By Mary Petersen, CAFÉ President and Gold Medal Classroom Editor-in-Chief

A quick Google search instantly shows sources from business schools to career web sites all describing how networking is important. In 2012 Right Management, a global career experts firm, completed a survey and found 46% of respondents said networking was the most effective way to find a new job. This is the fifth year in a row, with more than 46,000 individuals surveyed, that networking ranked number one.*

The culinary industry mirrors the business arena when it comes to the value of networking and landing jobs.

CAFÉ is honored to have Dr. Fred Mayo, retired New York University culinary professor and principal of Mayo Consulting, and Chef Adam Weiner, Culinary Arts instructor for JobTrain, discuss how they have used networking in their lives.

I have watched with fascination as these two different people, from opposite sides of the country with two very different backgrounds, network at CAFÉ Leadership Conferences and Workshops. This is the first article in a two-part series providing students and professionals alike with personal experiences and anecdotal information on the importance of weaving networking into their lives.

What is networking, as opposed to social networking?

Dr. Mayo: Networking is meeting and greeting future colleagues. It is an educational, interpersonal experience that involves face-to-face meeting in the beginning. It can continue in other formats, such as email, texting, cards and letters, once a relationship has been established. But, it remains a professional activity. Social networking involves using social media to communicate with acquaintances, friends and colleagues. Often, social media is a preferred way for some students to communicate with their faculty members as well. 

Chef Weiner: I believe networking is nothing more than making and maintaining new business relationships. Social networking, as the name implies, is for social relationships. One is for students’ career development and growth and the other is for their friendships. I have nothing against social networking. I have over 75 graduates working in the kitchens of Facebook, YouTube and Google. I believe that social networking is important, but real in-person networking skills still need to be taught.

Why is it important to know how to network?

 Dr. Mayo: Networking is the oxygen in our professional lives. It is about getting to know people, talking with them, developing common interests and supporting them. We have been able to do things in our careers because we meet, greet, and treat well fellow professionals all the time. Students and professionals alike need to learn these skills for their careers.

Networking will especially help students make connections, expand their circle of professional colleagues and open doors for all kinds of activities. For instance, a new professional relationship might provide access to special dinners or meals, marketing opportunities, business prospects, meetings, presentations, interviews, special food competitions, publicity, and activities that could never have been predicted. I encourage students to network all the time and to learn that it is about giving and not taking.

Chef Weiner: I believe if we just teach our students how to cook, and forget to teach them how to get and keep a job, then we are dooming them to failure, at least in the short run. Many, if not most, of the better jobs for entry level positions and for people moving up the ladder are obtained by real personal networking. Unfortunately, the younger members of our society don’t know how to do this as they live in the impersonal world of texting and the internet. It is so important to me that I gave an entire presentation on the subject at CAFÉ’s 2013 Leadership Conference in Miami.

How do you emphasize quality vs. quantity of networking?

Dr. Mayo: Good question, Mary. I never think about quantity vs. quality in networking. It is just like breathing. I keep doing it and keep doing it and count my blessings about how many wonderful people work in this industry.

Chef Weiner: I teach that unlike Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, etc. quality is more important than quantity. I ask students what would happen if they posted to their 500 plus friends or followers on any of these sites that he or she needed a job? They all reply that nothing would happen. I then explain that when they contact one or two professionals with whom they have a relationship with, that person might say something like, “Well, I don’t have an opening but call my friend Chef Fred and say I referred you.” A call is made to Fred who says, “Gee, I don’t have any opening but last night I saw Chef Barney at an ACF meeting and he said he is hiring.” The next day the student has an interview with Chef Barney.

In the December issue of “Gold Medal Classroom,” Dr. Mayo and Chef Weiner will continue their discussion with me on the value of networking and how to teach it both in and out of the classroom.