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You’ve been growing your contacts on LinkedIn, but I don’t want you to forget about connections you have with people who might not be on LinkedIn too.
I want to tell you a story.
In my corporate career, I used a consultant to do satisfaction surveying of our customers. I also ran a summer leadership camp for high school students. One year, I needed a speaker for the camp. My consultant had a son who was a youth speaker. He came and spoke and we became friends. Later in life, he introduced me to my publisher.
Connections can be valuable throughout your career. You never know when a connection might have a valuable key to your next step or a solution to a problem.
Relationships are a vital part of the work environment.
The worksheet attached walks you through identifying a key contact for each of your goals. If you need an introduction, put that under goals. If you need more training in a specific area, put that in your goals. If you need information on the day to day of a career you’re interested in, add that to you goals. Then for each goal, think about who you know – either personally or someone you know who can facilitate that introduction. Those will go either under the “People you know” heading or “People I Need to Meet” heading. They can be either a personal connection or a “virtual” one. The last column is just a reminder to practice gratitude throughout this process. How can you return the favor. It can be as simple as a thank you note, a batch of cookies, a gift card for coffee or volunteering at an event that matters to the person. You pick what works best for you.
When we started this week, you made a list of people you knew to search for on LinkedIn to start growing your network. I’m sure not everyone you listed had a profile. So today, I want you to focus on that group of people.
Think about people you go to work with. Think about who cuts your hair. Maybe your neighbor works for the company you’ve been eyeing a position at. Take time and sort through that list. Make a note of where you see them. Make a plan to reach out to them either by phone or in person.
Ask family members to talk to their friends as well. You’ll be amazed at how fast your network grows when you start working it.
I always like to urge people to show gratitude along the journey as well. If someone makes an introduction make sure you let them know it mattered, even if it’s just with a thank you note. Maybe you could volunteer at a charity event with them or bake them a batch of cookies. People will go out of their way to help someone they know appreciates it. (More on this later in the week.)
Once you land your job, remember to pass it along to the next person you encounter who is looking for their next career move as well.