The farther you venture out into the real world the more true this can seem and the more frustrating it can be. While it is possible to get the job and career you want without any "ins" whatsoever (I'm sure there is someone out there who has done it) knowing people in the field you are interested in can make things much easier.
While I am still at the beginning of my freelance writing career, the few jobs I have, I gained through people I know. Both were because I made a point to make it a well known fact that I write and was trying to find work doing so. One was through a contact I made while working at a coffee shop; a regular customer who I chatted with and got to know and who I later became friends with on Facebook. She saw I was looking for writing jobs and wah-la, I had a job.
The other was at yet another, non-writing job. It turns out one of the guys I often chatted with, complained about the copier with, had a wife with a marketing company. I mentioned to him I was hoping to get work writing (before I even knew what his wife did), he mentioned it to her and presto, my second job.
I don't mean to make it sound easy. I was looking for jobs all over the internet, writing measly little articles for a couple of dollars (which I will talk about in another post) and working random jobs in between meeting both of these people. I knew the woman from the coffee shop for a few years before I began working for her.
The point is;
If you don't know the right people right now, it's ok.
Go meet them. Talk to people. Make conversation. Mention what you do.
Yes, It may be about who know, you just may not know them yet.
Social media has definitely expanded the 'who you know'; don't be afraid to use it.
ReplyDeleteGreat article!