Your encounter will be made even more memorable by creating and carrying your own personal
“business” cards that have your contact information on one side and a summary of your attributes
on the back side.
Arriving late to events: Going to a networking
event or social happy hour can be intimidating
when you are not familiar with the program, organization, or participants. Nothing feels worse than
walking into a crowded room of people who have
already grouped together and are engaged in animated conversations. To make things more comfortable, arrive to your event a few minutes early,
so that you can approach newcomers and help get
the conversations started. If you decide to arrive
with a colleague, make sure you don’t clump together and appear unapproachable to others. Divide and conquer so that you each meet new
people, and then reconnect by introducing each
other to the new contacts you just made.
Overlooking chance encounters: Many people
miss out on the chance encounters that happen in
our daily lives. Shopping at the grocery store,
waiting for a car repair, or watching your kid’s
soccer game, all provide opportunities for conversations (including networking) to take place. Be
prepared to explain briefly what you do and what
you are looking for but don’t dominate the conversation. Networking is a two-way street, so learn
about your contact by listening and asking followup questions. You never know when your paths
may cross again or when you have a reason to reach
out.
22
Strictly Marketing Magazine May/June 2016
So why is networking so important? According to
the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 70% of jobs are
filled by networking. The Wall Street Journal also
indicates that 80% of job openings are unadvertised, and 90% are filled by employee referrals.
Since networking is important for gathering information and contributing to others, be sure to avoid
these common mistakes so that you can build and
maintain relationships that will help you throughout your lifetime.
Tonya Osmond, University of Richmond Career Advisor
http://careerservices.richmond.edu/about/tosmond/