Networking: The Most Effective Way to Find a Job

Matt Berndt has an interesting post on his blog entitled - Networking: The Most Effective Way to Find a Job. In his post he cites the following statistic:

According to a survey of 2002-2004 graduates of the UT College of Communication done five years after graduation:

• More than 70% found their first job out of college via their networking activities
• More than 78% found their current job (five years after college) via their networking activities

He goes on to write:

Again, this doesn’t mean they ignored online job boards, they just didn’t depend upon them as their primary means of finding employment.

I agree 110%!!
I always tell candidates that networking....whether by using their own network contacts or by using a Recruiter's network of contacts is by far the most effective way to get a new job. And if you have exhausted your networking options....and are still unable to gain access to a specific company....then by all means use the job boards. But Job Boards should only be a last resort....not your first option.