Going to the Dogs

Dogs have always been important to my life.  Ian wasn't my first Golden Retriever, but he was very special and touched a lot of lives in the too short time we shared with him.   Writing about Ian, in the  midst of tears, both helped with the grief of losing him and helped me realize that maybe I really was a real writer - I could write words that made a difference.

Unexpectedly, dogs have also helped my career. Joyce Lain Kennedy has always been one of my heroes in the world of careers.  She's been a terrific mentor to me over the years and I still have the first email she sent me, many years ago, where she told me she liked my About.com Job Search site.  Joyce and I, at some point, became more than fellow career/job search writers.  We started talking about our pets and realized we were both "dog people" - you'll know what that is, if you are one.

When SimplyHired launched their Dog Friendly Companies page, Kay Luo, who is now LinkedIn's Corporate Communcations Manager, let me know about it (she worked for SimplyHired then).  We started talking and realized we had dogs in common - Spaniels (Cockers for her and a Clumber for me).  The picture above is Ollie, the Clumber Spaniel, who, to put it nicely, can be a challenge!

Both Joyce and Kay have helped me in more ways than I can count, and I'll give that dog connection some of the credit.  So, whether it's dogs or sports or something else you have in common with your contacts, it can help to notch up your relationship to a little more than business.   You can not only make friends who share your interests, but it can help build your career and your connections.  Here's more on using your connections and building your network.