Networking

Before the meeting, research these categories beforehand:

• overall economy and business climate (if you’re not already familiar)
• job market
• political changes that affect your industry or job function
• generally available information about the industry or job function
• readily available about the organization and person you’re meeting with

Know some general information about the person you’re talking to, such as:

• job title and specialty areas
• how long they have worked at their current organization
• other jobs they have had
• educational background
• nonprofit boards they serve on or volunteer work
• professional memberships and certifications they have

Know the company they work for, such as:

• recent important events involving the organization
• press releases
• key customers
• new product introductions
• milestones
• pending deals
• positive news write-ups

All of this can help you not only be more informed about the person but create better questions to ask to help your exploration process. You can generally find this information easily on LinkedIn, the company’s website, and through search engines.

Be prepared to take notes during your session and give your contact your full attention!

• Arrive for your meeting early, but not too early. If you’re meeting in a public place like a coffee shop, you can be early and wait. However, if you’re meeting at their office, it may throw off their schedule if you arrive too early. If you are late, it may look as if you don’t value their time or do not care about meeting them.
• Express gratitude. Thank them for making time to meet you and for sharing their expertise.
• Highlight connections. Remind them how you know each other or what connected you. This will help them recall what commonalities you have. If they are coming form a day of hectic meetings, they might need this reminder.
• Set the agenda. This will show you are leading the meeting, have done preparation, and are being considerate of their time.

Share a short, concise introduction to you. This is not unlike an elevator pitch in that it is short and not too detailed. You may want to have a copy of your resume handy to share with them or send it in advance. Include:

• general sense of your experience/what you’ve done or what you’re studying
• share how many years of experience you have in a certain role or what year in school you are
• highlight your background
• add where you’ve worked/interned/volunteered
• highlight any additional mutual connections you might have

Have 5 prepared questions prepared for the conversation. Having a limited number of questions will ensure there is time for conversation. The person you’re networking with may talk longer than the time you’ve allotted – that’s okay. Make sure you’re keeping track of time and make sure they are okay with going longer if you both want to keep talking. Otherwise, redirect to another question or wrapping up.

Questions 1-3

Your first three questions should be from research you did. The should be framed as “Observation + related question.” The following are examples of this structure:

• You received a bachelors of science in MIS. Did that set you on a path for managing people?
• You’ve worked as a financial analyst for two different companies. Do you suppose a CFA certification is necessary for [a particular role]?
• I saw you studied abroad in [Location] at college. Would you recommend that experience for someone interested in communications?

Question 4

As if they can recommend someone else for you to connect with. The answer may be no and that’s okay! Any insight they have can be helpful in your next steps. Example ways to ask this are below:

• Do you know someone else with a web developer background who might answer the same questions I’ve asked you?
• You used to work for the Orpheum Theater. DO you have any current or former event planning colleagues from there who I could touch base with?

Question 5

This question is, “How can I help you?” You might not feel like you’re in a space to provide support, but you’d surprised what insight you might be able to share. Has this contact expressed interested in learning about a topic that someone else you know has particular expertise in? Is there anything in your research that could tip you off in something you can share? Even just asking “How can I help you?” can show you want this to be a two-way street of support.

Questions to avoid:

• anything you should be able to discover in your research
• personal questions – if they want to talk about their family, outside work interests, hobbies, and other such topics – that’s fine! But let them be the ones to bring it up
• resume review such as “What do you think of my resume?” If they’ve offered to discuss it, that’s one thing, but there are plenty of other folks you can get resume support from
• asking for insider knowledge about the organization they work for that isn’t publicly available
• for a job or if they are hiring – this kind of directness is not what networking is about and will not help you land roles. You can do your own research to find out if the organization is hiring

• Review any actions or next steps you have – connecting them with someone, reaching out to someone yourself
• Express more gratitude (for their time, support, knowledge, etc.)

• Make sure your notes and communication with them are organized and easy for you to follow
• Engage in whatever type of follow-up makes the most sense based on your conversation:
  • Immediate: reach out to them with more gratitude and/or connecting them with something you offered
  • Referring contact: make a mutual introduction for this contact and someone else you offered to introduce them to
  • Ongoing follow-up: If you plan on meeting again, you can arrange that. Otherwise, keep in contact with this individual to share your progress and to see how you can support them. Make sure not to email too frequently but quarterly or semester updates can be nice, depending on what level of connection the contact expresses.