Click here for Social network to find new friends We may want to be better at networking to improve our career prospects or we may want to expand our social circle. It's also helpful when moving to a new city or after a breakup. This guide lays out the steps of the networking process and offers encouragement when making new professional contacts or finding new adult friendships. The Complete Guide to Networking and Finding New Friends. In 2013 my husband and I decided to blow up our lives. We were living in Cincinnati, Ohio at the time. Slowly, painfully emerging from the depths of the 2008 recession. We both were working in jobs we hated and living in a city that wasn’t our scene. So instead of making some small incremental changes, we decided to go radical. We both decided to quit our well-paying jobs and pursue what we really wanted. I left for an 8-month solo trip to South America to fulfill a lifelong dream of international travel. And Marco decided to attend school to change careers from graphic design to software development. Being the progressive couple that we were, we had no plans to end our marriage despite our respective ambitions. Following a nice rendezvous in Buenos Aires and after his schooling, we decided to keep the theme of new beginnings going. As we had nothing tying us down and the freedom to live anywhere, we decided to go where we wanted to go, not where we had to go. We headed west to Portland, Oregon. The weeks following our arrival were exciting. Everything was fresh and new and we enjoyed exploring our new city. But soon enough the reality of our new reality started to sink in. Yes, we loved our new town but we were both unemployed and we had no friends (there at least). What we did have, however, were some loose associations like friends of former colleagues. They weren’t tight connections but they served as reliable threads to start pulling on to start expanding our network. Marco pursued some leads and eventually found a job in his new field. I, on the other hand, was dead in the water. Besides relocating to a new town, I had decided when I left my last job that I also wanted to leave my industry too. What was I thinking?! The Portland metro area was experiencing expansive growth in the tech sector. So I figured I had a shot at tapping into those employment opportunities. I reasoned that I had transferable skills and years of business experience which would be attractive to prospective employers. So I went about finding a new job by building a new network from scratch. But in this process, I knew the benefits could be two-fold. One, finding a new job. And two, hopefully finding some new friends. Like what you’re reading? Don’t miss the next post. Subscribe today! I Made a Plan. Because my principal goal was to find a job, I first needed to figure out what it was I wanted to do. I did some serious soul searching for what I wanted in my next job (next career?). I read books like What Color is Your Parachute and The Pathfinder to precisely detail my best skill sets and marry them up with my best capabilities. From that work, I was able to create a short list of jobs that would match my criteria and could benefit from my experience. I Became a LinkedIn Ninja. With my plan in hand, I logged on to LinkedIn and never logged off. I scoured profiles and set up queries to find professionals that I could approach for introductions. I would peruse their experience and try to find any angle to warrant a natural introduction. I would then send them a very personalized LinkedIn message with an introduction and a reason for reaching out. Much to my surprise, I got pretty good responses. In my exchange, I would ask if they would be free to get a coffee (I was buying). I explained to them that I would like to learn more about their work and perhaps get some advice. The response was positive. I think people like giving advice especially if someone’s humble. 40 Cups of Coffee. One coffee date led to another and to another. I lost count after 40. From these discussions, I did two things. One, I learned about my new town from real people with real stories. And two, I created a reputation for myself as being a resourceful and friendly person. In every discussion, I asked about their personal lives in addition to their professional experience. I wanted to get to know them on a personal level because, well, I’m just curious. But I also wanted to see if we had any mutual experiences or interests. Best social network to meet new friends Social network to meet new friends Social networking sites to meet new friends Social network to find new friends Social media sites to meet new friends
