When you’re searching for a job, it’s easy to feel isolated, all alone and without anyone to lean on or help you find your way. If your job search stretches on for months, you might start to feel cast adrift, like you’ll never find your way to the horizon.

Fear not! There are plenty of opportunities to help boost your job search while feeling less alone: expand your network and your potential at the same time.

Networking is a great way for you to not only meet new people in new industries, which can be helpful if you’re not sure what kind of work you want to do; it’s also a great way to help you make connections that could lead you to a great new job.

Here are a few ways to help build your professional connections and maybe find a great new job in the process.

Career fairs

Science fairs in school were a fun way to test hypotheses and explore new experiments; career fairs are a great way to meet representatives from companies that are hiring right now! For example, did you know there’s a career fair happening on Wednesday, October 18, at the Neal Blaisdell Center Exhibition Hall in Honolulu? There will be thousands of jobs represented by some of Hawaii’s leading companies, across a variety of industries, and best of all, the event is free to serious job seekers. Why not spend the afternoon handing out your resume, getting facetime with decision-makers and learning more about your options?

Find networking events in Hawaii

Outside of career fairs, there are plenty of networking opportunities based on industry, line of work, even at the community level. Or, if you’re a little more far-flung from a bigger city or town, check online. There are plenty of ways to meet new people and plenty of things are still happening online, from discussions to video conferences. There’s bound to be a meet-up group of some kind for whatever you’re interested in, from hobbies to new jobs.

Be ready to tell your story quickly

As you prepare to get to know more people and expand your network, you’ll want to be able to answer the “what do you do” question quickly. If you’re going to a career fair, you’ll need to distill your life story down to about a minute or so: this is considered your personal “elevator speech,” or a condensed story of yourself you could tell someone in an elevator between floors if you only have a short period of time. A good format to practice is to introduce yourself, including your most recent job title, and then mention three strengths you have or characteristics of your work or achievements that would be appealing to employers. “Hi, I’m Terry Jones, a customer service representative with Acme Inc. I have 15 years of experience in this industry, specializing in designing new methods of problem solving to streamline the customer journey, improving customer retention and reworking product descriptions to help eliminate returns while building customer satisfaction.” This, along with a handshake and a pleasant demeanor, could be enough to make the person you meet want to know more! It’s a great set-up for them to ask follow-up questions.

Don’t forget your online tools

Networking sites like LinkedIn and others are designed to help you meet new people, share your career experiences, build a professional network of connections for sharing ideas and job leads. It can also help you seek out mentors, people who can tell you more about their jobs, the skills they needed to secure them and how you can find similar opportunities for yourself. It’s also a great way to learn about remote job possibilities as there are no restrictions online! You can also join groups that pertain to your interests on social media to get more information and even find job postings.

We learned during the pandemic to build community online, but that didn’t fully meet the very human need to connect face to face. When you’re looking for a job, those connections are so important, both to help open doors for you and help you find like-minded people who can help cheer you on and provide support as you look for a new opportunity.

Work with our recruiters

There’s one other tool you can add to your toolbox when job searching: Work with a recruiter! Bishop & Company has decades of experience helping talented candidates find great jobs that will not only appreciate and utilize their skills but advance their careers and help add to their knowledge — and we want to help! Take a look at the positions we’re working to fill right now and then give us a call.