I was at the OC IMA Board meeting the other night and one of the other members told me a good networking story. He said that he bumped into a fellow at a Continuing Professional Education seminar in another city. They didn't know each other, bu it turns out that the two had a home town in common so they started to talk. When my friend asked his new friend about his job, the guy replied by saying, "business is good, my role is secure, but I'm a little bored in the job." My friend probed and found out that the guy had been in the position for 5+ years with a promotion. The fellow told him that he likes the industry, but would like to get experienced in more outward-facing activities, e.g., investors, bankers, clients, regulators, etc.

They exchanged business cards, conversation ended with that for the most part, but here's where it gets interesting.

My friend is very successful with a strong professional reputation and an even stronger professional network. Because if this, he hears about numerous job opportunities. Since he is very happy in his role he isn't interested in those opportunities so he refers them to others. After that seminar he starting referring job opportunities to this fellow that he barely knows. He's now in second-round interviews for a great job. That struck me, aren't we all trying to make this happen? I once wrote a Networking Note entitled: Tap, Tap! about getting "tapped" for great jobs.

I thought for a while about why this happened, talked to my friend and came up with the following conclusions:

1. The fellow was there. For sure, if my friend hadn't met him he would not have been able to refer him.
2. Both people were capable communicators, comfortable with small talk and able to find common ground quickly. Somebody in that duo was asking questions.
3. The fellow did not ask for a job. Instead, he quickly painted a picture of success, with an eye toward opportunity in the future. He was not needy, nor did he get negative with his current situation.
4. Finally, my friend wanted to help. There is a deep seated desire to help others and he doesn't have a long list of people to refer.

This is a basic anecdote, but I think it is very powerful. The fellow in the story was a Controller with the goal of transition to CFO who was active and capable to communicate a goal, get help and not put people off, even people he was meeting for the first time. I doubt this fellow is boring.