, in my eyes, it could not have been as efficient as FB Messenger.) It was because Tim saw the opportunity and then went the extra mile to share it with me (someone who doesn't use SNS often), that I immediately saw it as a blessing. This series of events felt like magic to me--unbelievable that it happened to me. Thus, I felt tremendously honored as a result.

Although, Tim is yet to be my neighbor, I can really appreciate the networking he's done for me and I can imagine a plethora of other people he's met as well! Honestly, the first time I met him at an annual Korean TESOL event, his frank attitude about employment was so alluring; I constantly felt the urge to go get to know him more! Absolutely a delight and amazing for the amount of knowledge he has!

(Tim here. I did not pay her to write this.)

In all seriousness, thanks to Tim, the 40-minute interview went great. Actually, I ran into Tim a week before this D-day with a set of questions I could ask the university before they considered me or thought of even wanting to hire me. (This was really the best move, in my opinion. The amount of good feedback was unimaginable from Tim. No lies.) Next, the reference calls were all recommendations in Korea who believed I was an excellent pick for the job. (So, that went well, as well!)

I can't emphasize enough how valuable SNS accounts really are. For instance, after a reunion dinner, I also discovered that my college buddy found an ad on Facebook which got him into the Abnormal Summit (which is also known as Non-Summit) on JTBC's Monday night variety talk show. This was a great part-time gig for him and it as funny because he told me he had never imagined himself on TV. , I, on the other hand, always knew he would be on the screen because of his charming looks and charismatic personality--yet, all he needed was that opportunity! Can you believe it? He found it all on his own while using his phone, just as Tim was graciously perusing opportunities online for others!

My message to the readers of Tim's blog is don't lose hope; widen your horizons by continuing to hunt on social networking sites and find what you never imagined possible! Keep an open mind. Who knows who will be there to help you...

Cheers!

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Networking Thursdays - Volume 34

9/21/2017

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Hi. I'm getting ready to buy a used car. Do you have a car guy you trust?

A few readers have been asking me to post some "anti-networking stories to show that now everything is rosy in the world of networking. This week's story is a good example.

The author is a PhD student in the U.S. studying engineering who asked to remain anonymous.

“A Warning”

My advisor bought a $100,000 piece of equipment a while ago for our lab and some people in the lab were supposed to get trained to use it. The company sent two people to do the training but no one CC'ed me on the email that the training was on that particular day. I had to ask around the week before to make sure I make it there. On the day, my advisor was surprised that I wanted to learn about the new machine, but he didn't stop me from sticking around, and then he suddenly started bragging about how I was using 3D printing to build new samples to use in experiments with the machine this company makes and supports. They wanted to see my parts and as I walked to my desk to take them out to show them, a labmate jumped forward and started showing the samples he makes and explaining how he makes them. It completely took away the opportunity to explain that 3D printing is not just for toys and I was able to use it for practical projects. They saw my parts in the end, but the moment was gone and the conversation went in another direction. It made me realize maybe I should have samples, resumes, anything on me or in my phone right away to show people. Always be prepared because you never know when a door will open.

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Networking Thursdays - Volume 33

9/14/2017

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This week it's me again, this time with a post about networking via social networking sites (SNSs).

I've just returned from four days of training on Geoje island in the southeast part of Korea. I was teaching presentation skills to employees of one of the largest shipbuilding companies in the world. I learned about the opportunity because someone posted they were looking for someone with my qualifications in a private Facebook group that I joined.

Don't get me wrong, a lot of things needed to go right for this to happen. First, I needed to be qualified since they were looking for someone with a lot of experience teaching presentation skills; second, I needed to be available, which was tricky since there was less than one week's notice; and third (if we're being honest), I needed to be willing to work for less than I normally make since it was ultimately through a recruiter that facilitated the training program.

Why did I do it? Most of my experience is with government organizations and this was at a company so now I have experience in corporate training. Additionally, I am now on the recruiter's radar if other (better) jobs come up. I have also now "auditioned" for the shipbuilding company if they need someone again with my skills and qualifications. Finally, while the hourly rate isn't great, it isn't a bad chunk of change for four days of work and I had already planned and conducted similar workshops in the past so there wasn't a lot of prep required.

Getting back to SNSs, I have actually gotten several excellent opportunities by joining Facebook groups which focus on job posts for specific demographics (teachers, expats, even dads). There's something about being a member of smaller online communities that helps people feel closer to complete strangers. If you are looking for extra opportunities, whether they be freelance gigs or your next big career move, don't overlook smaller SNS groups where people are offering opportunities to people similar to themselves. Somewhat surprisingly, I've only had one employer contact me via LinkedIn. This was the SNS that was meant to be for professional networking only but the people in my network seem to use more for self-promotion that for headhunting or advertising jobs that match my interests and qualifications.

If you have a story (positive or negative) about networking via SNSs, please leave a comment on this post.

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Networking Thursdays - Volume 32

9/7/2017

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Mark D. Davis, MAT, teaches AP Language & Composition, Literature, and Media Literacy at Beijing National Day School in Beijing, China. He is a former Assistant Professor of English Composition at Sejong University in Seoul, South Korea. He was also a member of Korea TESOL, where he met Tim Thompson (who was kind enough not to unfriend him even after it took Mark an unreasonable amount of time to write this article for Tim’s website).

As a boy growing up in rural America, I often heard that the only way to be a man in this world is to ask for nothing and work for everything. The men in my family were proud, and almost all of them worked with their hands, often outside. I remember one of my dad’s favorite workplace slur was the word nepotism. I listened carefully when he would speak about how the world rewards those with connections rather than those with merit, and on a few occasions, I saw the grit in my old man’s face as he struggled to maintain the mantra of “if you didn’t earn it, you don’t deserve it” while others succeeded in his stead. As a young man, I took those words to heart, and decided that I would never ask anyone for help getting a job. While I was not keen on following my relations into the laborious arts, I held their views on the righteousness of hard work over handshakes even after my liberal arts education showed me a more complex world, which included what I then saw as the nepotism-related concept of networking.

I am grateful that I learned the value of hard work from those men closest to me, and have always followed that example in my own varied employment, but it didn’t take me long to realize that this world is a lot easier when you have friends looking out for you. After my training and full-year internship as a secondary education teacher, I decided that waking up at 5:30 AM and going to a tenured high school job in suburban D.C. wasn’t for me. I headed out West, in that grand American tradition to seek… well, I wasn’t quite sure what I was seeking. Which is, I think now, the impetus driving anyone out West. The big problem was that I was leaving my hard-earned professional qualifications behind, and had little idea of how to find solid employment outside of education.

For about ten years (including another stint in grad school), I worked a panoply of jobs, ranging from graveyard shift at a junky-frequented motel to a receptionist at a real estate company. I sold diamonds over the internet and built handmade bookcases. Moonlighted as a bouncer at nightclubs and painted houses, despite my pants-wetting fear of ladders. Most of those jobs I obtained through personal connections, even the lousy ones. By using my friends, I knew I had become what my dad and uncles didn’t respect. But, deep down, I suspected that they always knew what I figured out within a few months in the working world: nepotism was how people got jobs.

I bounced along using connections I made, most often at the local pub, until I placed by a temp agency in a mid-sized engineering firm. I had originally gotten the temp agency work through an ex-girlfriend after a string of the lousiest of my lousy jobs, so nepotism had come to the rescue once again. I worked as a project coordinator doing administrative work for a team of mechanical and electrical engineers. It was reasonably enjoyable work that demanded a high amount of planning and communication, both of which are things I enjoy. I worked there for about a year, with a fair amount of professional success, and was then placed on a major public works project for a state government and several major engineering consultants.

The new job was exciting and challenging, and it was the first time that I found myself enjoying work as much as I had enjoyed teaching during my first (and at that time, only) year in education. It was also then that I realized nepotism was an easy way to get your foot in the door for a low to mid-level job, but would never be enough to get me into something real. Into an adult job. A job that would pay the bills instead of just the bar tab. A career.

So, on the advice of a few co-workers, I joined a professional organization which provided mentorship for young people, mostly female, in engineering. Initially I was skeptical, as my father’s mentality had already caused me enough guilt about the years I’d spent glad-handing my way to jobs in direct rejection of his moral stridency. But then I met Katie.

Katie was assigned to be my mentor, and was a successful engineer who’d worked in her field for twenty-plus years. She gave me some good advice on the first day we met, which I still think about today. Over the course of a few lunches, I told her most of the rambling story I’ve written here. When I told her about my dad’s notions and my own issues with using people to get what I needed, work-wise, she clarified something for me, something that changed my entire outlook. I’m paraphrasing, but basically she said, “Networking isn’t using people. It’s connecting with people who enjoy doing the same work as you. It’s a way to share your professional life with people who you might never have known in a personal way. Successful networkers don’t use anyone, or expect anything. They help other professionals to create relationships based on respect, and through that, they build a shared profession that’s better for everyone.”

Katie’s explanation was something I needed to hear, a different point of view on a subject I’d always thought I knew, and she inspired me to start building professional relationships with people. She mentored me for about six months, and helped me to create several different opportunities in my fledging network of project managers. She gave me advice on the give and take required to maintain a professional network, and how to be respectful of the opportunities that people provide for you with no expectation of anything in return. Although my career in engineering didn’t pan out for several reasons, her mentorship allowed me to move into a new phase in my life, which (long story short) eventually led to me moving to Asia and returning to the only job I’ve ever genuinely enjoyed, that of teaching.

I continued to apply her lessons to this day, and consistently seek out more advice from others I met in what I can now proudly call my own professional field. While I’m still not the best at maintaining my network (mostly due to laziness, if I’m being honest), I must say that some of the people I’ve met through networking are some of the most interesting and capable people in my life. Being able to see networking as so much more than just using connections to get a job has allowed me to grow and succeed as a professional educator, and to begin helping others who are looking to do the same. After all this time and experience, I think that even my dad would have to agree that successful networking is about respect and enjoyment of one’s work, and can be a wonderful way to enrich a professional career.

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Networking Thursdays - Volume 35

Networking Thursdays - Volume 34

Networking Thursdays - Volume 33

Networking Thursdays - Volume 32

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