eFinancialCareers

Despite my trepidation about networking, I’ve now begun the schmoozing process in earnest.

The campaign is being coordinated from my new base in the City – Transition HQ, to which I have access for the next month.

Having got used to ‘working’ from home in the West of London, I confess I nearly turned my nose up at having access to a City office laid on by transition consultants. But the reality has turned out to be fairly pleasant. After two days in the City I was back to my former self, making calls, having lunches and arranging drinks with friends and acquaintances.

The first lunch was with ex-colleagues from my recent employer, an easy target but you have to start somewhere. They were in bleak mood with tales of rock-bottom motivation and summary redundancies. After lunch and a few beers I was expecting them to sidle off making excuses about work to be done. But eventually, after almost three hours, I was the one who left.

The mood of this group was that of condemned men and women awaiting a fate that has been hanging over them for far too long. In some respects, I think it was nice for them to be able to speak to someone who’s been through the process and come out relatively unscathed.

I did wonder, though, whether what I had just been through was networking. As far as I could see the only positive outcome from the meeting was a slight alcoholic buzz: I was no closer to finding my next career move.

Undaunted, that evening I arranged to meet up with a close friend of mine who works at a hedge fund. He brought along a few of his colleagues; we had a few more drinks, but once again there was no concrete result.

I’m coming to the conclusion that networking is a slow and indirect process that’s hard work on the liver. By comparison, calling a friendly headhunter seems rather more direct.

I therefore tried a few of the more reputable headhunting firms last week, some of whom even seemed slightly responsive. When asked their opinion of the state of the market a few cautiously said things were beginning to thaw and invited me to meet them. Against the backdrop of similar calls a month ago, this was positive indeed. However, until something comes of it I'm not naive enough to assume that this positive sentiment is anything more than hot air.

In the meantime, I am not giving up on the schmoozing. The transition consultancy offers a course in networking, and now that I’ve overcome my scepticism regarding both networking and transition consultants, I plan to attend. I’ll transmit any tips I pick up in next week’s column.