As a high school teacher and career advisor, I often advise my students to ask friends, family members and acquaintances for help when trying to find part-time jobs. But recently someone pointed out that too many people 'collect' contacts. They collect names and business cards and are ready to utilise (exploit?) these people when needed.
Networking is a matter of building relationships, and like any relationship you need to work at it, you need to give as well as take, and you need to value and honour it.
I've recently had some great things happen, both directly and indirectly through contacts, but in each of these situations the opportunity was completely unexpected. I firmly believe they resulted because I'd worked at maintaining the relationship.
Give as much as you hope to receive.
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