Linda Lupatkin, Career Counselor, Coach and Consultant

“Summertime and the livin’ is easy,” we’ve all heard those famous lyrics by George Gershwin. But the livin’s not so easy if you’re one of the millions of people looking for a job during this not so great recession.

While people are landing jobs and do find them even in the summer, there’s not quite as much activity on the hiring front as during the rest of the year. This is true whether we’re in times of economic expansion or contraction.

Does that mean you should just give up and take the summer off from your career campaign? Of course not! Because things tend to slow down during the summer months, with people going on vacations and just relaxing more in general, summer is a great time to network.

Due to the longer days (more hours of daylight) and a more laid back atmosphere, summer presents the perfect opportunity to get together with people. The easiest place to begin your networking is with people you already know and are comfortable with.

The key to networking is not asking if your contact knows of any openings, rather it’s to ask “who else should I be talking to?”  If you ask “do you know of any openings?” and your contact doesn’t the conversation is over. But if you ask “who do you know that I should be talking to?” or “what do you know about xyz industry or xyz company?” the conversation continues.

The person you’re talking to understands that you’re looking for a position and they’ll still tell you if they know of any openings, but by using this approach you now have a dialogue and an opportunity to expand your network as well as your knowledge base.

The goal of your networking meetings should be to get the names of two or three people you didn’t already know so you can reach out to them and expand your network. And of course, once you make those connections you should be sure to ask them to become a part of your professional network on LinkedIn.

By networking now, besides increasing your chances of landing a job in July or August, when the lazy days of summer wind down and the job market heats up again in the fall, you’ll be in a prime position to capitalize on the new opportunities as they become available.

Linda