You just met some great people that you connected with at a Networking or Hiring Event. You shared contact information and had wonderful conversations. Now is the time to put the work in to make those connections work for you. This is where the real work begins and where most people fall short. Effective networking follow-up is a skill that if done correctly, can help you achieve your goals. Here is a list of things you should make a habit of following the event.
1. Make notes, it is great if you could make notes on their business card during the event, but if you didn’t, make sure you do it right when you get home so that the conversation you had is fresh in your memory. Create a list of actions to implement.
2.Connect with them on LinkedIn. Send them an invite to connect with a personal note telling them that it was great meeting them at the event and that you enjoyed your conversation. “Hi Stan, It was a pleasure to meet you at the Hiring event on Thursday. I thought it might be useful if we connected on LinkedIn to stay in touch. Sincerely, Mary. “
3.Google their name. You never know what else you might find out about them that you might have in common and that you might be able to bring up in a conversation or email.
4.Share content. If you had a conversation and you discussed a specific challenge or topic they are experiencing, look for an opportunity to find content to share with them that might help them. Email them the content with a note reminding them of your conversation and how when you read this article it reminded them of their situation.
5.Follow them on Twitter. Give them a shout out. @Mary Great meeting you last night at the Networking Event.
6.Thank the host of the event. Write a thank you email and connect with them on LinkedIn. A great way to reach out to another person who you can network with.
One of the most important rules of following up after an event is, any kind of correspondence you make initially, make sure that you make it all about the person you are contacting. Relationships are earned and take time. Where most networkers miss the boat in follow up, especially job seekers, is that they ask for something of the contact that they just made from the start. Giving first is always a good policy. This is not the time to ask for something for you. They will be more likely to engage with you if you share with them something that could help them. Once you have built a relationship with this contact and you feel like you have added value, now is the time for you to ask for a call to action. You may ask the person if they know of anyone from your target list of organizations to work for, or even better, if they can refer you to a key decision maker.
Networking and Hiring Events are a powerful way to build new relationships and find opportunities, but only if you follow-up effectively and timely. Make a plan to follow up within 48 hours after your event. Remind the person where and when you met and try to make the conversation more about them than about you and you will be on your way to building some long standing relationships and getting the most out of a networking event.
I work with a gentleman who is looking for work; we’ll call him “Terry”. He has over 14 years of experience in IT, he is certified, the technical skills section on his resume reads like a dictionary of what-to-know, and he’s professional and charming on the phone, but he just blew an interview because of one thing: he told a story about an experience with a previous employer that made him sound “negative” to the hiring manager. When we discussed the story, he was very receptive to feedback and suggestions for improvement, which makes him an even better candidate, even though it was too late for that job.
Losing a job can be one of the most traumatic experiences for a person even when the separation is amicable. When it is not, the experience can color our perception of everything that happens afterward. At Chicago TechWorks, we often work with job seekers who have been laid off. I hear from job seekers about their past experiences of not been treated respectfully by their former employers. While talking about past trauma can be helpful, talking about it with recruiters and interviewers is particularly destructive. It can affect your job search more than you might think, and you might not even realize that you’re rehashing a traumatic experience and appearing negative like Terry.
Trauma is defined as any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. Trauma can be a one-time event, such as a horrible accident or it can stem from ongoing, relentless stress, like long term unemployment. Here’s more information about trauma.
I personally don’t believe that Terry is harboring a negative attitude because of past trauma, at least not in a way that makes him a poor choice to hire, but employers don’t know that. When you tell a story about how you got laid off, or someone treated you poorly and it wasn’t fair, what a recruiter or employer hears is, “I’m a negative person, I’m a victim, I don’t know how to handle disappointment professionally, and I will be difficult to manage”. And because employers can be pickier than they have been in the last decade, they will see any weakness as a reason to exclude you from being hired. Accepting this reality, fair or not, is the first step in helping yourself stay positive.
The second step is taking control and making sure past experiences don’t come back to haunt you in an interview. When people are actually over an incident, they tend not to rehash it. If you must talk about it, state what happened in the shortest clearest way possible, then move on to how you handled the situation professionally and confidently and end on a positive outcome. For example: “I worked as a Systems Analyst for Mibatsu for four years, and then the company decided to outsource my department, which eliminated position. I realized that I had an opportunity to gain some training and earn a certification I hadn’t previously had, and now I’m working on contract jobs to strengthen the depth of my experience.” Then stop talking. Anything about what they did, what they said, how unfair it was, how they discriminated against you; any narrative which gets you trapped in telling a long story which doesn’t highlight the professional way you handled it and came out on top is going to make you look like you are complaining and aren’t over it. That hurts you. Even if you really aren’t over it and you do feel confused, guilty, angry or worthless, there are ways to manage these feelings and get back to the positive you. But until you do, fake it.
Actually staying positive is the third step. When you are hurt, feeling helpless, confused, or your self esteem is suffering from unemployment or from any traumatic event, others can see it. If you think you are hiding it, ask a close friend or loved one to be honest and tell you what they see. Often we would like to think that we are putting up a good front and coping but you can only really do that well for a few hours (like in an interview), for prolonged periods, it is very difficult to monitor yourself so well that no negativity seeps out. Fake-it-until-you-make-it is a temporary fix. That is why in order to help yourself in your job search the most; you actually need to become less negative. Real acceptance of your situation and allowing yourself to embrace the positive aspects of it, like having the opportunity to learn new skills or explore a new career, is one way to move forward. Here are some more ways to move beyond the shame and stress of unemployment. Actually feeling more in control, self confident and optimistic is what will really make a big impact on your job search. This takes time and sometimes professional help.
We all hope that an employer will somehow see our skills and abilities and choose us based on that merit. However, that is not how it works. Employers use lots of methods to weed people out, such as applicant tracking systems, asking about unemployment status and salary history, and of course interviewing. We all know that interviewing isn’t just about reviewing what’s already on your resume, it is about assessing whether you are a good fit for the organization, whether you have the professionalism they are looking for, whether you are dependable, loyal, manageable and not a pain in the you-know-what to work with. Going through the traumatic experience of becoming unemployed can put you at a disadvantage in this arena in addition to the simple fact that you aren’t working (or aren’t working in your chosen field or full time). Employers want to hire people who are not only competent and experienced, but who make a positive contribution to their company culture. So whatever you need to do to stay positive is critical to your job search. Don’t let resentment and stress keep you from getting the job you want.