\u201cIt\u2019s not what you know, it\u2019s who you know.\u00a0 Network, network, network.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You\u2019ve heard it all before, right?\u00a0 So what does it mean to network\u2026 and to do a good job of it?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today I\u2019ll take a look at the three P\u2019s of networking:\u00a0 purpose, people, and process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Your primary purpose should be to establish some level of rapport, ideally developing that relationship over time.\u00a0 People tend to do business with \u2013 and hire \u2013 people they know, like, and trust.\u00a0 Speaking with someone, perhaps meeting for a cup of coffee, exchanging ideas, etc., might get things started.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another purpose in networking is to gather information, particularly if you\u2019re considering a change in careers.\u00a0 You could call this informational interviewing. Actually, networking and informational interviewing go hand in hand, the primary difference being there\u2019s less information required when you\u2019re trying to stay in the same field.\u00a0 In that case, the information you\u2019d seek would pertain to that person\u2019s employer\u2026 its corporate culture, growth plans, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The people?\u00a0 I suppose anyone<\/em> is better than no one, but in reality you\u2019ll look to network with a degree of focus.\u00a0 If you\u2019d like to work in healthcare, then consciously engage with those folks.\u00a0 If your interest isn\u2019t industry-specific, but rather more job function-related, then focus on meeting people doing what you want to do. Where you can, establish rapport with those at a level sufficient enough to either hire you or affect the hiring decision.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now let\u2019s look at the process.\u00a0 LinkedIn has made the process easier for job seekers. But if you\u2019re not on LinkedIn, don\u2019t feel left out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Use LinkedIn\u2019s filters to identify the people to whom you\u2019d like to be introduced. I call it the \u201cbread crumb trail.\u201d Call your first level connection\u2026 the one who is also connected to your target person\u2026 and ask your first level person to email your target, copying you, as a means of electronic introduction\u2026 encouraging your target to give you a few minutes for networking purposes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Since you were copied on the message, forward it to your target while copying your first level connection, thanking your first level for the introduction and asking for the chance to speak with your target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s what to do if you\u2019re not on LinkedIn.\u00a0 Instead of conducting your own filtered search on the website, simply ask the person your meeting with, \u201cIf you were in my shoes, who would you speak with for more information?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Once they provide a name, then proceed as you would with the email introduction as with the LinkedIn example above.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Don\u2019t make the mistake of asking your targets for a job.\u00a0 Once you do \u2013 and their answer is no \u2013 the conversation ends.\u00a0 They know you\u2019re looking.\u00a0 If they know of something, they\u2019ll likely tell you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Remember, while your larger goal is landing a job, your shorter goal should be to initiate and grow that \u201cknow, like, trust\u201d component so critical to hiring decisions. Good luck!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cIt\u2019s not what you know, it\u2019s who you know. Network, network, network.\u201d You\u2019ve heard it all before, right? So what does it mean to network\u2026 and to do a good job of it? Today I\u2019ll take a look at the three P\u2019s of networking: purpose, people, and process.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":774780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-774779","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-and-financial-advice"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774779","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774779"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774779\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":778390,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774779\/revisions\/778390"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774779"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774779"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodwill.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774779"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}