Recently I had lunch with a friend to celebrate her new job. When I asked her how she found this particular opportunity, she said, “Oh my gosh, Laura, you will absolutely love this story because it’s all about how you just never know who is watching you”. Of course, I was excited and intrigued to hear all about it.
She began telling me that last fall her little boy had one or two birthday parties every weekend. Naturally, she would see some of the same parents at these parties.
At one of the parties she was telling another parent about what she did for a living, and then one of the other mothers jumped into the conversation and said, “Oh my gosh, we are looking for someone with your skill set, and you would be perfect for a position we have open. I’ve noticed you at these parties, and I have been watching you. You have excellent parenting skills, and I like the way you conduct yourself. You are exactly the type of person we need to fill this position”.
My friend began to ask questions about the position, the company, the culture, etc., and decided she would apply for it. She interviewed with the senior executives and the woman (mom) who had told her about the opportunity, and she learned that she “knocked it out of the park”. What she also later found out was that the company was just about to make an offer to someone who had applied for the job, but who didn’t really have any “connection” to the organization. The person to whom the company was going to make the job offer looked good on paper and interviewed well, but no one at the company really knew of that individual or their character.
This is a great example about the importance of how you behave and conduct yourself because you never know who is watching you and/or what opportunity will come your way. Real “social networking” at its finest!