jaime freedman, m.s. assistant director, alumni career services endicott college...
TRANSCRIPT
Making an Impression: Networking Strategies for Success
PROGRAM OVERVIEW
In-person Networking Strategies
Preparation
Asking for Help
Giving Help
Being Remembered
Online Networking Strategies
Using LinkedIn
Using Twitter
MY NETWORKING PHILOSOPHY
The ultimate goal of networking is to be able to get whatever help you need when you need it
Networking includes both giving and receiving
Creating and maintaining a rich network should be a constant work in progress
3 KEYS FOR SUCCESSFUL
NETWORKING
1. Be Liked Exude positive energy Humor Treat people with respect
2. Be Known Approach people Take on leadership roles Have a positive online presence
3. Be trusted Follow through on what you say you will do Get strong recommendations
From Smart Networking by Liz Lynch
SUCCESSFUL NETWORKING
“Being successful with networking is not about being flashy or charismatic; in fact, it’s not about you at all. It’s about how you make others feel when they’re around you.”
- From Smart Networking by Liz Lynch
PREPARATION
Know:
1. Who you want to meet
2. What you need to say about yourself to be effective
3. What questions you need to ask to be effective
PREPARATION
1. Who You Want to Meet
What are your goals?
Who will be attending the event?
What can you learn about the attendees before the event?
PREPARATION
2. What You Need to Say About Yourself to be Effective
Create a 15 Second Commercial
Practice networking conversations
Tailor everything you say to the audience at hand
PREPARATION
15 Second Commercial
Definition:
A brief description of your name, your profession, and why you are attending the event.
Use:
For when you introduce yourself to a group at a networking event.
PREPARATION
Sample 15 Second Commercial:
“My name is Jaime Freedman and I am the Assistant Director of Alumni Career Services at Endicott College in Beverly, MA. At Endicott, I work with all students to help them find jobs and define their career goals. I also run an alumni mentoring program. I’m here today because I’m hoping to learn more about networking strategies and I’m also interested in speaking to anyone involved in a college mentoring program.”
PREPARATION
Sample Networking Conversation:
Me: Hello, I’m Jaime Freedman
Networker: Hi Jaime, I’m Robert Sullivan, nice to meet you.
Me: Nice to meet you too. So, what do you do?
Networker: I’m a career coach for people with developmental disabilities.
Me: Oh wow. I used to work as a career coach with persons with developmental disabilities myself, now I’ve transitioned into doing career development with college students and alumni. What company do you work for?
PREPARATION
Good questions to get a networking conversation started:
What do you do?
What brings you here today?
I see you work for ABC company, I’ve never heard of them, what are they all about?
I see that you’re an insurance compliance professional, can you tell me more about what you do?
PREPARATION
Tailoring Your Message
Goal: To recruit alumni for the mentoring program
Hi, my name is Jaime Freedman and I am a career counselor here at Endicott. I am also the manager of the Endicott Alumni Mentoring Program, a program that matches alumni of the college with current students for one-on-one career mentoring relationships.
PREPARATION
Tailoring Your Message
Goal: To educate parents about the services of the Career Center
Hi, I’m Jaime Freedman and I’m the Assistant Director of the Career Center. My job is to give students the tools that they need to find a fulfilling career. Throughout the year my office runs a wide variety of workshops, career fairs, and meets with students for one-on-one appointments.
WAYS YOU CAN HELP OTHERS
Introduce people to each other
Provide industry expertise or advice
Give a recommendation
Alert people to opportunities
Make a referral
Invite someone to an event
Provide support
Express gratitude
CONSIDERATIONS WHEN ASKING FOR
HELP
Is this something that is easy for the person to do?
Is this something that the person is capable of doing?
Give the person an “out” to say no
HOW TO BE MEMORABLE
Be fully present by paying attention and listening carefully
Ask thought-provoking questions
Contribute to the group
Take on a leadership role
Use a creative business card – picture, tagline, write a few notes about yourself on the back of the card
Follow up right away!
EXPANDING YOUR NETWORK
Classes and seminars
Conferences
Online networking tools
Volunteer events
Alumni groups
GETTING STARTED WITH ONLINE NETWORKING
Choose only a couple of online networking tools and spend some time on them to build your network (networking websites, chat rooms, blogs, e-zines).
Set aside some time during the week to perform account “maintenance” (read posts, make contributions)
WHAT IS LINKEDIN?
“LinkedIn is an interconnected network of experienced professionals from around the world, representing 170 industries and 200 countries. You can find, be introduced to, and collaborate with qualified professionals that you need to work with to accomplish your goals.”
- www.linkedin.com
LINKEDIN FACTS
“LinkedIn has over 40 million members in over 200 countries and territories around the world.”
“A new member joins LinkedIn approximately every second, and about half of our members are outside the U.S.”
“Executives from all Fortune 500 companies are LinkedIn members.”
- www.linkedin.com
WHY USE LINKEDIN?
Keep in touch with professional contacts
Meet new professional contacts
Market your skills and experiences
Find job opportunities
Build an effective online brand
Gain valuable knowledge about your industry
Be found for business opportunities
Find new talent for your business
Find a service provider
THE POWER OF LINKEDIN
LINKEDIN COMPONENTS
Profile
Contacts
Groups
Job searching
Recommendations
Answers
Profile
Think of your profile as a resume
Complete your profile
Include a photo
Consider status updates
Include name misspellings and previous names
Check your public profile settings
Contacts
Find contacts by using name search or check Outlook and webmail contacts
Only connect with people you know and trust
“I don’t know” LinkedIn rule
The most powerful network is not only large, but also made up of strong connections
Groups
Gain access to direct messaging
Participate in discussions
Post events and news articles
Recommendations
Give and get relationship
Can affect your status as a service provider
Answers
Ask a question
Answer a question
Receive “expert” status
WHAT IS TWITTER?
Twitter is a microblog that allows you to send updates of no more than 140 characters
Twitter is a big online party where everyone can share their thoughts
Twitter requires a good deal of transparency
THE POWER OF TWITTER
Access to expert advice from all over the world
Platform to market your expertise to a large and diverse audience
Instant communication
GETTING STARTED WITH TWITTER
1. Choose a username that is closely related to you and easy to find
GETTING STARTED WITH TWITTER
2. Set up your profile
Write a creative and intriguing bio
Choose to allow anyone to see your Tweets
Include a picture
Create a custom background
GETTING STARTED WITH TWITTER
3. Find people to follow
Find people you know by performing a name search and/or using the email upload tool
Conduct keyword searches to find people tweeting about topics of interest
GETTING STARTED WITH TWITTER
4. Start to contribute to the conversation by tweeting and retweeting
Tweet: To post a status update
Retweet: To re-post someone else’s status update
GETTING STARTED WITH TWITTER
5. Use Tweetdeck to manage your contacts and perform searches.
SOURCES
Comm, Joel. Twitter Power: How to Dominate Your Market One Tweet at a Time. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc., 2009.
Gitomer, Jeffrey. Jeffrey Gitomer’s Little Black Book of Connections. Austin, TX: Bard Press, 2006.
Lynch, Liz. Smart Networking : Attract a Following In Person and Online. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill, 2009.