Thanks to one of our recent Transition Café meeting attendees, Paul Campbell, for sharing this article and granting us permission to reproduce it. Paul composed this as a guide for professionals who are relatively new to the workforce, but much of it is applicable to all of us!
General Comments
• The old adage “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” sounds as though someone is getting something they don’t deserve. In some cases, that may be true, but a more accurate and universal professional truth is, “It’s who you know and what you know!”
• Networking is a skill that can be developed and honed with practice. It’s all about cultivating a wide range of experienced, professionals who can provide to you, guidance, wisdom and expertise, and put you in contact with their own professional network. They don’t even need to be in your chosen field; you can learn a lot from people who are experienced in other fields and are willing to talk with you.
o That means, you need a network of professional contacts AND you need to work hard, be reliable, be ‘coachable’ and above all, conduct yourself with integrity in everything you do.
o If you’re really nice and fun to be around, but you’re lazy, ‘cut-corners’ or lack integrity, it doesn’t matter how many contacts you have – they will never share their network of contacts with you. After all, if you’re ‘loose’ with the rules on the golf course, or cheat playing darts… might you do the same on the job?
o Imagine you’re starting a business; do you have friends you would trust and like to work with? Are there other friends to whom you would not want to tie your future? Looking first to people you know and trust, or people they know and trust, is perfectly natural and logical.
• Most professional positions are filled based directly or indirectly on someone knowing someone else, (rather than from postings on a website). So, having a large network, and knowing how to leverage it, is an extremely valuable skill.
• When you’re networking, you are not asking them for a job; instead you’re asking for their guidance / coaching / wisdom / experience … and if they know of any leads for you. Generally, people don’t like it when you ask them for a job, but you’re letting them know that you’re looking
(and if they have a job for which you might fit, they’ll let you know).
• You may wonder “Why would a successful professional want to talk with an in inexperienced person like me, who has ‘nothing to offer them’?” The answer is simple; most successful professionals have had numerous people along the way who were willing to help them – so they are willing to do the same for someone else who is interested, respectful and appreciative.
• Networking is powerful and fun; but it comes with responsibilities.
o If you schedule a time to call or meet with someone – be there (early!)
o If they ask you to send them your resume (or anything else) – do it right away.
o When they call you – call them back (right away). That means you need a real message on your phone, and you need to actually listen to your voice mails.
o If they e-mail you – respond (right away).
• Make it fun… see how proficient you can become and how many people you can meet. Soon, your natural response will be to introduce yourself and strike-up a conversation.
• LinkedIn has become an extremely important networking tool and makes it easy to keep track of your contacts. If you don’t have a LinkedIn account – establish one, (they’re free).
o Use a professional looking photo of yourself (professionally dressed); no pix with your dog or from last weekend’s kegger – this isn’t Facebook. When people look at your LinkedIn profile (and they will) you want them to see you as someone serious about a professional career.
It’s fine to be smiling but put down the beer.
o Speaking of Facebook, most employers will also review your fb page as part of evaluating you; it’s time to think about what you want them to see (or not see) – and clean it up!
o And leave any reference to your political views off your profile; remember, ~50% of people disagree with you, and 95% don’t want to hear it.
o There are a lot of resources for a professional & effective LinkedIn profile, here are a couple: https://www.linkedin.com/in/brendameller/ http://www.businessinsider.com/8-steps-to-creating-a-powerful-linkedin-profile-2013-12
• If you’re going to do a lot of networking, it’s a great idea to have your own business cards.
o Keep it simple: name, mobile phone #, personal e-mail, and the URL for your LinkedIn profile. If you’re still in (or just out of) school, include your school, major, and grad year.
o You can easily design something simple and order cards for next to nothing at VistaPrint.com (250 cards for ~$10).
• You need an appropriate email address; “drinkyourbrew@…” probably won’t help your cause!
They’re free – get a real one.
• You’ll have a network for the rest of your career, so grow it like you mean it – and keep it active.
Setting-Up a Networking Meeting
• Call or email someone with whom you would like to meet:
o Introduce yourself
▪ “My name is ______ and I am a Junior/Senior at ______ majoring in ________.”
o Tell them why you’re contacting them
▪ “I was referred to you by _____, who suggested I contact you to seek your insight into
<career field>.” OR
▪ “I am contacting you as a seasoned professional in <career field> to see if you might be willing to invest a little time to share your insights with someone interested in your field.”
• Do your very best to accommodate their schedule – remember, they’re doing you a favor by meeting with you.
• Prepare for your meeting; you should know a little bit about their company and/or the career field. Prepare a few questions to ask them (maybe: areas of specialty within the field; good places to ‘start’ your career; names of the major firms; do they recommend starting with a small firm or large; are there professional certifications; etc.). As you learn about the field, you’ll have more questions – it will also be interesting to see the variety of answers you get from different people.
And don’t be embarrassed early-on that you don’t know much – they’ll understand.
How to Manage the Networking Meeting
• When you first meet someone, ask for their business card – that way you’ll have their name,
Company name, title and contact information (you’ll need this for an important step later).
• If you’re just getting out of school, or still early in your career, even when you’re ‘only networking’, try to get your resume into people’s hands; ask them if they’ll review it and give you feedback. It allows you to share a lot of info with them easily (work experience, academics, leadership, athletics, honors, international study, etc.). Telling them how great you are doesn’t seem like bragging when they’re reading your resume, (some ‘bragging’ is expected on a resume).
• As your career progresses and you have more experience, rather than handing a networking contact your resume, you’ll want to simply discuss the various experience and skillsets you bring. When you get to the point of pursuing a specific opportunity, you’ll tailor your resume to that specific position/company – then provide your resume.
• When you’ve had a good networking discussion, always ask if they know other people you could contact (this is a great way to grow your network).
o Get the names and contact information (email / phone number).
o Ask if they would mind touching base with the person to tell them you’ll be contacting them.
o Ask if you can use their name when introducing yourself (if they’re giving you the contact, they’ll be OK with you using their name; but asking shows respect for them & their network).
• At the end of your networking meeting, ask for their feedback; what could you do more effectively, what would they recommend you work-on. Hopefully they’ll give you some constructive feedback – telling you “Oh, you did fine” might feel good, but it doesn’t really help.
What to Do After Your Networking Meeting
• Always follow-up with a “Thank You”!
o An email is better than nothing but consider a hand-written note – if you have their snail-mail address… which you will since you asked for their business card when you first met them.
Pick-up a package of simple, decent ‘Thank You’ notes and some stamps and get a note in the mail within 24 hours. Since NO ONE writes notes anymore, doing so will set you apart.
o A ‘Thank You’ doesn’t have to be long – just thank them for meeting with and investing in you; for providing you with other contacts. If you’ve already connected with their contacts, you might mention that. Also, follow-up on anything they asked you to do.
• Find the person on LinkedIn and ask them to connect with you. It’s a very natural thing to do right after you’ve met them… if you wait a while, it will seem less natural (Do it now!).
Managing Your Network
• As you build your network, stay in touch with your contacts; don’t let your network go ‘stale’.
Once established, you do not want to contact them only when you need something.
o If you see something in the news about them or their company, drop them a note to congratulate them.
o When something big happens (you graduate, change jobs, any milestone) drop them a note to keep them posted. “Just wanted to let you know… And thanks again for your support and encouragement.”
o Every so often, offer to buy them lunch or breakfast or a beer, if appropriate.
• A great way to keep your name in front of your network is being active on LinkedIn; post or “like” others’ comments/articles, etc. Doing so will cause you to show-up on your contacts’ feed.
Closing Thoughts
• Have fun networking (even if you’re a little nervous at first).
• Networking is such an incredibly valuable skill in just about any professional field – the earlier in your career that you become comfortable doing it, the better off you’ll be. And some of your professional contacts will likely become personal friends / mentors you’ll have for a lifetime.