Since a greater emphasis is being placed on the importance of networking, it is critical that job seekers project a professional image at all times within their network.

“Everyone is basically their own brand right now,” said Cheryl Besl, public relations director at Topic Design. “You need to be sure that you are conveying an image you want to convey through LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, or MySpace because an employer is going to Google applicants on those social-networking sites.”

Besl said an excellent way for professionals to improve their personal brand and network is to volunteer for a worthy cause.

“It is expected today that professionals are going to be philanthropic or be on a nonprofit committee,” she said. “And it’s a great chance to network, to expose yourself to new people, and maybe even broaden your skill set.”

College job fairs provide an opportunity for soon-to-be or recent graduates to build connections.

“We do a lot of our recruiting on campuses since most of our hiring is done with people fresh out of college, so it would be a great help to network with people from P&G that come to campus to recruit,” Trainor said.

Candidates able to establish a relationship inside the organization gain a distinct advantage over the rest of the applicant pool. An overlooked method to initiate contact with a recruiter is a simple telephone call, said Paul Wehner, senior search and leadership consultant at the Human Capital Group and the Taplow Group.

“There’s a tendency to over-utilize email to communicate with recruiters that are overwhelmed with more emails than they can manage,” said Wehner, who is also the staffing and recruiting chair at the Greater Cincinnati Human Resources Association. “If they’ve contacted me about a position, I’m glad to get their phone call as opposed to getting three emails. I think the world has become over-focused on email as a way of communicating and under-focused on use of their phone.”

Jackson suggests that after job seekers learn the identity of the recruiter filling a position, they leverage a network contact at that firm who can place a phone call, send a message via email, or personally visit human resources to make a recommendation on behalf of the candidate.

“It comes as a great comfort to a hiring manager when someone you know and trust recommends a candidate,” Jackson said. “Internal recruiters are more open to looking closer at that candidate based on the fact that top talent doesn’t recommend anything other than that, so there’s a lot of credibility in that network.”

“The people who already know you, and at least think somewhat highly of you, are the people invested in helping and will speak positively on your behalf,” Bauke said.