Hot and Cold Networking Doesn’t Work.

The new Jobs Report came out yesterday and the report wasn’t too cheerful. Very tepid job growth. That’s life in the New Normal. We live in a world with an unemployment rate of 8.2% in the U.S. My friend Lynn Marie Hammond reminded me that the Euro Zone’s stagnant economy has left 17.4 million people out of an active population of around 156 million people without a job.

I read in this month’s issue of OC Metro that even the well educated and diverse Orange County, the land of desperate and over indulged housewives only added 12,600 jobs in the last year. Not much growth for a county of three million people.

The same issue had another survey among OC Executives. The percentage of respondents who expect business activity to improve or stay the same today was 84%, an increase from 78% last year. You see today in the New Normal progress is when things stay the same. We have all seen the job market free fall and we have learned that staying the same is an acceptable platform. It is survival.

In this world, many people still believe that the Old Normal will return and they network that way.

I call it hot and cold networking. When they are looking for a job it is all about the networking. “Let’s catch up at Starbucks.”  “Let’s get together to see how I can help you.” “Would love to catch up.” When they land they revert to their old habits. You never see them or hear from them.

You reach out to them after they have been with their employer for a few months to check in. They are too busy for Starbucks or lunch. They have no time. They have a job and don’t need your network anymore.

These are the hot and cold networkers of today.

Then in today’s world of the New Normal they are on the street again. They are not ready to be fired. They reach out again and want to network. They try to atone for their past behavior. They promise change.

After years of seeing this from many I have lost layers of compassion.

I’m sure we have all met hot and cold networkers.

What they don’t understand is that today you have to be networking all the time. Just like sharks you have to be constantly out there expanding your resources and learning about opportunities. Opportunities and jobs are being created but they are often spread through word of mouth because nobody wants to deal with a deluge of submissions from unqualified people.

Truth be told, hot and cold networkers don’t come to mind first when I hear about jobs.

What is your networking temperature?

Watch: How to Rise Above the Crowd

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bkO7efleWX4]

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