Finding a job can be the most difficult task when you lose it or when you are about to start your career journey. There is definitely no shortcut to success. Some people might call “success” as being at the right time and at the right place, on the other hand, you are always the main character that will make the magic happen for your career. If you are stuck in your career journey and don’t know how to network, find a mentor!

Volunteer or Attend Networking Events

The easy way to find a mentor and expand your network is to volunteer at a related field and events. Some options include:

• Joining the local Chamber of Commerce’s Events
• Finding related events in your zip code using social media

The more you volunteer and register, the more people you will meet. When you are searching for these two event websites, make sure that you are including your job field keywords in the search bar and narrow the location that is more convenient for you.

After you attend the events, if you really like the group and the organizer, offer to volunteer as a member. When you start organizing the events, you will have more chances to know people and expose to more job opportunities for your career growth.

Leverage New Opportunities

If you have an introverted personality, going to events by yourself and joining the event organization might sound a little off. If this is the case, I have another solution for you and it is free to use. At the LinkedIn platform, there is a section called “career advice”. Finding a mentor there is super easy and it is just one click. You can access this feature from your profile as shown in the picture below:

Lead a Group

Let’s say you couldn’t find a good meetup group to join or an interesting event to volunteer. Why not organize one and lead it yourself? Here is a real-life example.

I recently met an amazing business professional at an event that was organized by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce. She mentioned that she is actively looking for a job but still couldn’t find one. While she is in search, she found out that she is learning a lot from the events that they join and the people she networks with. She decided to help other people in San Francisco and opened a meetup group for job seekers.

She organizes lots of events every month and helps many people in the city. There are more than 800 active people on her channel and through these events, she is building her network because she provides great value to the community. If you want to check it out, here is her Meetup group link.

The most important part of the job and mentor search is definitely the morale.

Whether you have a support system internally or not, you need to make sure that your inner voice is not negative. You shouldn’t put pressure on yourself since this is not a short process. Once you define your objectives, everything will move better and smoother.

Written by: Giselle Sevgi

One of the best ways to expand your network and meet people near you is to join a community! IAW is a global network of professional women from all backgrounds who are waiting to meet fabulous women like you. Our mentor/mentee program connects women to help them grow at any point in their professional development. Become a member today to join!