Tag Archives: Networking

Two ways to Robo-Network (no need to talk to people)

Posted on April 2, 2014 | Leave a comment

Do you want to be known as the person who can solve any problem?

Then go to where people with problems are: online.  I assume you are an expert at your profession.  Go online and find an online forum where you can contribute.  You can ask your co-workers and teachers what online forums they suggest.  I just did a Google search on “Sarbanes Oxley audit forums” and got a very specialized list of forums.  Spend a few hours getting to know your forum and its tone, then hop right in and offer some help. 

Did you know there are recruiters and researchers that specialize in finding smart people in online forums?  They do it for accountants, programmers, truckers, pilots and a lot more occupations.  More important, the people who rely on the forum often let others know where jobs are.  Generally they take the conversation offline, where others are not involved.  That’s why you don’t see it. 

So let’s say you let slip that you are from Harrisburg, PA.  Someone else says they are from York, PA.  You send an email outside the system to that person and place each other in your network.

Want to extend this?  Add people who give you their business card at a class.  For all the people you have in your network, keep two email address lists.  One for the occasional, “How are you doing,” contact.  Send an email every few months with a little personal update.  Have another email list for the folks you want in your close network.  Find a reason to email them more often.  It could be with a note about something you saw in an online forum you want to make sure they noticed.  Make sure both lists know when you are looking for a job.

Two ways to Robo-network:  Contribute to online forums and make email lists to keep people in your network.   

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Something To Do Today

Find an online forum about your expertise.  Help someone there with an answer they need.

Tomorrow:     Giving your way into a job

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Forget lunch. Other ways to network

Posted on April 1, 2014 | Leave a comment

I know you will not invite to lunch most of the people you see every day. I know that.  So now, how do you network with them?

At the office lunchroom, at church, at association meetings, before and after business meetings, at classes, waiting for the bus, at technology events, business fairs and anywhere else people are doing what you are doing, network.  Talk to teachers especially.  They have contacts with people in every business and class they teach.  Search out salespeople.  They spend their whole day getting to know decision makers.  Give a salesperson a lead and they will do their best to help you with your needs.   

Everyone you meet knows someone else.  Get in the habit of talking to people.  It is always a little frightening.  One of the most outgoing people I know told me, “People say they wish they could be like me and just say hello to strangers.  What they don’t realize is that it is also hard for me to do it.  I just force myself to say hello and a conversation usually follows.”

Back to the old formula, talk with a person about their successes, then ask them for advice.  The absolute greatest book ever written on the subject of engaging people in conversation is How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie.  It is written in small segments so you can read and apply one lesson a day.  I have re-read the book several times. 

If you are going to be meeting with people you may never see again, bring business cards.  You can make them on your computer and there are a lot of places on the internet that will make them inexpensively.  Don’t forget your email address as well as phone numbers.

Why business cards? If you are networking with people who have no way to contact you later, you haven’t built much of a network.  Understand that most of your cards will be thrown away within a week, but some will be kept.  My best success has been with magnetic business cards, but they are expensive. 

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Something To Do Today

Get a copy of How To Win Friends And Influence People by Dale Carnegie.  Libraries and bookstores all have copies.  Start reading one chapter a day and applying it.

If you don’t have business cards, get them or make them.

Tomorrow:     Even more ways to network.

Later:              Other things to say to draw them in.

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Ask the CEO to lunch? Easy for you to say!

Posted on March 31, 2014 | Leave a comment

Is this what networking feels like to you?

Okay girl, you see that guy over there?  Go introduce yourself and ask him to marry you.  Okay? 

That is NOT networking.

Let’s talk about networking, not speed dating.  Don’t ask anyone to be your mentor before you have met.  Don’t ask for a job.  Don’t offer to wash their car.  Just ask them to lunch to discuss some things you think they can help you with.

How can you get a leader of industry to have lunch with you? Ask for their help. Leaders are usually compulsive helpers, organizers and/or control freaks.  When you first call them up have a list of at least 5 things you can ask them or talk to them about.  Have it beforehand because they may start talking to you on the phone or invite you right to their office. 

First, what not to ask:                                 

  • Please be my mentor.  That’s like asking to be married.  A real mentor has to feel comfortable with you.  They’ll take over the role as you go to them for advice.
  • Make me a vice president, please.  This is networking, not a final job interview. 
  • I will do anything to be your personal assistant.  This question isn’t networking.  It is only appropriate if you are willing to make a 100% commitment, push and push for a yes, and are willing to work for free.  It is not a way to start a network.  You will probably be turned down even after pushing hard for 20 minutes, but it may be worth a try.  Be willing to accept a total win or becoming a leper.

Good questions to ask:

  • I want to earn a job like yours, what did you do to break out from my level?
  • You’ve seen a hundred guys like me, what do they really do to stand out and succeed?
  • You have a panoramic perspective compared to me, what would you focus on in your career if you were me?
  • You’ve seen people get education and succeed and others get education and fail.  What kind of education will best serve me?
  • You are the best technician I’ve heard of, what can I do differently from the average guy to get the reputation you have?
  • I don’t want to manage, I just want to have my work respected like yours.  How did you break out from the pack and what can I do out of the ordinary to start moving to your level?
  • You know this business.  I want to succeed at it, but I sometimes worry that I’m attacking it wrong.  What would you do if you were me?

Do you get the idea?  Compliment them by telling them what they have done better than you, then, ask them to tell you how to do the same starting at your level.

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Something To Do Today

Call 3 people you want to network with and say, “I’d like to take you to lunch.  Are you free one day next week?”  If they ask, “Why?” then tell them, “I need some advice from someone I respect.”  And be prepared to go talk with them immediately.

Tomorrow:  Forget lunch. Other ways to network.

Later:          Other things to say to draw them in.

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The first step towards networking – leadership

Posted on March 26, 2014 | Leave a comment

Networking?  It is leadership.  Some of the best connected network creators I know have never been managers, but they all have been leaders. Here is how I learned the most critical lesson in leadership.

I was 19 years old and clueless.  I was sitting in a chair and told my roommate, “We’ve got to get going.” 

He just sat in his chair and looked at me.

“Come on, get up.  We’ve got to get that done now,” I said from my chair.

He stared at me a little more wide eyed and offended.

“Look.  You have to get up.  We agreed I’d lead this project.”

“Bryan,” he finally said, “there is no way I am getting up out of my seat before you do.  If you are going to be the leader, you’ve got to get up first and start acting like you really mean what you say.”

That was one of the best lessons in leadership I ever had.

Leaders show by what they do that they mean what they say.  They invest themselves in a decision before they expect others to follow. 

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Something To Do Today

Take the lead or watch a leader take charge of a group.

Starting tomorrow I will be giving at least one suggestion each day for networking.

For a few days:         How to network at the top.

Creating networks

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Posted in management, Networking

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Are You Networking With Minnows?

Posted on March 20, 2014 | Leave a comment

You can learn a lot about networking by watching fish

Did you ever watch minnows?  They can be in a five gallon bucket or a 500 acre lake and they still have a 3 gallon comfort zone.  Sometimes they will be in a group with other minnows and explore a few more cubic feet of water.  The only thing that really gets them out of their comfort zone is a big hungry fish.  As soon as that big fish is gone, they go right back to their comfort zone.

Medium sized fish are no better.   Only one out of a hundred minnows grows up to be a middling sized fish.  They live in an area about 20 feet by 20 feet in size.  He defends that territory and refuses to leave unless a bigger fish chases him out.  It doesn’t matter if he is in a backyard pond or Lake Superior.  He lives in a 20’x 20’ area.

Forget the size of your personal pond.  How big of an area do you live in?  Is your influence limited by the size of the pond you are in….or by your comfort zone?

Now look at your job search.  Do the big fish scare you?  Do you stay away from them because you don’t think YOU are worth their time?

Big fish won’t eat you.  If you talk to someone too important, they won’t take your car from you.  If you ask a really important person for help they never send for an armed guard to drag you to the dungeon and beat you.

So why do you stay in your 3 gallons of water?  …or your 20’ x 20’ kingdom?

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Something To Do Today

In your job journal write down the limits of your pond.  How big is the company where you work or last worked?  How many companies use people with your skills?  How many countries use people with your skills?  The size of your pond is limited by the number of places you would work and your skills, not the size of the department you are in.

Later:  The rudest people I met as a missionary.

and:   I really saw a crab do this!

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Why people you barely know are better to network with

Posted on October 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

Your closest friends are less useful in a job search than people you barely know.

Anti-intuitive, but true.  Here’s why.

The people you know well are few in number, and may all work in only 2 or 3 different companies.  They all know about the same job openings.

There are a lot more people you barely know.  They are spread through a much more diverse set of companies and geographical areas.  There is a much better chance that the people you barely know will tell you about a job or company you didn’t know exists.

Some studies have been done on job hunting through strong and weak networks.  It turns out that people really do get better job leads from weak connections.

Moral of the story: Tell everyone you know, meet, and recognize about your job search.  You may just get a lead to an unbeatable job by talking to those folks you barely know.

Something To Do Today

Have you been spreading your job net as wide as you can?  Talk to people you barely know from an association, your church, a club, or your kid’s soccer league.  Tell them about your job search.  It may just work.

And, do talk to your close friends about your job search.

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Later:                                  How many times…

A Korean attitude

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Posted in Finding jobs, Networking

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7 tools inside the box. What’s wrong with thinking inside the box?

Posted on May 31, 2013 | Leave a comment

I’ll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there’s evidence of any thinking going on inside it. (Terry Pratchett)

7 tools inside the box 

I got an email that said, “I finally got a job networking.”

The job came from handing out lots of business cards.  Often you get lucky working inside the box.  The box is where the proven tools are stored.  It is where most jobs are found.  Sure, think outside the box.  It might work.  First, use all the tools in the box.

This is the box

  1. Look for a job while still employed, if you can.
  2. Concentrate most on the jobs and companies you want most.
  3. Use an accomplishment filled resume – it proves you can do the job.
  4. Get the credentials of an expert.
  5. Constantly network – let people know you are looking, follow up.
  6. Watch the job ads – internet and newspaper.
  7. Use recruiters and constantly follow up with them.

Are you using all the tools inside the box?

Something to do today

Concentrate on a different tool every day or every week of your job search.  It helps keep the hunt from getting boring.

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How to wait for the next interview

Be a squeaky wheel

Get the credentials of an expert

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Posted in Finding jobs, Focus, Networking, Perseverance, Recruiters, Resumes

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What the smartest guy in the room does

Posted on May 22, 2013 | Leave a comment

A stupid person can make only certain, limited types of errors; the mistakes open to a clever fellow are far broader. But to the one who knows how smart he is compared to everyone else, the possibilities for true idiocy are boundless.  (Steven Brust)

The smartest guy in the room

Frank was a legend. Phil was a legend in his own mind.

Phil gave off an odor of conceit.  He would condescend to help others.  He had very important things to do. He promoted himself all the time. We got tired of hearing him talk about another project he finished.  That boy could talk, as long as the subject was himself.

Frank entered a room of 20 people and the collective IQ doubled.  He listened.  Frank tended to migrate towards the leaders and managers.  They also migrated towards him.  He talked and mingled happily with the rest of us.  He was friendly and helpful.  Frank used persuasion and experience to sway others.  He also told his bosses in private, on paper and in emails of what he had suggested, whom he helped and what he accomplished.  In other words he reported back on everything to his leaders.  He got credit where it counted.

Frank even got credit for helping me, a peon.  He kept track.  He let his boss know how many hours he spent helping others.  He kept track of the projects he assisted.  He reported it.

Phil bragged, strutted and annoyed.  Frank helped, improved, reported and got credit.

Are you Phil or Frank?  Or are you just afraid to let people know how much you do?  A lot of people know a Phil.  They don’t want to be a self centered, conceited, bragging laughing stock.  So they hide what they do.  They don’t become a Frank.  Frank was well respected by all.  He helped and accomplished, and got credit for it where it counts.

Report back to your boss.  Keep a job journal.  Know and show what you do.

Something to do today

Give your manager a report each week of all the things you get done.  He may not really know how useful you are.

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Top articles from the archives while I take some Scouts into the woods

Humility and job suicide, there is a difference

What’s wrong with the box?

How to wait for the next interview

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Posted in Attitude, Networking, talent

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New job search tools in LinkedIn

Posted on April 5, 2013 | Leave a comment

LinkedIn has some tools you may not have seen or used.

First thing to do is to link to me on LinkedIn.  bryan@dilts.us

Then read this article.  Note that there are 7 pages to go through on the right hand column.

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2 ways to exploit the good old boys network

Posted on March 15, 2013 | Leave a comment

My partner Karen was pointedly told, “We can’t use you as a recruiter.”  She went to the head of HR and said, “I was just told you can’t use me anymore.  Is that true?”  The answer was, “Of course we can still use you.  You bring us our best people.”

Karen was part of the good old boy network in several banks and other companies.  She knew who to call.  They knew they should call her when they have a particular problem.  Karen exploits them, and they exploit Karen. Actually, it is a case of mutual trust.

How to exploit the network

There are two ways to exploit the network.

1. Become part of it.

2. Get a couple of powerful players to trust you so you can use them.

By the way, number two is number one on a minor scale.

The way to exploit the network is to become part of it.  It isn’t a matter of becoming the chief string puller.  You need to discover two or three influencers and take them to lunch, help them out or get their help.  The manager 2 levels above you relies on the advice of a host of people.  Who does he rely on in cases you care about?  Which people have been able to shoot down your favorite projects?  Is there someone who always seems to be able to get a budget for little projects?  Those are people who are significant players in the good old boy network.  They can get things done. They have “juice.”

One more time: invite the folks in the network to lunch one at a time.  Do it after you have had a chance to compliment them about some project they got funded or finished on time.  Tell them you want to talk to them about how they did it.  Ask them to help you understand who influences projects like that. And if they don’t accept your invitation, be prepared to talk with them for a few more minutes about what THEY care about.  The invitation and the conversation are important, not the lunch.

Or you can help them out.  If they have a project, ask if you can help.  Volunteer to do research outside of work hours.  Do what you can. You can even ask them for help or an opinion on one of your projects.

Under capitalism, man exploits man.  Under communism it’s just the opposite. (John Kenneth Galbraith)

The way to exploit the good old boy network is to become a minor or major part of it. You can’t always do it, but it is worth trying.  Don’t worry, you don’t have to knife anyone in the back.  You have to be able to get things done.

Something to do today

Figure out who the “good old boys” are.  Ask them to help you with particular projects that will succeed.  Give them credit for their help.  Get a reputation for winning.

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