There’s a common saying that it’s not what you know — it’s who you know. With Washington’s unemployment rate at 9.2 percent and more layoffs from major companies in the area, that saying may ring truer now more than ever.

The UW Alumni Association (UWAA) maintains the Husky Career Network (HCN), a networking database that allows students to connect with UW alumni across the nation who provide career assistance.

“They can tell you their story about how they ended up with their career path,” said Jon Marmor, UWAA communications manager. “They can tell you about their choices, share lessons they’ve learned and provide good guidance about the best way to approach your career search.”

According to the UWAA Web site, “There are more than 5,000 UW alumni and friends worldwide who have volunteered to assist fellow Huskies with career exploration. The Husky Career Network is the meeting ground for UW alumni and students in need of career assistance and advice.”

The database is free for UW students, and alumni can access it by joining the UWAA. HCN users can find contacts who work in careers and industries that interest them or live in areas in which they would like to live. It provides a way to network with contacts that would otherwise be nearly inaccessible.

“Networking is critical, especially in this economy where there are so many people applying for jobs,” said Kristine Kero, a senior career counselor for the UW Career Center and an HCN contact.

Kero said that employers prefer to hire people they know or those who come referred.

“Getting a job is usually faster if it comes from someone who has referred you,” Kero said. “About 80 percent of the time, people are finding positions through networking.”

HCN was started by the UWAA in the late 1990s and began as an e-mail notification called “Career Connections.” When Don Gallagher, the UWAA associate director for career services, joined in 2001, he worked to move the database online to make it more accessible.

Although HCN can now be accessed anytime, many contacts still do not receive inquiries.

Lee Cowan, a UW alumnus and current NBC News correspondent, has been an HCN contact for three years.

He said he joined HCN as a volunteer contact because he wanted to give back and help students who are starting out.

”It’s a tough career to break into these days — both newspapers and TV — and as someone lucky enough to have made it, I thought I could pass along what I learned in the process,” Cowan said.

Although Cowan has offered to answer questions and give advice, he said he has only been contacted by a student once.

“I was surprised I haven’t gotten more of a response,” Cowan said. “I thought after several years at CBS News and my recent move to NBC to cover the Obama campaign, that students would be interested in what that was like.”

One reason why students are not using HCN may be because they are unaware of its existence.

Michael Eguchi, an HCN contact and marketing lecturer at the UW, said the lack of awareness surrounding HCN has been an issue.

“There’s some confusion between what’s offered between the UW Career Center and the UWAA,” Eguchi said. “The Alumni Association isn’t at the top of [the] mind until students graduate.”

HCN contact Antoinette Wills said students may not be taking advantage of this resource because they are shy or because they are afraid to bother other people.

“People who tend to volunteer for things like HCN were helped by other people along the way,” Wills said. “We’re very eager to return the favor and [are] happy to do it. People in the HCN tend to love their jobs, and therefore, it’s fun to talk about them.”

Kero said she volunteered to be included in the database and expects to be contacted. She would take her name out if she didn’t want to be contacted.

“That’s one of the biggest problems: People are afraid to ask for help. But they don’t realize that people love giving advice and talking about their career path.”