For those of you whose New Year’s resolutions included, “find new job, stat”, you might be surprised to know that studies have shown that less than 10% of new jobs are found in the classified ads (print or online). For those of you in New York, Mediabistro.com and Publisher’s Lunch’s job board are pretty good tools, but the rest of the country is still searching on Craig’s List and Monster.com. Hundreds of people looking at the same job decreases your chances of getting it, no?
Networking is probably the single best thing you can do to help yourself get ahead. I don’t mean shmoozing – no kissing ass, people. Networking means keeping that fine line between socializing and professionalism intact. My partner in crime here at STA, Lilit, is exceptionally good at networking so I’ve decided to interview her.
Ashley: So, Lilit, why is it important for people to network?
Lilit: Because people get complacent. You know your coworkers, you have established relationships with them… sometimes you need variety. You need to meet new people, see how other companies work, and be exposed to different ideas. And since you should never sleep with any of your coworkers, you have to go outside the office if you ever want to get laid.
Ashley: Touché. Okay, so nobody likes a suck-up. What, in your opinion, is the difference between shmoozing and networking?
Lilit: If you just walk around the room having two-minute conversations with people and handing out business cards, you’re shmoozing. The best way to network at an event is to have meaningful conversations with a couple of people and really make a personal connection. If you end up holding a stack of cards at the end of the night, you probably don’t remember half the people who gave them to you. If you come out of a networking event with one really good new relationship, then you’ve done way more to help yourself out in the long run than if you just get brief face time with everyone.
Ashley: Good point.
Lilit: People can see through suck-ups. There’s nothing worse at a party than the person who sidles up to you, asks where you work, and if they don’t find your answer appealing enough, they walk away. As a personal rule, if I meet someone who works at a publication I want to freelance for, I would never tell them that on first meeting. If we end up becoming friends, I might eventually ask them for advice or if I can use their name in my query letter. But no one wants to feel used.
Ashley: Yeah, and nobody wants to be a douche either. Before you go to a networking event, do you have any goals in mind? Or do you find things tend to happen more organically?
Lilit: I think having vague goals is okay. Your goals should be more along the lines of “I need to be willing to introduce myself to someone I don’t know even though it scares me” rather than “I must meet at least four people in an hour.” Your goals should be about what you expect from yourself, not about what you expect from others.
Ashley: Excellent point. You’ve got this networking thing down. Does that sound suck-uppy?
Lilit: No, but only because I know you.
Ashley: Heh. Any advice on post-event follow-up etiquette?
Lilit: If you feel like you had a good connection with someone, follow up within a few days. Suggest something casual like grabbing a drink at happy hour. It’s useful to reference something from the party, like “when you told me about your boss’ funny habit of chewing on pens during important meetings, I noticed one of the VPs here does the same thing” or “thanks for recommending that job search web site, it was really helpful.”
Ashley: Sounds like dating, with less potential for embarassment.
Lilit: I think the follow-up should be the same amount of time as after a first date. It’s a good rule of thumb.
Ashley: Well, Ms. Marcus, thank you very much for your time. Any parting words?
Lilit: Don’t think of networking as networking. Think of it as just another party.
Ashley: And don’t be a douche.
Lilit: Exactly. Don’t be that assistant. And don’t get hammered.
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For more useful information on networking, check out CareerJournal.com’s article, “If You Want a New Position, Start Networking Now”. You can find it here.
