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#JobSearch : Your Networking Conversation Script In 5 Steps. Follow These 5 Steps and you’ll Be a Networking Call Pro in No Time.

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Most of my clients cringe at the word “networking.” Networking can feel like an impersonal exchange of pleasantries at best, and an uncomfortable ask for a favor at worst.

But, remember:

1) Most people love talking about themselves. Never feel guilty asking for a conversation. Your job will be to ask a lot of thoughtful questions and listen. The receiver will most likely be pleased to oblige.

2) In general, people enjoy providing value to others. People like helping others. You’re not going to force someone to jump on a Zoom call with you unless they want to.

Even knowing these two powerful facts, having a step-by-step process for the actual networking conversation itself can be helpful.

Here’s your go-to 5-step script for your next networking conversation:

1. If you asked for the conversation, take control up front.

Uncertainty at the beginning of a call can be awkward. After an initial exchange of pleasantries simply say: “Thank you so much for jumping on the phone to talk with me today. Perhaps first it would be helpful to give you a brief background on myself and the context for this call. Then, I’d love to hear a little bit more about your background and how you ended up at [X company] and then, time permitting, it would be great to ask you some questions at the end. How does that sound?”

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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2. Have your spiel down pat, and no more than 45 seconds.

Write down and prepare your 30-45 second narrative (or as I like to call it, your “spiel.”) Do not leave this part of the conversation up to chance, because you may talk for longer than is appropriate. Your spiel should briefly explain your professional past, (where you’ve been) current state (where you are), and future goals (where you want to go).

3. Ask specific and thoughtful questions you can’t get from the website.

Don’t ask basic questions that you simply could have googled. Make your questions personal. Going Places, a female-founded company that helps individuals navigate the job search says to use the following question structure, time permitting:

  • Two questions about the person. (How was your experience in sales different from [Company X] to [Company Y]? I saw you published a book 5 years ago. That’s awesome. How is that doing? What was the process like getting it published?)
  • One question about the company. (What’s the company culture like on your team?)
  • One question about the industry. (I saw that you’re blocking political ads on the platform. Was that something everyone feels positively about internally?)

4. Make an ask… tactfully.

At the end of the call, a person may ask what they can do for you. Even if the person doesn’t ask that question, though, don’t let that deter you. According to Going Places, “Ask your ask! And make sure it does not require extra work for [the person you’re asking]. Whether it’s a referral or advice, you need to understand the follow-up steps required and plan ahead of time. (Example: if you want an e-introduction to another person within the company, draft the email for them! Then, the most the person should have to do is forward that email.)” I tell my clients: Make your ask SEA: Simple and Easily Accomplished.

5. You should walk away with 3 nouns: people, places, or things.

Your goal should be to leave the conversation with three takeaways. Keep in mind, these can be resources like books or articles to read, other individuals to speak to, other companies to look into, or a new phrase, idea or technology you hadn’t heard of. I’m a believer in the “tree-branch effect” of networking: if each conversation leads you to three nouns, and then each of those nouns leads you to three more nouns, you’ll amplify your effect.

Follow these 5 steps and you’ll be a networking call pro in no time. And, don’t forget your thank you note!

Forbes.com | October 1, 2020 | Julia Wuench

#JobSearch : How To Create A Networking Pitch In Three Easy Steps. Great Read for All!

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Even with social distancing and the cancellation of large group events, every professional still needs a networking pitch. First of all, there are video meetings and virtual summits, where you may need to go around the screen and introduce yourself.

Secondly, a friend could still offer to refer you to someone by email and ask you for a few lines about yourself to include – that’s networking in writing!

Finally, if you come across a LinkedIn profile that interests you and you want to connect to that person, you should write a note with your invite, and that’s yet another opportunity to introduce yourself.

The best networking pitch introduces you in a concise and compelling way. However, capturing your personality and highlighting the best of your background, all while not rambling on for too long is difficult. In previous posts, I have shared suggestions for creating your networking pitch if you have a lot of experience to cover or if you are in a career change and want to talk about yourself differently or if you are unemployed.

In general, you can create an effective networking pitch in three easy steps:

Step 1 – Pick something about your professional background to establish credibility

You don’t have time to include a summary of your resume or even the chronology. Besides, that’s boring. Instead, focus on a specific professional accomplishment that puts you at the right level (e.g., if you’re in management, don’t mention an individual contributor role). Pick something that is relevant to where you want to work. For example, you could mention:

1.     Your current company and role. This is not necessarily your title, if your title is generic (e.g., VP, Director) or full of jargon (e.g., names a department no one outside your company would recognize)

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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2.     What you are working on, learning or researching. If you are in-between jobs or consulting but looking to go in-house, you still want to focus on being active, rather than saying you’re unemployed or in transition. Remember too that even though you are working on your job search, you don’t want to mention that – instead talk about the companies you’re researching or things you’re hearing about the market

3.     Industry expertise or other specialized knowledge. Rather than a role, you talk about your overall industry of other expertise, including how many years you’ve been in this area or a cutting-edge fact that leaves no doubt that you’re current in your field

4.     The arc of your career – e.g., several employers, industries or roles. This is useful if you’re in-between roles but want to highlight that you have existing experience. Even if you’re currently employed, you may decide that your overall experience is more interesting than anyone role

5.     Types of clients you serve and the results you achieve. Many jobs, especially as you get more senior, have multiple responsibilities, but by talking about who you serve and what the results are, you hone in on the value you deliver, rather than how you do it or what your day-to-day is like

6.     Sample recent project or client story. By drilling down to one example, you showcase your expertise and experience while also telling a story. If you have a particularly interesting before/ after the result to share or a hero’s journey, this could be a good way to package your credibility

Try all six of these formats, and choose the most powerful ones, or keep them all and rotate them depending on who you’re talking to and what you want to highlight.

Step 2 – Include something personal to build rapport

You don’t just want to include professional details in your pitch because it’s boring. Everyone focuses on the professional, and you need to stand out to be remembered. Including something personal also helps a genuine relationship to build, and the pitch is just the start of what is hopefully a long-term genuine relationship. Some personal tidbits that are still appropriate for professional networking include:

1.     How you became interested in your line of work. This is a natural transition from establishing your credibility – you’re not only knowledgeable but enthusiastic!

2.     Life story – e.g., where you grew up, where you went to school, earlier career if different from now

3.     Passion or hobby – these should be pursuits that you invest in, not just dabble in because the superficial effort doesn’t make a memorable impression

4.     Community or non-profit involvement – if you have any leadership experience, that adds to your professional credibility as well

5.     Recent book you read, trip you took or event you attended – similar to the passion or hobby, this isn’t just about being well-rounded but also being interesting and dedicated, so pick accordingly

6.     Connection to the person you are talking to or circumstances that put you together – if you’re attending a virtual summit on AI, and your work isn’t obviously related to AI, then you could talk about what prompted you to attend

Step 3 – End with a call to action for yourself that lets the other person know your immediate priorities

Your call to action is where you state what you’re focused on in the near term. For example:

1.     Career step you are working on – if you’re in finance, you might mention you’re studying for the CFA and looking forward to more complex analyses (if that’s your ideal career move)

2.     The area you are researching or idea you’re considering – if you’re a career changer and your background is very different from what you want to do, specifying your new target career as a research subject for you lets the other person know you’re moving into something else

3.     Ideal project

4.     Ideal client

5.     Ideal role

Having a call to action is critical so the other person knows exactly what your focus is, and if they want to help you, they know exactly how they can help. At the same time, make sure that the call to action is what you are doing yourself and not a question you pose to the other person, or worse, an outright request. Your introduction should never include a request – it’s too early and will seem presumptuous.

A multidimensional pitch is best because it reflects the multidimensional you

Using all three steps to develop your networking pitch ensures that your pitch is as multidimensional as you are. It also establishes credibility, rapport, and the next steps, all of which give the other person enough information that if they want to continue with the relationship in a meaningful way they can. (Of course, you should always take the initiative to follow up in case the other person is terrible about following up, as many people are.)

 

Author:  Caroline Ceniza-Levine  Senior Contributor  Careers

Career Change Expert and Author of “Jump Ship: 10 Steps To Starting A New Career”
Forbes.com | April 27, 2020

#Networking : Please! Don’t Make Me Network! Great Two(2) Min Read!

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I think it is safe to say that networking is often considered the most dreaded activity for someone in a job search. For some of our clients, it is the worst aspect of their job search process.

Through the years, I have gotten many calls at 8:30 PM from clients who are driving home from a networking event.  They called just to vent and decompress from the stress of the evening.

“Do you know how hard it is for me to go to one of these meetings?” They would ask.  “Don’t you know how exhausting this is for someone like me? I’m totally stressed out by this! Tell me again, why do I need to do this?”

When I get these questions, this is always my answer: “Yes! Yes! I DO know how hard it is for some people to network, and my team and I genuinely applaud our clients for their effort.”

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What Skill Sets Do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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Fortunately for me, I don’t dread networking.  It doesn’t bother me to go to these meetings, and very often I feel really good afterward because ultimately, I meet someone new, or see someone that I haven’t seen in a long time.

The reason I enjoy networking is that I approach it in this way:

I go to meetings where I think I will most likely meet people who I would personally want in my business network.  I’ll state this again: I go where I think I will meet people that I would find interesting and who I would like to have in my community of professional relationships.

With this intention, I tend to be more relaxed and have more meaningful conversations that make an impression and are more memorable to me and to the person to whom I am talking.  To me, this is truly the act of building a network.  And by the way, just for fun, I am collecting the name tags from the events that I have attended just to see how long it takes me to fill the jar!

You hate networking?  Think about approaching it completely differently and remember, people, do business with people they like.  People hire people they like, too!

 

FSC Guest Author: Susan Howington is a sought-after expert in the Executive Career Transition field, applying her practical knowledge and visionary wisdom as a consultant, coach, author and industry speaker. Her success derives from her understanding that in circumstances of job search, nothing replaces the effectiveness of human interaction and person to person connections. Through her company, Power Connections, Susan utilizes her highly respected reputation to assist companies in transitioning their employees during outplacement initiatives.

 

How Smart People Sabotage Their Job Search
Susan’s book How Smart People Sabotage Their Job Search is on Amazon. Be sure to check it out and order your copy today!

 

FSC Career Blog |  April 21, 2020

The Art Of Great Networking.

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Networking has a bad reputation and is often abused for social activity. However, great networkers know the value and importance of the necessary and professional skills that make great networking a powerful strategy for building brands, developing strong partnerships, strengthening brand equity and credibility and increasing profitability for their companies.

What Is Great Networking?

Great networking is an intentional and cognitive exchange of ideas and information between professionals who share a commonality, special interest and/or opportunity. This exchange can be in person or virtually in information systems and professional social online forums. It is important to note great networking is not attending a meetup of anywhere from twenty to hundreds of local business people who are drinking, eating and sharing the latest rumors or assumptions about businesses and professionals. Great networking is a strategy not to be taken for granted.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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Why Networking Is Important

Great networking, when intentional and strategic, affords a professional an opportunity to create value, gain value and share value. The energy expended often results in an expansion of relevant knowledge and information associated with specific objectives aligned to key performance indicators. The expectation is all about results — developing and building key relationships; gaining support; and acquiring key data to continue progress and increase productivity. Improved professional credibility, brand equity, organizational and partnership vitality and profitability are a few positive and lasting outcomes from great networking.

How To Develop Great Networking Competencies

• Develop great networking skills. Honesty is always the best policy. Practice and execute active listening. Ask great questions that draw out key data and information naturally. Be sincere and authentic — always. Be approachable. Be prepared and organized. Most of all, be credible and trustworthy.

• Know why you need to network. Know where is the best location for networking, who you will need to network with, what you will need to create value while networking, when it is the best and optimal time to network and how you will create the highest and best value of your time and theirs.

• Research. This is a significant part of the “why.” Do your homework and prepare a solid strategy so you are maximizing your success and cultivating positive, lasting value for yourself and your organization.

• Collect resources. This is another significant part of your “why.” Prior to coming out of the gate, and parallel to the research, gather information and acquire the necessary tools and key resources to ensure the path to great networking is paved with optimizing each step. Consider resources such as communications, marketing and key team and leadership support that complement your efforts to connect and create valuable opportunities.

• Strategize. Establish a plan in advance. Engage your key team and leadership resources. Acquire necessary funding and tools to support your journey to connection and achievement. Write your high-powered scripts loaded with key questions. Then, practice, practice, practice to achieve those high-impact conversations that create business magic.

• Manage your energy. Make sure you are not wasting your energy on frivolous and worthless events, activities and socials. Be intentional and selective. It will pay dividends and create a vortex of positive experiences, lasting professional relationships and abundance for you and the company. Make sure to track and measure your connections, events and the impact of each. As Stephen Covey says, “Begin with the end in mind.”

• Be responsible, accountable, disciplined, courageous and humble. These key traits will get you far and connect you authentically to the people and companies that will assist you in reaching your goals and achieving success.

• Be grateful. When all is said and done, even along the way, show appreciation and be grateful for the support and milestones completed. Verbal thank-you communications are great in person, while the old-fashioned thank-you card is still king. Email thank-yous are ok, too, if coupled with either a verbal or note card approach.

When all is said and done, look back at the energy and resources spent and acknowledge best practices and lessons learned, and remember to follow up — internally and externally. Don’t get lost in the social network vortex that often crumbles the integrity of a professional and the organization they represent. Be the professional who is prepared, organized and highly credible and is known to earn the respect of others authentically. These are true signs of a great networker.

 

Forbes.com | December 11, 2019 | Lori Harris

#CareerAdvice : #Networking -How To Become A #SocialMedia Marvel In Nine Minutes. A #MustRead for All!

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Digital branding is my primary focus these days, and that means helping clients get past their resistance to social media. The number one reason they tell me that they don’t engage in social media is:  “I just can’t find the time to do it.”

So what if you made a habit of committing no more than nine minutes a day. Could you find nine minutes?

You can actually get a lot accomplished, deliver value to your audience and not wear yourself out when you’re willing to commit a few minutes a day. To make this work, though, you need to commit to doing it every day. When you do, your nine-minute habit becomes three hours a month of social media engagement.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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Here’s how to make it happen:

Step 1: Focus On One Platform

Don’t squander your efforts by being on every platform—Facebook plus Instagram plus Twitter plus LinkedIn plus YouTube equals social media taking over your life. It will be impossible to be consistently visible on all those platforms unless you make it your full-time job. Instead, choose up to three, preferably just one platform to start. How do you choose, you ask?

Pick what sits at the intersection of these two criteria:

  1. You enjoy them. There’s no sense picking YouTube if you abhor creating videos. You’ll be more likely to keep up your 9-minute daily social media habit you’re having fun with it. If you like to write brief, pithy content, choose Twitter. If you love visuals, choose Instagram
  2. Your people are there. When using social media for professional purposes, the goal is to be visible, valuable and available to the people who are making decisions about you. There’s no sense in tweeting at the frequency of Kim Kardashian or Donald Trump if your target audience isn’t on Twitter.

Step 2: Choose The Right Time

Identify your best time to engage in social media. We know that true habits are easier to form when they take place at the same time every day–like brushing your teeth. Your social media habit might take place first thing in the morning or right before you leave work or during lunch. Or, to make it even more efficient, consider a time when you can double up on productivity. For example, if you commute to work on a train, that’s the perfect time to also connect with your online community. If you wait in line every morning for your triple tall half-caf, iced skim caramel macchiato, get your phone out and make the wait more productive.

Step 3: Engage

Be strategic in deciding what you want to talk about. Your topic should help you demonstrate your thought-leadership and give you an opportunity to express your point of view. Remember, being visible on social media does not mean creating new content every day. If you’re just starting your social media habit, here’s a good mix of items for your daily do:

  • Like and comment on content that was posted by others.
  • Share others’ content, adding your point of view to make their post even more valuable
  • Share something you learned, a favorite quote, a relevant statistic
  • Post your own content (article, tweet, picture, video, etc.)

Step 4. Make It Easy

There are lots of things you can do to automate the time-consuming parts of social media.

  • Use a social media posting tool like Hootsuite or Buffer to post multiple items and schedule them over time.
  • For responding to your connections/followers’ content, create shortcuts on your phone for standard responses. Apple iOS makes it especially simple to do this.
  • If you prefer speaking to typing, just talk your message or update.

The point is to find ways to make your social media habit more efficient and more aligned with how you like to work. Personal branding is all about being authentic, so if you dread your social media routine, your posts will seem phony or forced. Do whatever you need to do to keep your new habit from feeling onerous.

That’s it! If you have been reluctant to engage in social media, follow this process. Commit to your nine-minute habit and watch your digital brand soar.

Author: William Arruda is the cofounder of CareerBlast and creator of the complete LinkedIn quiz that helps you evaluate your LinkedIn profile and networking strategy.

 

Forbes.com | September 16, 2019

#CareerAdvice : #Networking -5 Types of Connections you Need in your #LinkedInNetwork .

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Having a robust professional network can be a game changer when thinking about your career journey. The people in your network can help make future connections, refer you for a job, provide advice, and so much more. But building a thoughtful–and more importantly, actionable–professional network, can seem daunting. Who should you connect with and why?

Based on our research, the number of connections to kick-start the value of LinkedIn’s network is 30. Once you hit this many connections, you should start to see a more relevant news feed and engagement on your posts and new opportunities start to open up. However, this only works if you connect with people you know, as this ensures the notifications and information coming through are relevant to you.

With that in mind, here are the five types of people we recommend you connect with and nurture a relationship with on LinkedIn.

FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS

This might seem like overkill to some folks, but it’s important to consider your family members and friends as part of your professional network. Yes, you can probably pick up the phone and give your relatives a call for some professional assistance or call your friend who works at your dream company to help you get your foot in the door.

But, by actually adding your friends and family members to your LinkedIn network you will get insight into their unique professional network that you might not have known about otherwise. Maybe your father-in-law actually knows the hiring manager at that dream company, and he might be the best person to engage with to get your foot in the door. Or, your good friend has an old classmate who is on the career journey you’re aspiring to be on and is happy to connect you two for a coffee meeting. That’s the power of a robust professional network.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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CLASSMATES OR SCHOOL ALUMNI

Whether you’re currently a student or have recently graduated, connecting with your classmates (present or former) is another great way to build your professional network. Find people you worked with on a group project or studied with for that big final exam you aced. Your classmates are also looking ahead at their career paths, so it’s a good chance to help each other find new opportunities.

CURRENT AND PAST COLLEAGUES

The people we work with are more than just teammates–they help us make it through the day and can also help us get ahead in our careers. We spend the bulk of our day with these folks. In fact, 95% of working professionals think it’s a good idea to have friends at work, and 63% say they have relationships with their coworkers outside the office, according to LinkedIn’s data.

We all spend a lot of time each week interacting with our teams at work. But you can strengthen relationships by liking, commenting on, or even resharing what your teammates are sharing online.

Another benefit of connecting and engaging with your current colleagues on LinkedIn? If someone on your team is leaving the company (or if you are leaving), it will be easier to stay connected for the long-term. With messaging on LinkedIn, it doesn’t matter if contact information changes from job to job, you can always stay connected—which is why it’s also important to connect with your past colleagues. Whether you’ve only had that one summer internship, or you’ve held numerous roles in your career, we recommend connecting with your old colleagues on LinkedIn and staying in touch.

Previous colleagues can serve as a great reference for future job opportunities or can help talk through job challenges with an outside perspective you can trust. This is how you can turn a handful of meaningful relationships at one company into a powerful network of connections all across your industry.

SOCIAL ACQUAINTANCES

It’s important to have a diverse professional network, including people from different backgrounds and working in different industries and roles as you. This might seem like a difficult task since most of the people you interact with might be at your current job or past job (so same industry), but it’s time to think outside of the workplace.

So, you are part of an evening soccer league, a volunteer team, or a local church group? Put these social connections to work in your professional career. The people you meet through these types of organizations are a great addition to your network, since they likely add new perspectives and diversity to your current network.

SOMEONE YOU CAN HELP IN THEIR CAREER

Your professional network shouldn’t just be about adding people who can help you with your career. It’s about both getting and giving help. Make sure you consider accepting invitations or reaching out to people who are looking for career advice you can provide or to open the door for those who might be looking for a new gig.

These should still be people you actually know, such as a former coworker who is earlier in their career journey and might need advice, someone you met at a conference or networking event who is looking to build their career, or even someone you’ve interacted with via Linkedin Groups or InMail. Pay it forward, and pass along the professional goodness you’ve received in your career to date.

These are just a few of the types of connections you should be making on LinkedIn, but this is a great place to start as you build and nurture your professional network. As your career changes direction and evolves, your network is there to help you. The stronger your network, the further everyone goes.

FastCompany.com | June 26, 2019 | BY LIZ LI  4 MINUTE READ