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We met, talked about our similar vision for job hunters, and started working together, first on our e-book Guerrilla Resumes and then speaking presentations, and now on the rollout of our Boot Camp. One of the reasons the relationship has worked out so well, despite his obvious talent, is that Kevin delivers on his promises—always. Nothing is more important in business than doing what you promise. When you’re making a new acquaintance networking, it’s 10 times more important because the other person will scrutinize the relationship looking for inconsistencies and a reason to break it off. The secret is to pay it forward.

Personal networking aside, the monetary value of these relationships can easily run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

A WAR STORY

Stephen Forsyth

Linkedin.com is one of the most useful networking sites for job seekers. In fact, it was the vehicle that gained me my position at CML Emergency Services. After submitting my CV to David Perry, I decided to research the company. I decided to utilize the “search by company” function on the “people” tab on Linkedin.com. In the results, I recognized Allan Zander’s name, since we had attended engineering at University of Western Ontario together. Ironically enough, he was the hiring manager at CML and had also worked in the same group with me at Nortel. I sent a connection request to him through LinkedIn and a few days later I was being interviewed by him and subsequently hired. It was quite apparent that without LinkedIn, I would not have made the connection with Allan and may not have been selected for an interview. Since then, I have used LinkedIn to power my business network.

Stephen Forsyth’s connection request to Allan Zander through Linkedin.com:

Allan,

I recognize your name and it appears that we have crossed paths in Nortel and at Western Engineering, so I’m sure that we must have some common contacts and interests.

I am currently searching for opportunities in product management in the Ottawa area and came across your name through LinkedIn.

I am a senior manager with expertise in product management, strategic planning, relationship management, product development and change management within the telecommunications industry. I also recently completed the executive MBA program at the University of Ottawa, and I have eight years experience at Nortel, including a 2-year expat. assignment in Germany.

I noticed that you are looking for some PLMs at CML Emergency Services and I would appreciate it if we could connect to discuss opportunities.

Please contact me at your convenience.

Regards,

Steve

Stephen Forsyth, Director Product and Strategic Management Link: www.linkedin.com/in/stephenforsyth/.

■ WHERE ELSE TO NETWORK ONLINE

Chat rooms, networking web sites, and other community forums exist all over the Internet. Many industries have specific sites they use for sharing knowledge and discussing trends. Yahoo! has the largest assortment at groups.yahoo.com. Some other accessible ones include:

• Vault.com (www.vault.com)

• Lycos Communities (www.lycos.com)

• America Online (www.aol.com)

There are hundreds of networking sites on the Internet. The easiest way to find one that may be useful for you is to enter this phrase into Google: “List of social networking web sites.” It will bring you links to web sites that have indexed all the major social networking sites.

The biggest challenge with social networks is that you’re still relying on the kindness of others to send your request for a referral forward to the intended recipient. Of course, nothing stops you from finding the name of someone you want to talk to and contacting the person directly. If you do this, bear in mind that there’s no guarantee the person will be receptive to hearing from you. They may report the violation of the terms of agreement for using the site and that may cause your account to be suspended. I suggest you obey the rules posted on each site. It