Networking Advice
The most terrifying obstacle for me when I entered the social networking scene was the lack of rules and guidelines.Why was this scary?
Because maybe like me, you too had learned at some point that it was for my own good that I separate my business and private life. These two should never mix and if they did, it was a really bad thing! Seriously. Bad.
I got this message first from childhood and then later on from school in my marketing classes. Be different in every part of your life.
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27 Jul, 2011
799 friends on facebook – Wow! Sounds sort of like an accomplishment doesn’t it?
But, who do you really know out of those 799 people? Guess who is reading the resume you just submitted to that huge advertising firm you really want a job with? Remember Ryan, that older guy from high school? Ryan has you on facebook (you never spoke in high school besides that one time you accidentally walked into him) and he is now searching your profile and notices all the party pictures, that not so friendly page you “liked”, and your recent status update of having a few double caesers on your lunch break.
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06 Jul, 2011
Okay. So you've just come back from a networking event and have a pile of business cards you've collected from all the folks you've interacted with. Now what?
In the past, we might have input the information into our computer's address book and emailed everyone a followup letter. And while this is a great idea, once the initial followup action has been taken, that's where it may end for a number of your contacts. Let's face it.... life is busy and out of sight means out of mind.
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26 Jan, 2011
Now that the holiday season is over, it’s back to work! If the thought of meeting new people at a business event sends a chill up your spine, you’re not alone. For many of us networking is something we dread. Unfortunately, these days, it’s not what you know. It’s who you know or who knows you, that really counts for business success. And even though tradeshows and business mixers can be intimidating for anyone, they are also the perfect opportunity to network and build business relationships. To feel more at ease at your next event, prepare ahead of time, with full stomach, the right attitude and the right business tools.
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17 Dec, 2010
Today I watched an interesting webinar by career expert J.T. O’Donnell of Careerealism , who described five things job seekers should not do when creating their LinkedIn profile. I agree with most of her points and have a few more of my own to add. So, what are they you ask? Let’s start with J.T.’s list:
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20 Mar, 2009
Effective networking may seem like old hat, but chances are that you could benefit from a refresher. In our training seminars on Positive Networking®, we get attendees to rate their skills at the beginning of the course.
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The ability to do effective networking is an often overlooked leadership skill, but it’s one that will greatly assist you in getting the career you want. Ibarra and Hunter, authors of “How Leaders Create and Use Networks,” published in the January 2007 issue of The Harvard Business Review, stated that: “Networking is simultaneously one of the most self-evident and one of the most dreaded developmental challenges that aspiring leaders must address.”
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Professional membership societies may not be among your top priorities, given the number of responsibilities that you juggle on a daily basis. After all, professional membership societies often entail get-togethers and what business person has time for more meetings and activities?
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Networking successfully requires jobseekers to build positive energy into their networking efforts. This can be done with mirror neurons. To find a job, you need to get out there and network, but you may have noticed there’s a wall jobseekers often run right into.
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Powerful networking tips can give you an edge in any job market. Right now, it’s a job seekers’ market and many employers are feeling the crunch of a skills shortage. Still, powerful networking tips can be essential to building a job search toolkit.
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Brand yourself online before potential employers stumble across your web trail of breadcrumbs. By building an online brand for yourself, you can influence what someone would find if they Googled you.
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27 Feb, 2009
Summer is a time to chill out and networking isn’t on most people’s radar. Dressing up, standing around in a windowless hotel meeting room, doing something that you already find kind of stressful—who wants to do that when you could be at beach or on a bike ride after work?
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27 Feb, 2009
People don’t like networking at the best of times. Add doing a job search while networking and it’s enough to make you want to pull the covers over your head and stay in bed.
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Social networking groups provide both instruction and diversion. Some workplaces have blocked and encouraged the use of social networking groups.
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Business networking online provides the opportunity to expand your contacts without ever going to a wine and cheese event. Turn to business networking online as quick, painless way to keep track of contacts – without having to “do lunch”.
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A professional network is indispensable when you’re looking for a job. Your contacts can suggest promising leads or put you in touch with firms that are hiring. They may provide you with first-hand information about a company or give you the name of a staff member they know.
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27 Feb, 2009
Networking — does the thought of it make you uneasy? If you’re the type of person who’d rather spend time in the dentist’s chair than meet new people, you’re not alone.
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27 Feb, 2009
Positive Networking is not all about you. It’s discovering what you can do for someone else. While there is a place for transactional networking, the majority of networking opportunities are not about closing a sale but opening a relationship.
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27 Feb, 2009
Riffling through stacks of business cards to find the one you want is a time waster if ever there was one. Besides, Murphy’s Law dictates that the business card you want is always at the bottom of the last stack you look through. Here are four simple ideas that will change what you do with the business cards you receive.
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27 Feb, 2009
Are you prepared to answer the question “what do you do?” Do you have a 30-second elevator pitch prepared? Here’s what we find when doing our Positive Networking® workshops: people work up a sweat when we ask them to answer this question!
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Standout job interviews can help you land jobs. But, if you want to stand out at job interviews, you need to make the right impression. Benjamin Franklin said it best: “It’s hard for an empty bag to stand upright.”
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27 Feb, 2009
We recently taught a session on How to Build a Network Of Depth, Breadth And Reach to a group of young professionals. On the screen was our Three Years to 1000 Plan slide:
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27 Feb, 2009
Making time for networking — I had thought of calling this article, “Finding the Time for Networking” but the truth is that finding the time is not really the biggest hurdle. Instead, it’s making the time.
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27 Feb, 2009
Make an impact – an unforgettable one! Sounds good, but how do you make an impact—one that stands out? We know people are so swamped they simply scan emails, delete the names of people they don’t recognize and focus only on the people they know.
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27 Feb, 2009
Job fair preparation becomes key around this time of year, as career fair season moves into full swing. If you Google “job fairs” or “career fairs” in BC and Alberta, you’ll see that there are any number of opportunities to get out and meet potential employers this fall.
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27 Feb, 2009
One dark night in 1972, the pilots of Eastern Airlines flight 401 inbound to Miami noticed an undercarriage warning light. All three pilots became distracted, focusing only on the warning light. Was it really a problem with the nose wheel or was it a faulty light bulb?
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27 Feb, 2009
Holiday season networking can help you overcome reservations you have about reaching out. One of the top questions audiences ask is, "How do I follow up with someone I haven't spoken with in quite a while?" When you are looking for a job this becomes even more anxiety inducing
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27 Feb, 2009
The Globe and Mail newspaper recently interviewed Tamara Vrooman, a top Canadian business leader. At forty Tamara Vrooman is the CEO of Vancity, Canada's largest credit union with $14.1 billion in assets. Tamara took on this role in September 2007 after leaving a stellar career as Deputy minister of finance with the government of British Columbia.
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20 Mar, 2009
The latest statistics on job losses in the U.S. and Canada are staggering. If you are someone who has lost your job, it is essential to get out there and start reconnecting immediately. We know this is easier said than done. Who likes to put themselves ‘out there’ when they’ve just had the stuffing kicked out of them, but there’s an essential thing to be done immediately after losing your job.
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20 Mar, 2009
By Gayle Hallgren-Rezac, Speaker, Co-Author Work The Pond! Do you know the Verizon ads with that mass of people standing behind a single customer? It’s similar to the huge network that stands behind each of us, and everyone we meet. It symbolizes opportunity, but we often ask ourselves it is really worth going up and talking to that person we don’t know? Should I really make that call, it’s been so long since we talked? What could really happen if I talked to that other soccer parent at the field on Sunday?
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24 Apr, 2009
When meeting people who are looking for a job, we will often pose these questions: “If you could work for anyone, who would that be? What’s your dream job?” Why ask these questions? They offer a snapshot of what the person is looking for, and more importantly, it’s an indication of where their real passion lies when it comes to their career.
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09 Nov, 2009
Our columns at BC Jobs focus on using networking to get a job or put you on the right trajectory for your career path. But recent research published in the prestigious journal Biologist found that the number of hours per day humans interact has fallen by two thirds in recent decades, from 6 hours in 1987 to 2 hours in 2007.
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21 Jul, 2009
Your first job may be as an intern, but you might be surprised what impact a humble intern can make. Yes, it can mean a lot of ‘sitting around and waiting’ as busy people in the firm think up things for you to do. Don’t begrudge the ‘Joe jobs’ you may end up doing. Suck it up and do them enthusiastically. Remember, you have something many firms are looking for—an insight into what youth is thinking and doing.
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28 Aug, 2009
Do you think the only people who will read this article are going to be a handful of people who get anxious networking? Well, here’s a news flash, 80% of the people we survey prior to teaching a workshop on Positive Networking® tell us they don’t like networking—they really don’t like networking!
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06 Jan, 2010
This year, did you make a number of interesting contacts while networking to find a job? Did you meet people who gave you job leads or forwarded your resume? Are you wondering how you are going to keep those connections warm? Is your challenge that you don’t have a really good reason to reconnect?
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26 Jan, 2010
Research shows that a person has a mere three seconds to make a first impression. Obviously if you engage the other person, if they are interested in continuing the “conversation”, you’re on the right track—you have successfully established that first all-important connection!
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23 Mar, 2010
Getting into the habit of following up quickly is one of the key qualities of all great networkers. You want to get people on your team and becoming part of your job search success. Recently, co-author Judy Thomson and I presented a Power of Positive Networking® session to a group of MBAs in Toronto.
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28 Jun, 2010
Many people are daunted by the prospect of establishing a new relationship, or leveraging an existing one, as a career strategy. Not all are born communicators, not all are outgoing by nature. No matter how awkward or painful your initial attempts, there are compelling reasons to begin practicing networking.
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Imagine you’ve walked into a networking event only to meet a potential employer you’ve been dying to snag an interview with. This is your chance. You need to make a good impression, and quickly. But you’re not sure what to say.
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24 Aug, 2010
I recently nagged a client to get her LinkedIn profile fully up and running. She emailed me the other day to say that she got an email from a recruiter within 2 days of doing it. A new survey explains why.
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