A friend recently requested that I help her boyfriend out by reviewing his resume & offering some basic career advice. In the spirit of networking, and because the request came from a friend, I agreed right away. Her boyfriend sent me his resume and a cover letter reiterating his request.

I reviewed his resume. He was a talented but unusual candidate, half IT and half marketing. (In the internet era, this can be a powerful combination!) I responded the next day, with some suggestions and a few questions, and a suggestion that we get together to discuss some of the unique challenges he faced. Didn't hear back. I followed up again the next week. And still didn't hear back.

I spent over an hour on this guy, all told. Sure seems like wasted time to me. Thanks, jerk. (Note: there are many possible good reasons he dropped the ball. Very few of them preclude a quick email explaining/apologizing.)

Does this sound petty? Perhaps, but consider: anyone who experienced this would probably feel the same way. Which leads to the point. This job seeker not only failed to take advantage of a potentially valuable networking ally, he essentially turned me into an "anti-referral." If someone calls me tomorrow and asks me if I've heard of this guy and what I think about him (not implausible; it's not that big a town) the most honest thing I can say is "he has an interesting skill set, but his follow up leaves something to be desired."

More succinctly still: after investing the time to get the ball rolling, this job seeker not only failed to turn me into an asset, he turned me into a liability.

Oddly enough, this scenario is pretty common. Among the growing number of professionals I know who ignore inquiries from aspiring networkers, this is one of the main reasons. Too many times they have tried to help out, and have gotten "stood up."

Bottom line: in spite of my persistent advocacy of networking, if you aren't going to do it well -- and follow through no matter what -- avoid it altogether.