Every week, NETSHARE hosts Ask the Coach, a phone-in coaching session with leading career management experts. Here is an excerpt from our most recent session with Christine Dennison, The Job Search Coach.
As part of this week’s Ask the Coach discussion, our career coach, Christine Dennison, offered some pearls of wisdom about networking strategies based on her experience. She offered some insights into the do’s and don’ts of effective networking and mentoring.
To start, understand how your network of contacts can really assist you. Sometimes you need a specific contact with the right expertise to get you to the next level. Sometimes you need an objective critic or a cheerleader who can give you constructive criticism. And when networking, you want to be able to leverage your contact’s contacts. So don’t make the common mistake of asking, “know anyone who is hiring?” Instead, be specific and targeted and let your contacts help you with specific information.
If you feel you haven’t started building an effective network, don’t despair. Let mentoring others be your way of building contacts and aiding your job search. Trust is the key component of any mentoring or networking relationship, and building trust takes time. LinkedIn can be a great resource here, allowing you to connect with new people whom you can mentor, and to reconnect with old contacts.
The most important thing to remember when building your network is that it’s not all about you. It’s about providing resources to others, answering questions, introducing people, and helping others in any way you can. The best approach is to apply career karma and help others without expecting help in return. Talk to strangers as well as friends. Get involved in LinkedIn forums. Find out about other professionals, their work, their problems, their plans, and how you can help them. In the process you will collect ideas and contacts that can help you with your own job search.
Make time for networking in all your day-to-day endeavors. Make connections through your kids’ school, by volunteering, through industry groups, your dentist, your butcher. And be prepared with your elevator pitch, but spend most of your time listening to other people and learning about their problems. That will leave a more lasting memory and help solidify the connection. Remember to make your conversation natural and not a sales pitch. You never know who might be in a position to help you land your next job.
