Networking for Career Success

Graduate Business Career Center

11/4/2014

Agenda and objectives

Understand what networking is and why it is important
Learn how to network for job search and career exploration
Know yourself and what you want
Define and expand your target market
Effectively communicate your brand
Build productive networks
Keep it going
Understand how to deal with difficult people/situations
Hear what your peers say about networking
Learn guidelines for successful networking

Graduate Business Career Center

Last updated 6/12/06

Networking well is a key part of career exploration

The Job Search

Process

Defining and
Expanding Your
Target Market

Graduate Business Career Center

Last updated 6/12/06

Effectively
Communicating
Your Brand

Building
Productive
Networks

Networking means building relationships

Networking defined:
Networking is both a formal and informal process of meeting people.
It involves both giving and receiving help, information and advice.
Reciprocity and generosity are essential to good networking.
In U.S. business culture, networking is a common, accepted, and
essential method to use as part of your job search.
Examples:
Talking with a professor about opportunities in your field
Asking your friend for a restaurant referral
Providing your classmate a recommendation to your trusted mechanic
Asking an alum about the company for which she is working
Talking with your cousin over dinner about her job, which sounds really
interesting
Networking does not mean asking for a job!
Graduate Business Career Center
Last updated 6/12/06

Networking gives you knowledge and advocates

Goals of networking:
Gather information about industries, functions, companies and job
opportunities
Understand the job search process for your target market
Market yourself to key people in your field
Identify relevant skills and experiences youll need to be successful
Gain advocates
Receive career advice
Research shows that 70-80% of jobs are found
through networking your job search strategy
should focus on networking as one of the primary
vehicles for finding a position
Graduate Business Career Center
Last updated 6/12/06

The networking process starts with understanding

yourself, then communicating with others
1. Know yourself and what you want
2. Identify target market
3. Share your story: effectively communicate what you can
offer and what you are seeking
4. Identify people to contact
5. Arrange meeting (i.e., an informational interview)
6. Conduct meeting
7. Follow up/thank you/keep in contact

Graduate Business Career Center

Last updated 6/12/06

1. Know yourself and what you want

What fields/functions are you interested in? Why?
What industries and/or geographic locations would you
prefer?
What type of work environment do you prefer (think
about size of company, corporate culture)?
What skills and experience can you contribute?
What is your competitive edge?
What are your short-term and long-term professional
goals?
What information do you still lack that you would like to
know?
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2. Identify your target market

Defining a target market helps focus your time and attention
What companies fit your criteria?
Industry
Size of organization
Organizational structure
Geographic location
Corporate culture
Degree of team interaction vs. individual work
Employees mobility within the company
Organizations tolerance of risk-taking
Others.

Graduate Business Career Center

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3. Share your story with anyone

Communicate what you can offer and what you are seeking
Practice your positioning statement or 10-second introduction
Be ready to do this in unexpected settings
Be interesting!
Your story is more than a list of accomplishments or experiences
What do you like to do? What do you find exciting, interesting,
compelling? What problems do you like solving? What
prompted you to return to school? What kind of people motivate
you?

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4. Identify people to contact

Reference lists of industries/companies that interest you
Brainstorm on paper how to identify contacts in
industries/companies of interest
CARS alumni database
Professors
GBCC career coaches
Classmates
Family members
Others?
Ask for additional contacts during meetings
Keep track of contacts

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4. Start with contacts you know best, who can refer

you to others
Person
getting
popcorn
ahead of
you at the
movies

A friend of a
friend of a
friend
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Last updated 6/12/06

Alumni, mechanic, hair

stylist, acquaintances, et al.

Person next
to you on the
bus

Close
friends,
family, et al.

Classmates, co-workers,
professors, et al.

Distant relative you

meet at your family
reunion
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4. Your strong ties will lead you to weak ties

Strong ties are your family, friends, those
you know best. Theyre valuable because
they know you well and can refer you to
others.
Weak ties are your second and third layers
of contacts, which you find through referrals.
These people are valuable because they
dont know you in a particular role so they
can see you how you want to be seen, and
can imagine more possibilities. They can
also refer you to their own networks.
Weak ties are often the most useful contacts in a
job search!
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5. Arrange meetings and prepare so you can best use

your and other persons time
Contact person via email or phone either is fine
Email allows you to describe your background a bit
more; gives the other person time to respond
Phone calls are effective because theyre a more
immediate way to reach someone
Draft formal business email
Prepare script prior to phone call
Voicemail and conversation
State your interest, brief qualifications, and what you are
seeking (e.g., a 20-minute meeting)
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6. Conduct meetings
Before the meeting
Research company - use company research
worksheet
Identify goal of meeting
Develop agenda and list of questions
Dress as you would for an interview (or appropriate to
the setting)
Practice your positioning statement

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6. Conduct meetings
During the meeting
Be conversational, but stay with your agenda
Listen actively
Keep track of the time and stay with the time limit you proposed
Thank your contact!
Ask for recommendations of additional contact(s), and say, May
I use your name when I contact these people?
Request contacts business card
Clarify and re-state next steps (Ill send an email to ____, and Ill
let you know how our meeting goes.)

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7. Make sure to follow up immediately after a meeting,

then occasionally to keep your contacts updated
After the meeting
Send a formal thank you note (email is the fastest; handwritten
note shows extra care and attention)
Follow up on any actions you discussed at the meeting
Keep person updated on your progress
Send an email or a voicemail occasionally; provide your
status and ask additional questions as necessary
Provide information your contact may have interest in (for
example, forward an article regarding a trend in your field)

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Use a spreadsheet, database or paper list to keep

track of your contacts
Youll want to remember:
Whom you have contacted
Date(s) of meetings or communications
Methods (e.g., email, meeting at company X)
Referrals
Next steps
Your actions
Completed items

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You may encounter difficult people/situations

Contact never calls/writes me back
Be persistent and patient try 2 or 3 polite communications
before giving up
Communicate what you can do for the contact
Mention referral or association
Assess how critical contact is; you may have some other people
who can help you with the same information or questions
Contact doesnt forward my resume as promised
Take action ask how you can forward your resume yourself
Contact provides no helpful information
Thank them for what they do provide
Realize that theyre still more helpful than you think, and theyre
worth keeping in your network

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What Carlson students say about networking

Networking is.
meeting people in order to gain advice and
informationit is a system of bridges and connections
that provide a web of information
creating and maintaining relationships with people who
can help you in the future
getting to know people and help others, opening
yourself up to new ideas and opportunities
accessing resources you are unfamiliar with and
providing you with a safety net
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Guidelines for successful networking

Anyone can be in your network

Networking is information
Get to know your network
Know what you want to tell your network
Know what you want to find out from your network
Keep your network informed of your progress
Networking is not job hunting
Networking is giving and receiving
Networking never ends
Enjoy it!

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Last updated 6/12/06

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