In most circumstances, hearing something second hand lowers the credibility of the information. Second hand news, after all, is filtered news, ergo biased. The person providing the second hand news determines what the next person hears.

Networking, however, relies heavily on hearing things second hand; you hear work search info from someone who heard that info from someone else. While it still behooves you to verify this second hand information, you will likely be doing so while making contact with the person (or organization) mentioned in the info you heard.

It’s not as confusing as it sounds.

Second hand news, in networking, is a good thing. There are two great ways to improve what you hear second hand: 1) have a large network and encourage them to feed you the info; 2) determine the quality of the information based upon your contacts’ knowledge of your field.

IN THE CARAVAN: In networking, second hand news is a good thing.

NEXT TUESDAY: Protecting Your Network

Check out last Tuesday's post on the sales cycle of networking.

Want more Networking advice? Check out these posts and The Lion's Pride section of WildJobSafari.com!

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