After 20 months, networking finally pays off

After 20 months of looking, Dennis Shaver finally found a job.

And he found it through an old work contact he hadn't talked with in 10 years.

It is proof, said the 55-year-old from North Raleigh, that diligence and networking are really the two keys to a successful job search.

And, there was a little bit of luck.

Shaver was featured in a front-page February story in The News & Observer about people who had been unemployed for long periods of time and how they were handling their situations.

Shaver's old colleague saw the story and got in touch.

"I've kept up with him over the years, but I really hadn't seen him in 10 years," he said. "He sent me an e-mail and asked that I send him a résumé, and from there I got a phone call."

Shaver began his new job at Raleigh's entrinsik Inc. on April 26. The company sells software to companies and educational institutions.

It ended the saga of a job search in which Shaver applied for about 300 positions.

Using savings and unemployment benefits to stay afloat, Shaver said he tried his hardest to network with anyone he thought could find him a job.

He went to traditional job fairs and networking events. And then he started looking for other networking possibilities, volunteering technical assistance at the Purple Elephant Computer Factory (which refurbishes donated computers for kids) and also with a Trinity Baptist Church program called Jobs for Life, where he helped others who were looking for work.

But he never thought to go that far back in his work history.

"I'm not sure if I had his contact information," he said. "I might have had him as a LinkedIn contact. On one side of the coin, I shouldn't be surprised. I got a lot of interviews, but it was really the network that paid off."

For people who are still looking for work, Shaver passes on some advice from his wife, Patty, who has done some work as a career coach.

Focus on four areas: assess your skills, explore where you can make those skills fit, prepare for interviews, and navigate events and functions that can help you get those interviews.

"You can't just go in blindly," he said.

Shaver continues to give back through Jobs for Life and other volunteer opportunities. And he says the experience has taught him that workers should always be assessing skills and documenting what they do.

"It's one thing to have all this stuff ready to go for a job interview, but the thing I was lacking was having those things prepared while I was working," he said. "So I'm tracking what is going on and trying to quantify what I'm contributing now. I'm going to keep up with them as I go along."