Written by: Jake Byrne
“It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” As a college senior looking for employment, if I get this piece of advice one more time, I’m going to hurl. I get it, we get it, this whole generation gets that employment now is all about connections. The only problem is, we don’t have any.
So where do we go from here? We’re in the process of spending years and money getting a college education. We have ideas, skillsets, and goals we want to put into a fulfilling career or internship, but even getting a foot in the door seems as big and impossible a challenge as climbing Mount Everest.
To help you discover those connections, I’m going to give you five pieces of advice for finding, building, and making the most out of your network. We can call this a lesson on networking 101.
So what qualifies me to teach this class? Over the last four y
ears of college, I have cultivated a multitude of experiences with an extensive network of professionals. I’ve met agency VP’s at conferences and found a way to watch ball games with them. I’ve met corporate communications directors in hotel lobbies and convinced them to grab coffee with me. Even further, I have put these connections together, both alumni and personal, to help me find a corporate internship with General Motors.
So how did I make all of this happen? Living by these 5 simple networking rules.
- Attend as many conferences & professional events as possible – ya know those Vegas buffets where there’s so much food, you literally couldn’t taste everything if you wanted? Conferences and professional events are the networking equivalent of a Vegas smorgasbord (except better because you don’t end up bloated & gassy).
- WVU’s chapter of PRSSA attends national and regional conference every year, we attend the PRSA Pittsburgh Professional development day, we embarked upon two agency visits and the list goes on and on. Each of those events have provided members with key note speakers, presenters, attendees, organizers, sponsors – a never ending list of professionals to rub elbows with.
- TALK to people at the conference/event – simply attending these events and snagging as many freebies (I love me some free pens) as possible is not going to cut developing a network. You need to approach people.
- Approach the speaker after the conclusion, talk about a key point or bring up a question that remains.
- Creep on a presenter’s LinkedIn during their speech so you have prepared questions. Don’t be afraid to bring up an out of the box topic or something that wasn’t approached in the talk.
- Watch the coordination of the events. See who is in charge, bring up discussion with the organizer of the conference.
- Say hi & smile at everyone – this rule applies to both conferences as well as life in general. You have no idea when someone in the elevator, approaching you at work, or the person sitting next to you at the airport has the capacity or the professional knowledge to help you.
- Staying in Atlanta Georgia, I had accidentally lost my hotel key, so I walked my forgetful self down to the lobby to ask the front desk for a new one. In the long line for check-in, I started making small talk with the gentleman behind me. What’s your name? Where ya from? The basics. As we approach the front of the line ready to part ways, he asks for my business card (we’ll get to that in my next point), we exchange cards and separate on our merry way. Not until I’m riding the elevator up to my room with my fresh new hotel key in my pocket do I take a look at the business card and find out that I just connected with the communications director of a major television network. Lost hotel key turns into major connection – you never know where it’s going to happen.
- Always carry a business card (and be sure to ask for one in return) – having your business card shows initiative and provides professionals with a way to get in touch with you. Even more important than you handing off your business card, this provides the opportunity to ASK FOR ONE IN RETURN – gifting you with contact info, emails, phone numbers, and tons of other ways to get in touch that a google search won’t.
- Meeting professionals in happen stance situations (like above) is awesome, but what isn’t so awesome is getting home 24 hours later thinking about that connection, and forgetting their last name and company. Knowing that their name is John and they work in NYC will yield you 182,000,000 google search results in .8 seconds (trust me I’ve tried that exact search before). Make sure the connection has all your contact info from your business card, and ensure that you also have theirs.
- Follow up – the initial connection is barley the start of making the most out of your network. Whoever your connection is most likely has a million things flying through their mind, ranging from work, to home, to the math concepts they need to learn before they can tutor their kid. Your job here is to find a way through all their hectic activity to make sure you can stay in the forefront as a friendly face.
- After initial contact send a follow up email within the week. Thank them for their time and include a few specifics from your conversation (I always like to take notes about the initial conversation on their business card and use those as a reference).
- DON’T JUST LEAVE IT THERE. Find additional ways to keep in contact later. Maybe a month later it’s a non-secular holiday (4th of July). Send them a quick note saying you hope they enjoy the day, and see if they have some time in the next week for a phone conversation about the current state of the industry. You see their name as a keynote speaker for an event. Attend the speech and carve out some time to connect with them afterwards. Basically find non-creepy ways to keep in touch on a regular basis to deepen the connection.
Always remember – most professionals have a desire to help, mentor, and see young professionals succeed. The best way to make that happen is to connect with them – to shake off your nerves, approach a professional and let your personality and your skillset shine.