The Importance of IRL (In Real Life)

I spent some time recently reading an article by Donald Asher called Why College Grads Still Can’t Get a Job. The thesis of his article is that most New Grads looking for Entry Level Jobs fail in their initial job search because they are unwilling to do anything but search online.

I think he makes an excellent point. Anyone who reads Gradversity on a regular basis is aware of how important it is to get out and network with people in person, or IRL (In Real Life) as Donald suggests. While LinkedIn and other such sites are excellent tools for maintaining a network, they do not replace the need for Old Fashioned Networking. This is why the concept of IRL is so important.

In Donald’s article, he cites a report by CareerXroads which explains how employers find external candidates to fill open positions (regardless of whether they are publicly posted or not). Here are the results:

27% – Employee Referrals
20% – Corporate Web Site
12% – Job Boards
8% – Direct Sourcing
4% – College Recruiting
3% – Print Advertising
3% – Search Engine Marketing
3% – Career Fairs / Open Houses
3% – Temp-to-Perm
3% – Employment Agencies
2% – Rehires
1% – Walk Ins
10% – All Others

Source: CareerXroads.com

While Mr. Asher’s article makes an interesting point about the importance of gaining an employee referral, I also know that it can be extremely difficult for a New Grad to gain one from someone they haven’t met.

Instead, I think that is is vital to point out that, even though 27% of hiring decisions are made based on employee referrals, that leaves a full 73% for all other methods. As you can see, the next three largest avenues that a company will persue are their Corporate Web Site, Independent Job Boards, and Direct Sourcing. These three methods make up a full 40% of all hiring decisions!

So what does this mean for you? While I agree with Donald that it is extremely important to focus on the “In Real Life” aspects of the networking and job search process, I don’t believe that focusing exclusively on employee referrals is the best way to go either.

My biggest problem with this is that if you begin networking solely for the purposes of obtaining a referral, you are going to come across as the type of person who is a one-sided networker. You will brand yourself as a leech who only uses people to achieve their own personal goals.

Instead, I would like to see you continue to expand your network using his IRL philosophy. Get out and meet people and develop relationships. And while you are doing this, ensure that the relationships are mutually beneficial. Only then can you use these relationships to get a foot in the door. No one wants to be used.

Don’t get me wrong, employee referrals are great, but you have to make sure that your networking goals are broad enough to help you achieve success quickly.