Professional Networking

Transcription

1 Professioal Networkig 1. Lear from people who ve bee where you are. Oe of your best resources for etworkig is alumi from your school. They ve take the classes you have take, they have bee o the job market just like you, ad they have some perspective to share because they kow what it s like to have a job ad work i the field. Alumi are amog the first people you should reach out to as you develop your etwork. If you re at all ervous about cotactig a alumus, cosider this: what if someoe from your high school called you ad asked you about your major? Would you take a few miutes to tell them what you thik ad whether you d recommed it or ot? Of course you would so do t worry about cotactig a alumus. Just be professioal ad ask good questios. Cotact you career ceter ad fid out what opportuities exist to coect with alumi from your major ad/or who work i your field of iterest Califoria Commuity Colleges Chacellor s Office

2 Professioal Networkig 2. Develop a etworkig list. Networks are easier to develop tha you might thik. The easiest way to start is to idetify all the people you already kow who might be able to help you. Helpful people ca iclude: Parets ad frieds of your parets Sibligs ad frieds of your sibligs Alumi from your college or uiversity (or high school) Supervisors from previous jobs Supervisors from iterships Professors Admiistrators Almost ayoe you meet Be sure to orgaize your cotact list. Cosider gettig a spiral otebook to keep track of who you ve cotacted, their cotact iformatio, your iterview questios, what you ve leared, ad what you wat to do ext. You could also do this via a Excel spreadsheet or other computer software. What s most importat is that you develop some system for keepig track of your cotacts. You ever kow whe you ll eed to cotact them agai. Make a list of everyoe you ca thik of who ca help you. Decide who you re goig to cotact first, ad what you will ask them. Remember ot to ask them for a job the purpose of etworkig is to develop a relatioship first ad ask favors later Califoria Commuity Colleges Chacellor s Office

3 Professioal Networkig 3. Decide what you eed to kow about your field. Now that you ve idetified the career field or job you re iterested i, develop some questios you d like to ask someoe i your field of iterest Start by figurig out the reaso you would wat to speak with them what iformatio do you wat to collect? Here are some ideas: Icrease your kowledge of a career field Lear about the geographic area i which this perso lives Fid a itership Ask to have your skills ad backgroud aalyzed Ask them to review your résumés ad cover letter Ask for ames of potetial employers (idividuals or orgaizatios) Lear what you ca do ow to improve your chaces of beig hired Lear what courses to take before you graduate With the help of your career ceter or professioal orgaizatio, idetify someoe who could help you lear more about your career field. Idetify 3 thigs you would like to lear from this perso Califoria Commuity Colleges Chacellor s Office

4 Professioal Networkig 4. Develop good questios to ask your etwork. There are literally hudreds of questios you could ask people i your etwork. Avoid questios which ca easily be aswered o the iteret or by readig the orgaizatio s brochures. Cosider questios that focus o preparatio or traiig for the field, such as: How do people break ito this field? What is the best preparatio for this kid of work? Are there courses I should be takig? Should I do a itership? Do you recommed a particular site? You ca also ask questios about how to get a job i the field: Ideally, what should I have o my résumé? How did you get your start i this field? Ca you recommed particular employers I should look ito? Here are some geeral questios worth askig: Ca you provide ames of others who would be able to give me iformatio ad advice this career field? May I say that you suggested I cotact them? Are there importat thigs I eed to kow about this field that I have t brought up? Write dow at least 5 questios you would ask if you met someoe i your field of iterest Califoria Commuity Colleges Chacellor s Office

5 Professioal Networkig 5. Cotact your etwork professioally. Now that you kow why you re cotactig someoe i your etwork, it s importat to approach the process professioally. Your goal is to attai a iformatio iterview, ot a job. The quickest way to cut off a valuable etworkig cotact is to ask for a job. While the idividual might have a job available at some time, your iitial goal is to get iformatio, ot employmet. With that i mid, here are some helpful hits about iformatio iterviewig Be prepared with questios. Respect your cotact s time; do your research ahead of time so you do t ask questios which could be easily aswered olie. You ever kow who ca help you i this process. Be polite to everyoe ad follow up, eve if the lead does t seem promisig. Follow up. Express your gratitude i writig. If you take actio based o somethig they suggested, let them kow. If you wat to cotiue the relatioship, ask if it s OK to cotact them agai whe you re further alog i your job search process. Whe you get a job, cotact the idividual ad thak them for their help i the process. Select oe cotact, prepare your questios, ad coect with them via or o the phoe. Set up a time to meet or talk about the career field you re iterested i Califoria Commuity Colleges Chacellor s Office

6 Professioal Networkig 6. Create your olie brad. Remember that first midset-- that you are always self- employed ad resposible for your career? Well, oe aspect of beig resposible for your career is creatig your persoal brad so that you are ot defied by your job title or cofied to your curret job descriptio. A strog brad esures that you stad out from the competitio. Here are two questios to help you develop your brad: What makes you distictive: what skills, educatio or experiece do you have that a employer might be iterested i? How are you better tha someoe else with the same educatio? Oce you have a idea of your brad, ad what makes you uique, you will wat to share it with potetial employers. This icludes craftig your résumé, collectig samples of your work, ad developig a olie presece. Pla to become a expert i your field. Showcase your talets olie by creatig a LikedI accout, settig up a website ad/or blog, or startig a professioal Twitter accout Califoria Commuity Colleges Chacellor s Office

7 Professioal Networkig 7. someoe o your etwork. If you re usig to get i touch with your cotact, cosider the followig guidelies: Watch the toe of your you should be friedly ad polite, but ot too iformal. Explai why you are writig ad how you obtaied their cotact iformatio Keep your writig clear ad cocise. Do ot write legthy messages or ask questios which demad a legthy reply. Always reread ad spell-check your s before sedig them. Do ot use ALL CAPITALS or all small letters. Use stadard puctuatio ad grammar. Start by explaiig why you re writig ad ask if the perso is willig to aswer some questios. Wait for a reply before sedig your questios, ad always offer to call istead if the cotact would prefer. Here s a sample Greetigs, Mr. Wilso: My ame is Emily Smith ad I am a studet at, majorig i. I received your ame from their alumi database ad I was woderig if you would be willig to aswer some questios I have about your career i? I ca them to you or call you if you are iterested i helpig me. Thak you for cosiderig my request just let me kow how you would prefer that I cotact you. Sicerely, Emily Smith Write a sample i your word processor ad save it to use whe you cotact someoe o your etwork Califoria Commuity Colleges Chacellor s Office

8 Professioal Networkig 8. Call someoe o your etwork. Before you pick up the phoe ad call someoe o your etwork: Be prepared kow why you re callig ad what you re goig to say. Soud friedly, cofidet, ad eergetic. Try ot to soud rushed, eve though you might be ervous. Use the perso s ame whe you speak with them. Call early i the morig ad i the middle of the week. Your cotact may ot aswer the phoe him/herself. Be polite to everyoe. Explai your purpose i callig. If the cotact is t available, fid out the best time to call back. I geeral, you should ot ask them to call you. Have your list of questios ready. Refer to your résumé whe appropriate. It s OK to leave 2 messages with the cotact, but if you get o respose, let it go. Sed a thak you ote after your coversatio, regardless of whether it was by phoe, , or i perso. Here s a sample script for the aswerig machie: Hello, Ms. Smith, my ame is Jae Smith ad I am a major at. Professor Joes suggested I cotact you because I m cosiderig a career i. I was woderig if it would be possible to have 15 miutes of your time to talk about careers i? I will try to call you agai ad I hope we ca coect. Thak you for your time. If you would prefer to call me, my umber is. Fill i the blaks o the script ad call a potetial source of help for your career. (Ad be prepared for the perso to aswer!) 2011 Califoria Commuity Colleges Chacellor s Office

9 Professioal Networkig 9. Take advatage of guest speakers. Most colleges ad academic departmets host speakers regularly. Sometimes they preset to the geeral public, but ofte they speak to people studyig your major or i a specific class. Outside speakers have the potetial to ehace your etwork. Next time your professor metios a speaker comig to campus, go to their talk. Go up to the speaker afterward ad thak them for comig. Tell them what you ejoyed about their talk. Ask them if they have ay suggestios for someoe startig out i the field. Thak them for their advice ad, if possible, get their address to sed them a thak-you . You ever kow who they might kow, or where this iteractio might lead Califoria Commuity Colleges Chacellor s Office

10 Professioal Networkig 10. Network through a professioal associatio. If your professioal associatio (ad you are a member of at least oe ow, right?) has a etworkig evet or other social evet, go to it. As you wader aroud the receptio, take ote of the participats ametags for possible coectios or iterestig opportuities. Exchage busiess cards, ad write o the back of their card why this perso might be of iterest, such as Bill s compay hires ew grads frequetly. Use this iformatio whe you cotact them via phoe or . Fid out the ext date for a meetig, etwork evet, or other gatherig of the professioal associatio you have joied. Sig up to atted ad be ready to etwork! 2011 Califoria Commuity Colleges Chacellor s Office