Should Sarah have networked outside her field? Why or why not?3. Was it important for Sarah to maintain her contacts once she began her new job? Why or why not?

Sarah wanted to learn more about different jobs in the crimlnaljustice field. ln her careerdevelopment class, she learned about many different career paths. Her instructor told herthat many of the jobs in criminaljustice were not as easy to find as those in some otherfields.

There were jobs with the federal government that she applied for online, but Sarah knew that securing a job with the government involved a long process and felt that shewas at a disadvantage because she did not know how she could personally contact anyof the hiring managers directly.

Sarah’s instructor recommended that she put together anetworking plan to get the word out that she was looking for a job in her field. Sarah remembered industry guest speakers she had met at the Criminal Justice Career Fair ather school and the recruiters she had metfrom some government agencies. She also made some contacts at a career fair sponsored by the local chamber of commerce. Whenshe was at her friend’s house one day, she was talking about her job search. Her friend’sfather thought he could help and joined the conversation.

He had been a police officer intheir town for 10 years. Sarah talked obout a job in loss prevention at a local departmentstore that she had applied for online. She had not received any response. Her friend’s fathersaid he knew the manager of security at the company’s home office that was located in anearby state and offered to call the manager. This was a contact that Sarah needed butwould probably never be able to make on her own. Because Sarah had already taken theinitiative to apply for the job online, the manager knew she was seriously interested.

Sarah was interviewed and was offered the job. ln the meantime, Sarah maintainedher online profile and kept in touch with three of the contacts she had made at the careerfairs. One of them asked if he could pass her information on to two colleagues he knewfrom a professional association he belonged to. A few weeks later, Sarah received a callfor an interview for a position with a private security company.

She did not get the job anddecided to accept the loss prevention position at the department store. Sarah kept intouch with her other contacts and periodically learned of open positions she might beinterested in. Sarah was grateful that her instructor had been honest with her about howdifficult the Job market could be and for encouraging her to develop and maintain a careernetwork.

Discussion Questions

1. What things did Sarah do to build her career network?

2. Should Sarah have networked outside her field? Why or why not?3. Was it important for Sarah to maintain her contacts once she began her new job? Why or why not?

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