One of the most effective uses of networking is the potential to build an inner circle of close advisers who can guide and support you through your job search. They’re the ones that you can always feel comfortable calling on for advice, the ones who will conduct practice interviews with you, and the folks who can review and critique the stories you develop for all phases of the job search. They can help you develop and tell your stories. Ask for feedback from them about your strengths and weaknesses, and build stories around your strengths as perceived by those who know you best.

Test out your stories on your close inner circle. Ask them to place themselves in the employer’s mindset as they listen to or read your stories, and request that they react as an employer would react. You can then use their feedback to refine and polish your stories. Writing on Business Week Online, Liz Ryan, founder and CEO of WorldWIT (Women. Insight. Technology.) recommends trading resumes with colleagues and asking the reader to “look for the story that comes through.”

Expand your network by conducting informational interviews. Learn about industry trends through these interviews so you can tailor your stories to what’s happening in your field. Ask interviewees what the top people in your field offer that others don’t, and then incorporate your matching qualities into your stories.

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Tell Me About Yourself: Storytelling that Propels Careers, Quintessential Careers Press, ISBN-10: 1-934689-00-9. Find out the ways you can own the entire book.