Submitted by FOCM Member Diana Sifford

Here’s a good story on the “power” of our network. This guy called me out of the blue, said that a mutual friend recommended me. He was targeting a Marketing Director position at the company where I worked and had already talked to 5 people who worked there, but nobody could really help. I was kind of at a low point in my own career, so decided that I should meet with him (thinking that helping somebody else could only make me feel better). I met with him at Starbucks and thought he could do the job. So, I told him that he was in luck as my office was only 5 doors down from the hiring VP (who also happened to be a former colleague & friend). Since the company has 40,000 employees nationwide and 7 different divisions just in my location, you can imagine what a big deal it was for him to find somebody who could really help get him connected to the right people. Long story short, I forwarded his resume and he got an interview with the VP. Came down to the wire and unfortunately he didn’t get it. But he was in the Top 2 and without my introduction, he wouldn’t have even got an interview. On the flip side, I was in the final interview stage for a new position, and he sent me examples of 30/60/90 day plans to help, since I had been asked to prepare one in advance of the meeting. His examples were a great help, and even though I didn’t get the job I thought the plan presented well. Plus I’ve made a great network friend!