Why learn to network and apply for jobs?

Nadine had worked as a manager at the local grocery store while attending college, working towards graduating from university with a BA in business. She appreciated the store’s support during her years of employment as the company allowed her to work around her class schedules. However, she did not anticipate making this her life-long job—or even her first long-term career job. With her degree and experience, Nadine was ready to jump to a larger employer with greater opportunities and variety.

Despite knowing that she wanted to move on, Nadine wasn’t sure where exactly she wanted to go—or how exactly she would go about finding that career job with a bigger company. If she couldn’t say exactly what it was she was thinking about doing, she was going to end up staying at the local store by default.

Nadine knew that if she wanted to move on in her career, she needed to make a plan; take stock of her goals, her years of experience, and her degree; and turn her knowledge and qualifications into actions.