Richard Bolles wrote What Color is Your Parachute? A Practical Manual for Job Hunters and Career Changers. The book was published in 1997, and there have been many updates to the book annually.
The book had a section on building personal networks of contacts. It stated not screen out any contacts. Even a gardener may be a contact. Perhaps a gardener for a potential hiring manager. People never know who other people know. A software engineer who invites someone to dinner may be inviting the person to the house of a recruiter. A person undergoing a masters program in a subject such as Latin American studies may graduate to become a well connected journalist.
When asking for referrals, Bolles wrote to ask for two at a time. Get back to contacts monthly. Tools such as LinkedIn may allow someone to periodically update contacts on a job search or profile change.
Thank each contact for referrals, and tell the contacts their advice was incorporated. Send thank you notes to contacts.
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