“Strategic Networking” step 1 - Determining who to network with
Do Not Filter! No one should be filtered out of your list! There is certainly a priority of who to engage sooner and who later but remember:
“It is not who you know, it is who they know”
Personal connections lead to profitable results more frequently because your personal connections, by nature of your friendship, are motivated to help you and they typically are much less guarded.
Who do you know?
Asses your connections and place them in buckets: Work peers, Work subordinates, Work superiors, people who work in HR, Recruiting, or the Employment fields, Relatives, Neighbors, community contacts (Religious affiliations, Children’s friends parents, Politics, Charity),Local friends, School friends, Friends living far away, People with whom you spend your money (professionals, service providers). Do not stop until you have a list with at least 40 people on it (140 is preferable).
Prioritize
Your Time is your only limited-resource. After you have met with those people you are most referable with and have refined your scripting (practiced it), it is time to prioritize your contacts.
o First reach out to those who you know are in a position to actually hire you or who can introduce you to a hiring manager.
o Second, those that you know have a contact, which you would benefit from being introduced to. (This may require doing some research and using tools like social media and membership lists.)
o Thirdly, set up meetings with people who work in a human resource department and those who are in the employment field?
o Fourth, all former superiors and work peers.
o Lastly, reach out to everyone else that you respect regardless of their employment status or profession.
It is paramount to asses every new connection that you make during this journey and decide where they should be placed in your prioritized list. Although your goal is to find connections that warrant being placed at the top of the “next to call” list, some will belong in the middle. Every new connection you earn must be contacted directly, within two business days.
This is in respect of the person that shared their contact with you and a down-payment on the “thank you” that you owe them.
Remember: make your next-opp your best-opp.
