Networking 101

By Sandie Taylor

First and foremost, it’s important to view connection-making as one of the key components to your success. Transforming yourself into an effective networker will be essential to your career. It opens up doors, provides new insights, and validates your ideas for the future.

Networking happens when you make contact with new people who could possibly connect you with career-building opportunities, learn more about your interests and those of others, or gain new information related to your profession. It may be as discreet as volunteering for an organization with a mission you believe in or showing up at a book signing to strike up a conversation with a respected author. The activity could also be as bold as asking a common friend to introduce you to an executive at an industry conference or emailing a company to request an informational interview for an internship.

Sometimes finding an opportunity is pure luck—just being in the right place at the right time and meeting an amazing person. Most of the time, however, networking is a three-step process involving preparation, a strong delivery, and the follow up.

In Your Prep Time
Before an anticipated networking event or interview, it’s important that you spend an appropriate amount of time planning for it. You don’t want to simply show up and see what happens when you have the opportunity to make a good impression. 

Research: Gather information about the industry, organizations and people you may come in contact with at the event. This may include googling a keynote speaker or subscribing to an industry trade journal to get up to speed with the latest news. Know what you are looking to find out. Later on, you will be able to use this information to discuss someone’s work or demonstrate your knowledge of her company. This strategy opens up opportunities for further conversation, and the person will likely take it as a compliment that she is known.

Create Icebreakers: Come up with some questions or comments you will use to start a conversation. A few examples might include:

• “What are the future goals of your company?”
• “How can I learn more about your organization?” 
• “Do you have internship opportunities?”
• “Are you interested in using volunteers?”
• “Did you enjoy the conference?”

Generate Elevator Speech: When meeting someone for the first time, you should be able to deliver a clear description of yourself that conveys your immediate and future goals in roughly 30 seconds (or about the average amount of time a person spends on an elevator). Identify key words that express who you are. Preparing and practicing an elevator speech beforehand will give you the confidence to approach new people and tell them about yourself without taking up too much time. 

Make Business Cards: At the end of a conversation with a new contact, it’s always smart to give her something concrete to remember you by and end with a handshake. The simplest thing you can do is create a professional-looking business card with your name, email address and phone number on it. If you already have a skill or business you want to market, giving out brochures could also be effective. 

Dress Appropriately: Wear clothing for the industry you want to work in. A striking color may help you stand out, as long as it’s not obnoxious.

Making the Connection
So, you’re out in the community—at a benefit, a conference, or any other type of networking event—it’s time to do your fact-finding and talk to people in your field.Networking takes social grace and subtlety. Remember to go early, stay late and follow these simple dos and don’ts of networking.

Do Identify:  When you enter the room, take notice of who your potential contacts are and evaluate whether it appears they have time for conversation. The people whom you are trying to network with should have a similar mission as you and the networking activity needs to be related for both parties.

Don’t Be Stagnant:  Don’t cluster with your friends in a corner when you’re trying to network. Just take a deep breath and go out and talk to people because you won’t be able to expand your network with the same people you’ve always known. Once you’re chatting, make sure you keep moving and don’t talk to only one person the whole time (unless the conversation is especially productive).

Do Get Endorsed: While you don’t want to cluster into a group, it’s okay to employ the buddy system with a friend and introduce each other to people whom one of you already knows. Receiving an endorsement from a mutual friend is the best way to get someone’s attention and helpful for getting the elevator speech going. 

Don’t Annoy: If someone is too busy to talk to you, don’t be overaggressive in trying to get this person’s attention. Too much persistence can be a turnoff. Politely ask when a better time would be. Also, try not to come across as a know-it-all.

Do Actively Listen:  Be more interested in what the other person has to say than in talking about yourself and your own goals.

Don’t Be Self-Interested: When you are doing the talking, make sure to discuss what you can contribute to an organization, not only what you can get from it. Donate time and services to fundraising events or offer to work the door. It’s likely that you’ll meet several people as the door person, but always be willing to help people without expecting anything back.

The Follow-Up
After you receive a business card, jot down a few notes about the person including where you met, the date, and what you talked about. This humanizes the event. Then, when you make contact later, you can remind your contact, “I met you last week on Flight 980 from Dallas to Pittsburgh and you were going to visit your grandparents.” 

Within two to three days after meeting someone informally or having a personal meeting, you should thank the contact for her time. Be sure to reconnect within at least two weeks or the contact will become stale. You can email an appreciative note for providing information, discussing an opportunity, or lending support in general. Hand-written cards, however, are unique and will make a lasting impression.

The main thing is being able to recognize the opportunity and take advantage of it. A lot of time an opportunity is there and it goes unnoticed. It’s critical to recognize the prospect when you can still act on it because you may not get another chance.

In a networking situation, you should come across as a sharp go-getter who can hit the ground running. You want to be looked at as self-assured, confident with a can-do, will-do attitude, and as a problem solver, not a problem maker. These are all the kind of qualities others will want to take a risk on.

Special thanks to Hank Hernandez, Cindy Ramos-Davidson, James Forkovitch, Paddy Tawada and Laura Hill for sharing their networking wisdom 

top

You're Never Too Young... To Network

Whether she knows it or not, Patricia Schwarz—a senior at Ridgefield High School in Ridgefield, CT—is an expert networker.

Schwarz has proven that you don’t have to be a senior business executive to know how get out there and meet people. By joining important groups at school, volunteering in her community, working summer jobs, and taking on an internship her senior year, Schwarz has already laid the groundwork for an expansive network that is likely to support her for a long time to come.

And all she’s really done is pursue activities that already interest her. “Networking has never been my first consideration in choosing the activities I’ve been involved in,” she says. “Rather, I just pick activities I think I would enjoy and can make a contribution to.”

As a biracial student, Schwarz became involved in the Diversity Group at Ridgefield High School, an organization that seeks to resolve conflicts and bridge cultural divides. Last year, she spoke in front of the student body about an episode where she had suffered discrimination; and through her speech, she helped others to understand how prejudice rears its ugly head. By standing up for her beliefs and speaking out, she has surely become more visible to her peers and school administrators.

Schwarz is also chairman of the teen committee on her town’s Youth Commission, a group of adults and teenagers who meet monthly to discuss issues of concern to the community like drug use and vandalism. She leads the youth group discussion and liaisons with the adults. “We’re currently working on setting a date for the 8th graders to hear from older kids about bullying,” she says of the group’s ongoing work.

Each summer, Schwarz has added to her skills and experience bank—and her universe of contacts—by taking on different jobs, both volunteer and paying. One summer she volunteered for the Boys and Girls Club, and another she worked for a program that made home repairs in poor urban areas. Last summer she interned at TNS-NFO, a large, international marketing firm with an office in Greenwich, CT. Her experience at TNS-NFO helping with marketing research tasks for clients like Maybelline and Snapple will go a long way toward making her an attractive candidate for her next job, in addition to giving her a meaningful reference to include on her resume—someone who is familiar with her capabilities and work style.

Since September, Schwarz has been interning at the office of Connecticut Representative Christopher Shays. “Right now I log cases in a constituency office,” she says. “And I research issues and talk to voters.” As part of her high school’s internship program, she’ll spend the last six weeks of her senior year working nearly full-time for the U.S. congressman, gaining valuable insight into the workings of a political office. “Internships aren’t required at my school, but I figured since teachers don’t load seniors with too much work at the end of the year, it would be a good use of my time to do an intensive internship.”

That kind of initiative is what led Schwarz to Forté. After reading an article in the New York Times about a woman who was involved in the foundation, she picked up the phone and contacted Forté’s marketing director to see how she could participate. Schwarz ended up attending a Forté conference in New York City and has volunteered to help organize a forum in her school district through which high school girls can learn about careers in business.

Schwarz will be a business student at Case Western Reserve University beginning this fall and plans to continue working with Forté as she embarks on her career journey. Perhaps, through her connection, Case Western will become the next Forté member school.

top

Top Ten People to Stay In Touch With

Do you wish there were more people in your life who could write you a letter of recommendation, put in a good word for you, or introduce you to other important people? Just because you’re young doesn’t mean you don’t know these people already. The following list describes the top ten people to stay in touch with after high school and beyond.

1. Classmates Your high school and college friends may seem rather inactive now, but in a few years there’s a good chance many of them will evolve into great contacts and become big people in other communities.

2. Friends’ Parents: Find out what your friends’ parents do for a living. These adults can provide information about what their jobs entail and how to get experience in the field.

3. Parents’ Friends: Similar to your friends’ parents, these adults may also be more likely to introduce you to other people or get you a job because of their friendship with your parents.

4. Influential Teachers: In college or high school, the instructors who understand your future goals will be good to talk to about college decisions, and they may recommend specific classes or other professors/teachers who would positively influence your education.

5. Old Bosses: Whether you were waiting tables, volunteering for the S.P.C.A., or interning at the Chamber of Commerce, your old bosses know your skills and how well you communicate with others in a working environment. They’ll usually be happy to vouch for your character when called upon.

6. Neighbors: In many cases, these people have seen you grow up and they care about your future. They bought Girl Scout cookies from you when you were 10, so they’ll try to support you in your future endeavors as well.

7. Other Young Achievers: Stay friends with the other teens you volunteered or interned with in the past and the members of your student organizations. They can give you testimonials from their recent experiences or tell you about how they got their foot in the door at another company.

8. Members of Church/Spiritual Groups: Religious or spiritual groups are tight-knit networks of people who trust each other and make references for one another. If you strongly impress one person, you are generally well liked by the whole group.

9. People Who Express an Interest In Your Future: When someone says she’s interested in finding out how something in your life turns out (such as a project or a summer internship), make sure to get back to her. This person may just have a follow-up proposition for you or could point you toward your next direction.  People want to be helpful. They enjoy helping young people. Don’t waste that opportunity.

10. Employers Who Didn't Hire You: So, you got an interview, the meeting went well, and the potential employer liked you—but you didn’t get the position. You are told you just don’t have as much experience as other candidates. Don’t give up on this opportunity or the contact. Keep in touch by emailing updates on what you have been up to that will eventually make you a better fit for a future position or send some of your recent work in for review. Eventually, the employer may have another spot open and you’ll be the first person who comes to mind.

Does it sound like a mighty task to keep in touch with so many people? Think about creating a personal website with a bio, current resume, and work samples. (Make sure to only provide an email address. Don’t post a phone number or physical address.)

Also, periodically email personal updates to your career connections thanking them for their support and letting them know about your progress—obtaining an internship, learning a new skill, and so forth. It will help to organize an email list with only career-related contacts, so you will have easy access to it on a regular basis.

Finally, consider designating a separate physical address book for just those people who could potentially be sources of information in the future. That way, when you have a question, you’ll have a whole book full of people to contact.

Special thanks to Hank Hernandez, Cindy Ramos-Davidson, James Forkovitch, Paddy Tawada and Laura Hill for sharing their networking wisdom.

top