Excerpt...
Why Networking? Benefits associated with networking vary from individual level to organizational level. Impact of individual benefits of networking like job referrals, tertiary referrals (a node in your network introduces you to a node in his network), information gathering about organization, business, profession, college etc are limited to an individual however organizational level benefits like business development, new recruit background checks, recruitments via social media etc have much wider impact especially in the times of recession.
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http://carteblancheleeway.wordpress.com/2009/06/29/elementary-guide-to-networking-for-b-school-whiz-kids/