Adventures in Networking

This week has been a really stretching and rewarding one. I am learning so much more about God's goodness to provide different things that we need and even some things we want at just the right time. He is in control, and I just keep trying to keep it out of my hands and in His each morning. I have not gotten any phone calls or interviews for jobs yet, but I wasn't expecting to this week. I am trying a new approach. Instead of spending my time looking at every listing in every nook and cranny online, I am devoting more time to networking. Networking will hopefully lead me to some unadvertised, less competitive jobs, and it also blesses me by connecting me to some really great people around town.

I kicked off my networking strategy on Monday by cold calling my first two contacts I'd been given by a person in the career networking ministry I am attending on Monday nights. Both people were willing to look at my resume and brainstorm if they knew of any job openings in the residential construction field. One called me back a couple hours after I called him and he provided me with a list of builders in the area that appeared to be fairly busy. He didn't know if any would be hiring right now, but he suggested I start with that list since they were producing even in a low economy. The other person was very sweet and said she looked forward to meeting me one day. I've emailed her to see if I can stop by her office to introduce myself next week.

Tuesday and Wednesday I was not very motivated to work on job searching. I had a lot of errands to run, so I took a little break from the networking. I could tell that I was more discouraged those days, because I wasn't generating new opportunities. I did work on a resume for an Assistant Director of Admissions position at Millersville University. I have a week to try and find someone who knows someone in the admissions office before my application is due. So far I am coming up short on that front. But I still have a week!

Friday was awesome. I attended a breakfast for Missions Fest Lancaster where I got to hear a kickoff talk about the Missions Fest weekend and a Filipino's testimony to coming to Christ as a child in a tribal group that believed in ancestral spirits. He now serves with Wycliffe as a pilot who delivers New Testaments to various people groups in their heart language. COOL!! His story was very moving. I sat at a table filled with strangers and ended up talking with two very nice gentlemen to my left. One is a retired physician who has a heart for and experience with medical missions. The other is a financial advisor with a company called Ambassador Advisors, a company that "promotes biblical stewardship through appropriate financial planning, estate strategies, and money management services for the benefit of religious non-profits, charities, individual donors, and investors." (They say it better on their website than I could say it.) I do not think it was a coincidence that I sat down at his table. I had been looking at that company's website earlier in the week, because they have a job opening for a financial advisor, and I am considering a possible career change to that. I emailed him when I got home from the breakfast to see if he could meet with me for a few minutes next week to share with me what it takes to get into that industry and what a company like theirs looks for in a financial advisor to bring on board. He said he'd be happy to meet with me!! So I am meeting with him next week.

A few others meetings have gotten set up as well, and I have my third career networking meeting on Monday. This one is about fine tuning your resume and cover letters, and I know mine could definitely use some revising. So things are looking up. I am meeting really awesome people and finding out that this is a great community.