18: How to Ensure Your Career Networking Is Worth The Time

0:00 If you've listened to the previous episode in this series on networking for your career, that's episode 17, then you're probably on your way to getting more people to say"yes" to having a conversation with you. That's great, but I think we all know that the quality and usefulness of those conversations can vary a lot. When I was an executive recruiter at a top 20 firm, there were weeks when I booked dozens of networking calls, and some were better than others. Over time, I learned that the quality of my networking conversations was mainly up to me. By observing my more experienced colleagues, I developed a specific approach to ensure that the networking conversations I had were as productive as possible.

0:44 And you can apply the same approach to your own networking efforts. Stay tuned and find out how.

1:29 Getting pitched or sold to by someone you barely know just doesn't feel good. A networking conversation shouldn't be about pitching or selling. Yes, your ultimate goal is to get a job or generally advance your career. That's a given. But the first objective of most networking should be to learn as much as possible. Making new friends in an industry or area of focus comes in a close second. To accomplish these two objectives, that is learning as much as you can and making some friends, it's critical that you get people to open up. They can't, or maybe won't, do that if you immediately launch into an elevator pitch the second you get a minute with them.

2:12 So resist the urge. You'll be better off, and so will the people you reach out to. Most of the people you reach out to in your networking likely won't have leads for jobs. It's the cold hard truth. Now that may end up being a little frustrating, and it can make networking seem like a lot of effort at first for little payoff, but the time you're spending with these contacts isn't pointless. When you engage with a networking contact, they may have things other than job leads that can help you in your job search and ultimately advance your career. They may have thoughts about your career strategy, the industry you work in or want to work in, the good companies to work for, the ones you want to avoid.

2:57 and countless other things. In other words, they may have ideas and information that could save you hours, weeks, and even years of frustration. But they'll need a little time to get to the point where their ideas are flowing and they feel comfortable enough with you to share them. Most people aren't primed to brainstorm effectively and make quick connections when they first engage in a conversation. I learned that when I did some marketing research earlier in my career. They need time to warm up and they may also need a few prompts. When I worked in executive search, I saw that my fellow recruiters were highly skilled at engaging other people and getting them in the proper frame of mind to help them brainstorm networking strategies that would unearth potential sources and candidates for their clients.

3:48 My colleagues knew not to dive into that exercise too quickly or they'd risk having their networking contact freeze up, or even shut down. So most of my colleagues took a minute or two when they first got on a networking call for some warm up conversation, which usually meant getting the contact to talk about how things had been going in their work and life. It wasn't just a good warm-up exercise, it also built rapport and could be the beginning of a productive and mutually beneficial longer-term relationship, or the fuel that kept a longer-term relationship going. When my colleagues ultimately did turn the conversation to their client's search, they usually offered a brief description of the role they were recruiting for, the client, and the qualities the recruiter thought they needed in a candidate.

4:36 They were careful to leave things open enough that their networking contact would have the mental space to think creatively or even provide out-of-the-box suggestions. After all, my colleagues' strategies might not have been perfect, and might have needed some adjustment. If they were to get overly specific too soon in the conversation, like floating a particular person as a potential candidate, it might have prematurely limited their contact's thinking, and my colleagues might have missed out on some new ideas and some good strategies. So to apply this technique from executive search to your own networking, you'd ideally start a conversation by asking questions about the other person and listening more than you talk.

5:20 Check their profile out on LinkedIn. Find something interesting in their background or that you might have in common. Maybe you both lived in the same city. Maybe you went to rival colleges. Ask them about it. Get them to talk a little about themselves and their experiences. Most people like to talk about themselves, and they really like people who listen. Be that person who shows an interest in their background. Listen and ask a follow-up question or two. There's no better way to show that you truly are listening than asking a good follow-up question. Just the other day, someone I was meeting with noticed on my LinkedIn profile that I'd been a co-founder of Boston's first dog park and had raised a good deal of money for it.

6:05 It was a while ago, but they still asked me about it. It made me feel good, recognized. I acknowledged that I had been involved in that work and that they must have read pretty far down my LinkedIn profile to see that one. Then, they asked if it had been hard to raise the money for the dog park. I said a few words about it. It had been a lot of work, and I felt even better about myself, and better about the person who noticed the contribution I had made to the city and was interested enough to ask that follow-up question. So there you go. I'm not immune to this technique. Very few people are even if they realize what's happening.

6:47 It still feels good. Give it a try. So once you've gotten your networking contact warmed up, they may be willing to share more with you, like knowledge they've gained in their career or insights they've picked up along the way. Your networking contact may have also considered alternative career paths that you haven't even thought of yet. You could ask questions like,"If you weren't at your current company, where else might you be?" It's one of my favorite questions, and the answer could be very helpful and yield some of the most important insights your networking produces. It could actually change the whole trajectory of your career.

7:27 So at some point in the conversation, if the person you're engaging with is polite, and most people usually are, they're going to ask you about your plans. Be ready with a response, but forget most of that advice you've gotten about an elevator pitch. Instead, describe what you're looking for in conversational terms, what's motivated you to want to do that kind of work, and how you think you'd be able to make a contribution wherever you might land. Be clear, but not overly specific. Start with something like,"I'm hoping to lead product innovation in a fast-growing health tech company. I enjoy working with leading edge technology. And I've always been able to get technical and business people to work together collaboratively." You can get more specific with regard to things like title and target companies after you've engaged your contact for a while.

8:18 If you're too specific initially, you'll potentially be limiting your contact's creativity, which might reduce the potential value of your networking conversation. Even worse, you can end up shutting the conversation down. If you say that you're looking for a head of product role at company A, B, or C, chances are that your networking contact won't know of any open jobs like that in those particular companies. So, conversation over. And your contact probably won't think too far beyond that pretty specific description you provided. They could have potentially had other ideas, but they may refrain from sharing them since you seem to have a pretty specific idea of what you wanted.

9:01 So warm your contact up. Ditch the elevator pitch and show some interest in them and their background. Get them to talk about themselves and share insights they've had about their career and be ready to speak about what you're hoping to do in conversational terms. If you wanna refresh on describing your own personal narrative in a format that's concise and easy to say, and more importantly to remember, check out Episode One of this podcast. It's called What's Your Narrative? So let's assume you've had a good conversation with your networking contact. You've potentially made a new friend in your industry, and you've picked up some information and insight that can help you plan and advance your own career.

9:46 That's all great, but anyone who has tried networking for a living knows how this might ultimately work out. You have a list of people to call, you get over your doubts and fears, you reach out, you have a series of interesting, feel-good conversations, and then nothing. No leads, not a one. Remember what I said about networking potentially feeling like a lot of work with very little to show for it? The executive recruiters I worked with knew that sustained networking over weeks and even months is crucial to successfully closing searches for their clients. It's usually not that hard for a recruiter to think of the first few people they might call to get things going.

10:30 It's pretty rare though that they're going to find their entire candidate pool in the first round of outreach. They know that to close a search with a great pool of candidates, they may need to reach out to hundreds of people in a particular professional community. Some of the most demoralizing moments I had as an executive recruiter involved coming to the realization that I was running out of people to call when I was up against a deadline to build a candidate pool for a client. So here's a pretty simple approach I learned from my colleagues to avoid ever being in that dead in the water situation. The executive recruiters I worked with and learned from sustained their networking efforts with a chain of referrals.

11:14 They got into the regular habit of asking each person they spoke with for names of other potential sources they could contact for their search. If each person they reached out to came up with just one name, or ideally two or three, then their networking effort would only stop when they decided it was time for it to stop. No dead ends, no brick walls. So always ask for referrals. At the end of every networking conversation, make a habit of saying something like,"Now that you know all of this, is there anyone else that you think I should speak with?" Most people will be able to think of at least one person, or, ideally, two or three.

11:55 Some may be able to do it on the spot, but some may require a follow-up ping a few days later to give them some time to think about it. Once you get the name, or names, it might feel natural to say,"Great! I'll just look them up on LinkedIn." Don't do it. Be sure to ask for just one more thing. You can say something like,"These are great suggestions. Thank you so much. You've already been so generous with your time, and I don't want this to be a lot of work for you, but would you mind letting them know I'm going to be in touch? Or, if you're comfortable with it, you could introduce us via email or LinkedIn, and I can take it from there." That way, you start the interaction with your new contact through an actual introduction.

12:40 You won't need to explain to the new contact how you found them, and your new connection will be much more likely to help you if they're certain that you found your way to them through someone they already know and trust. So forget diving into an elevator pitch the next time you get on a networking call. Instead of making the person you're reaching out to listen to you, try listening to them first. Get them to open up and share their experiences and insights. And if they don't offer referrals on their own, don't forget to ask for them and for an introduction. If you do that in every conversation, you'll never run out of new people to contact and your networking effort can't help but be a success.

13:25 As I learned when I was an executive recruiter, networking is often a numbers game. By doing it well and maintaining your momentum, you'll be increasing the odds in favor of your career advancement.