More about Networking

If you've met with me and/or red this blog regularly, you know I'm a firm believer that it's all about networking. Therefore, I'm excited to share what I just read. Credit goes to Katherine Moody. Katherine's website is (www.hiddenjobmarketsecrets.com). You will find good information there. Katherine asked me to tell you the terror-free networking scripts are free. 



Pay to Play
 
  

Actively networking and making connections are essential  and significant elements of your job search strategy today.

Social networking is important, but must be augmented with face-to-face and/or voice-to-voice connecting.

The etiquette is "ask for the help--ask for the check." That can get expensive unless you get creative. And the good news is "creative" is not only acceptable, it can often really make you stand out.

These days it is quite acceptable to ask someone to join you for coffee--on you. You could even offer to bring coffee to their office to make it easier for them to meet with you.

I have taken someone to lunch when it was critical for me to be able to spend time with her. I asked her assistant for her favorite restaurant--and then asked her to join me for lunch there. It really differentiated me from everyone else asking for her time.

You can ask the person's assistant or the person who referred you if there is something special they like--jelly beans or chocolates or cookies??
 
I recently met with someone who loved the oatmeal raisin cookies from the Il Forniao bakery in Irvine. Those 3 cookies were one of my best investments!

A couple of years ago someone gave me a lot of his time and never asked for anything in return. I found a fabulous hero action figure that I sent him since he was now "my hero." It still sits on a shelf in his office and even though he's become quite well known, he always takes my calls and gives me invaluable advice.

You only need a few of these wonderful people in your life and they will lead you to everything you want.

Thank people in a way that shows both your gratitude and personality. The handwritten notes I've gotten create a special spot in my heart for those who took the time to write.

When you think of networking as a way to make connections and build relationships, you'll come up with unique and money-saving ways to  say "thank you." And really build a relationship at the same time.

So pick someone to call, get your script out,and pick up the phone.

Who are you?

I worked with a student last week, who at the end of a career exploration exercise said “Finding yourself is important business. If you don’t know yourself, you have nothing.” Such a simple statement, but isn’t it the absolute truth?!?

It may take some work to discover who we really are. Maybe “who” we are is not “who” we think we should be. Sometimes “who” we are gets lost in the middle of “who” someone else says we should be.

We owe it to ourselves to do the discovery. We need to know who we are so we can decide who we want to be and what career path we want to start on.

Career Services has exercises and assessments and time to talk. Schedule an appointment. It’s discovery time!   

Transitioning From College to Work

As recent grads may agree, transitioning from college to the professional world is not always easy. And, we’ve all heard “you only have one chance to make a first impression”. What can you do to make sure that first impression is a good one?

1. Dress appropriately. Unless you are very conservative, office attire will be much different than what you wear when you go out on Friday night. It is always ok to ask Human Resources about proper office attire before you report for work on your first day.  
2. Be on time – for work, for meetings, coming back from lunch.Do not text or email or Facebook or Tweet while you are at work.
3. The same goes for shopping or just goofing around on the internet in general. The company is paying for your time. They deserve your full attention.
4. Be courteous of, and respectful to, everyone you work with. No one’s job is any more important than another. Everyone is valuable.
5. Do not share in office gossip. You might talk about someone only to find out they are close friends with …yes, the person you just bad-mouthed.
6. Do more than what’s expected of you. Never ever ever say “that’s not in my job description” – with body language or verbally.
7. Don’t appear too eager to walk out the door when your workday is over. I don’t mean you need to work through the dinner hour (unless that’s your assigned shift), but also don’t knock anyone down on your way out of the building.  

Not that hard. And, the payback will be well worth the effort.

“Professionalism: It's NOT the job you DO, It's HOW you DO the job.”