(And Nearly Everybody Else)
If you’re like most Americans, you’ve probably had one of those days when you were too tired to cook, so you decided to have pizza delivered. So what do you suppose would happen if, after determining that you wanted pizza delivered, you sat there and waited…and waited…and waited, but the pizza never came—because you never called to order it?
Having a pizza delivered to you without ordering it first isn’t an impossibility, particularly if you live next to an under-supervised adolescent or it’s Halloween. But it definitely improves your chances of getting a pizza, especially one made to your liking.
Training for a career but not doing any networking is a lot like expecting a made-to-order pizza to materialize at your door just because you’ve decided you want one; it’s possible, but I wouldn’t recommend it as a best practice.
Being an introvert, the thought of going to large gatherings and introducing myself has never sounded like a barrel of laughs to me. One of the only times I ever listened to my mother was when she told me never to talk to strangers, and I took her at her word. But these days, that’s not the best advice for those who want to propel their careers to the pinnacle of success.
Remember the phrase, “When my ship comes in…”? Whoever said that is probably still sitting at the dock, résumé in hand. Or what about, “When opportunity knocks…”? The problem is, if you never gave opportunity your business card, how will it know where to find you?
Fair or not, the saying “It’s not what you know, but who you know” is often true. Use “who you know” to help you get the job, and then use “what you know” to do the job.
Here are a few tips on networking that have worked well for me.
Like it or not, there’s no substitute for meeting people face-to-face. Conferences, monthly STC-SWO meetings, and formal networking events are all great places to start. But so are your kid’s soccer games, Thanksgiving dinner with your extended family, a neighborhood potluck, and your monthly book club. Networking doesn’t have to be some formal event where everyone is wearing a suit and a nametag, shaking hands with one hand while exchanging business cards with the other. A network is simply a group of people you know, who know 1) who you are, 2) what you can do, 3) what you want to do, and 4) how to contact you. And here’s where the real power of networking comes in—each of the people in your network has his or her own network, which increases your network exponentially.
For me, getting to know people is the hardest part of networking. The next step is much easier, yet it’s the one most people skip. Once you’ve been to the conference or the potluck and you have someone’s contact information, contact them! I’m not sure why so many people forget this step, since the phrase “contact information” contains the hint: “contact.” Chances are, when you talked with each person, a topic came up that you can continue via e-mail if you choose. If, for example, you discussed an online resource, you could send them a link. If you talked about a type of book you both liked, you could recommend a book you’ve recently read. If e-mail’s not your thing or theirs, you could follow up by meeting for lunch or coffee, or you could arrange to meet them at an event you’re both interested in.
Some people jot down notes on the back of a person’s business card to help them remember details. I haven’t tried that technique yet, but I do e-mail everyone within a day or two after I’ve met them, while I still remember them—and they still remember me.
Two items I find very helpful for networking are a business card and an up-to-date résumé. I don’t exactly keep a supply of business cards at the tips of my fingers, ready to pass them down the table in between the platter of turkey and the jiggling bowl of cranberry sauce, but you never know when a cousin or uncle will ask for your e-mail address. And your cousin and uncle have their own networks.
I also don’t carry my résumé around, except to job interviews, but I do keep a current one on my computer, ready to send out at a moment’s notice. And I have had to produce my résumé on more than one occasion at a moment’s notice.
During college, I saw an online ad for a paid internship I really wanted, so I responded to the ad as I was about to rush out the door to pick up my kids. But before I could leave, the HR rep telephoned requesting a copy of my résumé. In less than five minutes, I wrote a brief e-mail (think “cover letter”), proofread it, attached my résumé, and sent it. By the time I’d gotten home, I had a voice mail message requesting an interview. I ended up getting that job and they told me later how impressed they were that I was able to send them my résumé so quickly.
Networking may not come naturally to you, particularly if you’re an introvert like me. But it can be learned just like any other skill.
Of course, you don’t have to network if you don’t want to; you could skip the networking and stay at home, waiting for opportunity—and the pizza delivery guy—to knock. Just don’t be disappointed when your dream job doesn’t magically appear, or the pepperoni pizza you were hoping for turns out to be a double anchovy with pineapple.
“If you always do what you’ve always done, then you’ll always get what you’ve always gotten.”