Networking – how to help without nagging
By Allison Plunkett, M.A., PC
The vast majority of internships and jobs are not posted in newspapers or on monster.com. Networking is an avenue for students to gain access to the hidden job market as well as gain information about potential career areas and specific employers. As a parent, you can help your student develop familiarity with networking and become better prepared for his or her internship/job search.
Networking - what does this term really mean? If you’re picturing a room full of anxious job seekers trying to schmooze with as many potential employers as possible, where conversations are just a formality before business cards can be dealt out like cards, you’ve got the wrong idea. Networking isn’t a one-time conversation, it’s a relationship, and like any good relationships it’s a two-way street. If a student approaches networking ready to give more than he or she gets, the student is doing it correctly. That means he or she must be deliberate and plan ahead in the networking process. You can help your student build these networking relationships with people before he or she wants a job from the contacts – the month before a student graduates is not the best time to begin finding contacts. Ideally, a student would have a bank of people he or she already knows in the desired career field and would have established him or herself as a resource for the contacts before he or she asks for a job.
What should networking look like?
Networking can take place anywhere. It can be a structured informational interview, in which a student goes to the office of a professional in the field he or she is considering and asks questions to decide if the career field is a good fit for his or her personality, interests, values, and skills. Informational interviews can also take place over the phone, especially if a contact is in a different state or even country.
Networking can also be a quick conversation at the gym or in a meeting, in which a student asks people about themselves and their interests, but the student also talks about the type of career he or she wants and the fact that he or she is looking to talk to professionals in that field. A student can create opportunities for these quick conversations in strategic locations by attending events or meetings where professionals in the desired career field are, such as conferences, professional association meetings, or on campus in student organizations or departmental meetings.
Benefits of networking
A student should network for many reasons. He or she can explore many career fields efficiently through these conversations, preferably at the place of potential employment. Also, a student’s internship or job search is more efficient and effective if many people know what he or she is looking for in a position and keep their eyes open for opportunities than if the student does the search without assistance. A student can also identify his or her professional strengths and weaknesses and obtain information about specific companies through networking. Finally, seeking out connections with professionals in a desired career field allows a student to become part of a community of people with the same career interests, which is helpful for future professional development and career advancement.
What can I do?
As parents, how can you help your student network without being too involved? While you don’t want to be seen as a nag, nor stifle your student’s independence by doing the majority of the work in networking, you can be helpful in several ways:
1. Use your own personal network to find connections in your student’s career area of interest. Perhaps one of your co-workers is married to a child psychologist – the very field your student is interested in. Offer this connection to your student, but let your student actually make the call or schedule a time to meet the psychologist in person.
2. Help your student brainstorm a list of people in his or her own network. On average, an individual interacts with about 25 people each day. Your student probably interacts with even more in the college setting, especially if he or she walks around campus without an iPod or cell phone permanently attached to the head.
3. Roleplay networking conversations with your student. Networking can be very awkward, especially for students who aren’t naturally outgoing. Help him or her practice what to say in an initial phone conversation, what to include in a voicemail message, how to schedule an in-person meeting, what questions to ask in that meeting, and what to say in follow-up conversations. Your student should start to develop a professional identity through networking. The more conversations he or she has with professionals in the field, the more confident he or she will become and start to present him or herself as a potential colleague to these professionals instead of a scared student who is desperate for a job.
4. Practice small talk with your student. Even people who present themselves professionally in person and feel comfortable asking questions of potential employers may still flounder in times of transition. What exactly do you say when entering a room before the official networking conversation begins? If you’re on a tour of a potential place of employment, how do you keep the conversation going while walking from one place to the next? Help your student practice initiating conversation about common topics, such as current national events, local events/activities, items in the environment – like artwork in the professional’s office, etc.
5. Acknowledge your student’s concerns about networking. Tell your student about your own first job search and any networking you did to establish connections in the field. Maybe you had the same feelings of awkwardness when talking to someone of authority, fear of rejection, or thinking everyone would see you as a phony. Encourage your student to feel the fear, and do it anyway! I didn’t coin that phrase, it’s actually the name of a book by Susan Jeffers, but I think it’s very applicable to networking. In fact, Jeff Taylor, founder and chairman of Monster.com also has some great thoughts about networking:
· The more nervous you are, the more opportunity there is.
· The only way to coast is downhill – don’t do it! Work!
· Start – or you won’t win.
Students often have questions about networking. Some common ones you can address with them include:
Q: Who do I talk to?
A: The student should start with people he or she knows (family, friends, people in the same clubs/organizations, faculty, etc.) then branch out and talk to people the student doesn’t know (ex. a friend’s friends/family/etc. and people who have the job the student would like)
Q: What do I say?
A: Assuming the student is networking with a professional in the desired career field, the student can ask about the contact’s general career path, what to expect in a typical day, what classes/experience will better prepare the student, what advice the professional has for someone getting into the field, and most importantly, who else the student should talk to in order to learn additional information about the field and/or gain practical experience in the field.
Q: Am I being a nuisance?
A: Not at all, as long as the student thinks ahead of time about what specific information he or she wants to gain from the contact, and it should be information that cannot be obtained easily from a company’s website.
Q: How can I find time to network?
A: Networking does not require a lot of time. Once a student starts having these conversations, those contacts should provide additional people to talk to, which cuts down on the time needed for research. Also, networking conversations should last only 15-30 minutes, one hour at the most, in order to not take up too much of the professional’s (or student’s) time.
Resources for networking:
There are so many out there, but here are just a few I recommend
· http://careerconnection.osu.edu/posts/documents/Informational%20interview%20120103.pdf
· http://bigfishnetworking.com/
· http://www.quintcareers.com/networking.html
· A Foot in the Door: Networking Your Way into the Hidden Job Market by Katharine Hansen
· Network Your Way to Your Next Job...Fast by Clyde C. Lowstuter and David P. Robertson
· The Networking Survival Guide: Get the Success You Want By Tapping Into the People You Know by Diana Darling
· The student can also visit Career Counseling and Support Services, located on the second floor of the Younkin Success Center. Students can call (614) 688-3898 to make an appointment to meet with a career counselor/consultant, or check out our resources online at www.ccss.osu.edu