A networking testimonial…

from my brother on how he got his new job.
Jeremy's networking strategies have paid off for me.

My wife, Rebecca, secured an assistant rabbinical position in New Brunswick, NJ around the middle of April.  I needed a job: "Tap into your contact's network, don't expect them to serve you directly," Jeremy told me.  He was right.
Jeremy, himself, kicked the ball first. 
He suggested that I speak to Harry Glazer, Communications Coordinator of the Rutgers Library. I called Harry from my cell phone during a break from work at a school in Brooklyn.  He was warm and encouraging and pointed me to, among others, Richard Lee, part-time lecturer at Rutgers and Communications Director of the Hall Institute, who has connections in the policy community in New Jersey.
Rich was similarly encouraging and passed me along to Lynne Strickland, an attorney and Executive Director of the Garden State Coalition of Schools.  Lynne mentioned Dr. Steve Barnett, co-director of the National Institute for Early Education Research (NIEER) and a nationally-renowned expert on early childhood education.
I moved to New Brunswick in mid-June and managed to meet Dr. Barnett in late July, on a Monday afternoon.   We chatted about education, health care, economics, etc. 
By Friday, center co-director Dr. Ellen Frede, the developer of New Jersey's groundbreaking public preschool programming, offered me a research position at the center. 
I started in August.