Social Networking
“You have to dig the well before you’re thirsty”. Always practice Kindness.
- How to Approach Strangers (Don’t Think, just do)
- Communication Skills for really good tips
- Referral for how to ask for referrals
- Informational Interview
- Cold Calling
- Create a Mastermind Group
Networking gets a bad rap, it gets feels like a transaction. But it doesn’t have to be that way. It’s about building Relationships.
Social Networking is more important than your Resume.
To get started (tips from Zexi Li):
- Start attending Networking Event
- For the jobs you are interested in, if the timeline is far away, use https://www.apollo.io/ or https://hunter.io/ to find the Managers (not recruiters) emails
- Watch all the TikToks from https://www.instagram.com/wonsulting/
Don’t Waste Time
Only attend events that have high Signal to Noise Ratio. Of course, you want high serendipity, and oftentimes, you want to be surprised. In some sense, it’s like the tradeoff between Exploration and Exploitation.
Successful Networking
The most successful networkers think outward rather than inward. They focus upon understanding the person with whom they are engaging while reaching out for valuable referrals as much as the quick connection.
Smart job seekers to tap in to the “hidden job market” where the majority of jobs are filled. Spend 75 to 80 percent of their time creating opportunities to meet people and conduct Informational Interviews.
Build meaningful connections
- Identify the people that matter the most to you
- Develop a plan to stay in touch with them
Small talk is boring, do your research beforehand. what are the thing you are most excited about right now? Networking is also about giving. Identify follow-up topics.
Places to Network
Other stuff
I like this post on LinkedIn by Ritika, even though it is riddled with grammatical mistakes: I recently have had students cry on call with me
Wondering why?
Well, its because of the challenges they have faced as an international student with job search and landing opportunities
For a lot of students coming especially from India where the job search process is very different, finding an opportunity here even for the smartest people becomes difficult
Because in North America it is not the smartest people who get hired, its the people who can put themselves out there, advocate for their skillsets, are confident and more
And for students in the general, this is a skill not many posses or have because all ur education system us teaching them is to become subject matter experts in their space without attention given to the selling and marketing peice
Which is essential to any job or role today
And this gap is furthered fro students coming from collesctivitsi cultures like India & China, where humility for some reason is seen to go against advocacy
And as such these students have a lesser tendency too speak up, share their ideas and advocate for their skillsets
The language barriers further this gap as its create a sense of lack of confidence among students especially in their 1 st year who come from government schools and colleges because its their first time being in a space where they are not unique for knowing English
But instead feel like an odd one out not knowing proper english
And the combination of these factors, furthers, lowers self esteem in students and influences their view of themslevs and their capabilities
Furthering, their tendency to undersell and compromise in the job market
And a great way for us to avoid this is buy us becomeing aware of the discrepancy between the job market and the job search process in Canada Vs our home country
Lets not invest 6 months applying to jobs just to realize you were doing it wrong
Start networking today, it will help resolve a lot of the ambiguities you have
Let’s not wait for a job to be posted to start