Advice
Everyone has probably heard the phrase, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” about a million times.
People do business with people they know and like. People refer business to people they trust. Building a true referral network takes time and effort. You will most likely have to give your elevator pitch many times before someone comes back with a referral or potential job opportunity.
The Auxperts have compiled their top tips and tricks for successful networking and are excited to share them with you!
- Always Be Networking
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- You should consider every scenario as an opportunity to build relationships. If you solely seek out networking when you are on the job hunt, you are essentially telling people they are only important when they can help you. Building genuine relationships takes time and you should start doing so before you need their help!
- Be Patient
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- Aggressive networking tends to never work out the way you want it to and may leave you looking desperate. Many people will see this as a major turnoff and you don’t want to burn bridges within your network. Meaningful connections and relationships take time so do yourself a favor and trust the process.
- Thank Your Contacts
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- Always make sure you take the time to thank anyone who offers their time and resources to help you. The last thing you want is for your network to feel you do not value them. Sending a thank you note is always a good idea!
- Work On Your Elevator Pitch
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- A good pitch is a 30-60 second summary of who you are, what you do, and why you’re the perfect candidate. This will come up a lot when you are networking so refining it is essential to landing strong referrals (see Elevator Pitch blog post for more info!)
- Join Professional Organizations
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- There are associated professional organizations that you can join related to a variety of careers and many of these organizations have events, professional development seminars and workshops. They are great places to find a mentor, meet other like-minded individuals, learn about industry trends and possibly learn about unadvertised job openings.
