Originally shared via email. For early access to UN job search success tips and advice, subscribe to the newsletter here.

There are two points I wish for you to take away from this post:

🌱 Networking is truly like planting a tree. The best time to plant it was years ago. The second-best time is today.

🗝️ Often, it's not our closest contacts who open the biggest doors, but our "weak ties", like acquaintances, former colleagues, secondary connections, or LinkedIn contacts we rarely interact with (check out The Strength of Weak Ties and this recent LinkedIn study that supports it).

We can't rush nature. And we can't rush trust.

Neither will bear fruit immediately, but given care, attention and time, eventually it'll likely allow us to harvest. However, we can't control which branches will bear fruit, which will wither, and which we'll choose to prune when they no longer serve us.

So don't think of networking as wasted effort because you can't pick its fruits right away. Think of it as creating conditions for future opportunities – maybe even the job after your next job.
 

Start now. Plant the seed.

Wishing you patience for the long game and joy in the small steps you take today.

PS. Awkward-but-authentic beats polished-but-phony every day of the week. And remember to be generous.