Planting Season

Spring is here. The temperatures are warmer, the days are longer, and now my wife and I find ourselves talking about what we're going to plant over the coming weeks. She runs the garden, I do my best with the grass, and this year we've been talking about adding a couple of trees to our landscape.

We're fortunate to live in a neighborhood full of old, mature trees that line the street and create character for the community. Those trees were planted by people who lived here decades ago, and we benefit from their green thumbs in ways we can't repay, but we also have a few areas in the yard that need something new.

Big Trees & Deep Connections

While talking to a client last week, the topic of trees unexpectedly came up. After we covered the usual topics around prospective companies, recent interviews, and follow up tactics, I asked how things were going with developing new relationships and reconnecting with old ones. They had a few solid connections, most of them tied to their previous company, and beyond that it felt thin. Good roots in one place, but not much spread beyond it.

That's when I shared the old Chinese proverb.

The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is today.

My client reacted how I would have expected. They have clearly seen the value of having deep relationships over their career, but have exhausted that source of support in their current job search already. My mention of the proverb spotlighted the uncomfortable gap that grows every day of the job search... the need for new relationships.

Most Trees Don't Make It

After my first layoff, my network looked a lot like theirs too. Deep in a few places, concentrated in one company, and limited everywhere else. Not because I avoided relationships, but because the day-to-day of working at a company took priority for years at a time. "Expanding my network would come later," I would tell myself.

Guess what... Later kept moving.

However, I have started a lot of conversations over the years, both while on the job search and not. Plenty of LinkedIn introductions that didn't pan out. Conversations over coffee that I've completely forgotten. Most new relationships didn't turn into anything, and that's just how it works.

But a few did. I met one of my closest friends here in Denver in the most random setting. His name is Nic, and we met standing in line at a sandwich shop about four years ago. We started talking while waiting for our orders, realized we had a lot in common, and now our families are closer than some we've known for much longer. It all started as small talk with a stranger.

Most of my meaningful professional relationships have a version of that same story — unplanned, accidental, and only obvious in hindsight. Those young-rooted relationships may not have as much depth as those with 10+ years of shared work experience, but they have found space in my community quickly and helpfully.

We all wish we had more 'big trees' in our network, especially when we need that trusted advocacy in a job search, but we can't change what happened years ago. We also can't guarantee that new relationships will turn into anything notable.

We must plant anyway.

It's Planting Season

I think my client wishes they had planted more relationships earlier since that would make life easier today. I know I felt that way. But it's also the same thing that keeps us stuck. Because while you're looking back at the trees you didn't plant, you're not planting anything now.

A job search is actually one of the more natural times to change that. You know where you want to go, you know which companies matter to you, and you have a genuine reason to reach out that doesn't require explanation or pretense.

For those job searching, look at your target companies and identify two or three people worth reaching out to. Not because they're hiring, not because there's an immediate angle, but because the connection makes sense. Some of those messages won't get a response. Some will turn into a brief exchange that goes nowhere. A few will spark a relationship that may open your next door.

The best time to have built a broad network was years ago. But it's planting season right now, and that's enough of a reason to put something in the ground this week.