Theresa
How can I market myself as a professional to future employers?
I do not know exactly how to network to where I meet and connect with future employers. I want to know how to do so and the most efficient way. #career-planning #interviewing-skills #career-counseling #career-development
5 answers
John Cline
John’s Answer
Networking is the most important thing you can do for your professional career. It can also be a very intimidating thing. There are two main ways I would advise you to start. The first is to develop a professional network. You can do this through social media and networking sites, as well as attending events and meetups. Spend a lot of time building out a good LinkedIn profile. Join professional networks on LinkedIn, reach out to people on Linkedin at companies, or in roles that you are interested and ask them for advice, or a time to talk on the phone. Go to meetups or professional events in your area. Be very curious and talk to as many people as possible. Try to focus on groups or events that are really interesting to you, so you meet people with similar professional goals. The second approach is to grow your social network. Join clubs, pursue your hobbies, become an activist. If you enjoy bowling, join a league. If you like hiking, join a group that goes hiking in your area. A lot of people focus on networking professionally, when realistically, your more meaningful connections will be formed through shared interests. In summary, the more people you meet, the bigger your network gets, and the more exposure you will have. You will also gain a more well rounded perspective, and learn a lot from those around you.
Carrie Holmes
Carrie’s Answer
HI Theresa,
This is not only an excellent question but one that should be addressed more often early on during high school along with resume writing, portfolio building and interview skills. Most professionals realize too late (when in a job transition) that they have neglected to build and nurture their network and are forced to go into hyperdrive. A great network is also important to every single job/ career.
As John mentioned, start with your online presence and then stretch into real world groups and relationships. A word of cautionary wisdom: set yourself up for success by spending some time studying some great LinkedIn profiles in your field and building out the best page possible before you start inviting others in to learn about you. Make them want to get to know you!
After you have a decent online community (or while you are building it out, if you have the bandwidth) start looking for local networking events that are free and open to the public. While some are very generic, others are focused on a specific field or group ( young professionals, women, religious groups) and all offer something different. If you can, find a friend to keep you company and offer support early on but be clear that you are there to meet new people and ask your friend to keep pushing you out into the crowd.
Get some basic but professional business cards (try vistaprint.com) and be sure you take one every time you hand one out. The most important thing is to follow up within a week of meeting someone. If I'm at an event where I collect multiple cards, I like to immediately make notes on the back to remind me of each person so I can add some personalized details in my follow up email. There's nothing worse than looking at a pile of cards In front of you and having no idea who they belong to. And your follow up email can be short and to the point: " I enjoyed meeting you at x, I was intreagued to learn about y. I would love to buy you a cup of coffee and pick your brain about z. Please let me know when you might be available. " And don't forget to sign it with your contact details. While everyone will not respond, you will start to build a community before you know it.
Carrie recommends the following next steps:
Joseph Burley
Joseph’s Answer
The easiest way is to find people you know (relatives, adult friends of relatives) who work in the fields you’re interested in. Then reach out and ask them if you can shadow them or intern where they work.
Establishing personal connections is the easiest way to begin marketing yourself.
Simeon Snow
Simeon’s Answer
Gerard Baltrusaitis
Gerard’s Answer
One approach that I have found very successful is obtaining informational interviews. Informational interviews are interviews where you solicit information from professionals in your field. Some of the key guidelines for informational interviews are 1. you find and establish an interview with someone that is of interest to you professionally and has established credentials in a field that you are interested in. 2. Always come with a good set of questions. 3. Always send a "thank-you" note. 4. NEVER, EVER ask for a job (the informational interview is established strictly for the sake of building a professional relationship and gleaning knowledge that will help you in your career).