The good news and the bad news is that, strangely enough, politics is a really small world. Everyone knows everyone. That means that, with a little bit of effort, you can usually network your way into any job you really want if you put some time into it. It also means that you really don’t want to burn any bridges. Word will get around and it will come back to bite you.
An old saying says that people who ask for money get advice, while people who ask for advice get money. That may or may not be true, but the underlying point is both valid and critical: asking people for advice, rather than a more demanding request like a job referral or introduction to someone important, can take you a long way, for a few reasons: first of all, people often have good advice. If you’ve spent 20 hours researching a new field (which is a lot!), think about the fact that someone working in that field has spent twice as much time in the field as you did, every week, for hundreds if not thousands of weeks. Don’t underestimate how much useful knowledge they might have to share!
rather than directly going for something more aggressive. Reaching out to someone you don’t know and immediately asking for a job can seem pushy. It might also seem arrogant. But if you ask for 30 minutes of their time and have a good conversation, the person might say “hey, if you’re interested, I could pass along your name to the folks hiring for this job,” or “hey, do you know XYZ? If not, I’d be happy to make an introduction.” They could easily say that for the job/organization/person you had in mind, plus five more that might even be better fits for what you’re looking for but that you didn’t know about, either because you didn’t find them in your research or because (in the case of a job) they were never posted online at all.
An important note is that you shouldn’t be deceptive about what you’re asking for. Don’t set a time for a conversation about advice, then make the hard ask for a job or connection when you get there. Not only is that dishonest, the bait-and-switch will probably turn off the person you’re talking to, making them unlikely to help and leaving them with a poor impression of you. A better strategy is to reach out to a (thoughtfully-selected) group of people, without the expectation that any one person will give you exactly what you’re looking for, but rather that the group of people as a whole will provide you with a mix of advice, connections, and opportunities that together help you accomplish whatever you are trying to do.
The most important thing for you to know is that the best networking strategy is to do good work. In the small world of politics, word about your good work will get around. Word about bad work will, too. Most of these networking strategies are about getting in the door: pushing for opportunities to get on the radar of folks who might be able to hire you. None of that matters if you aren’t doing great work. If you are--and you do it consistently, treat your coworkers with courtesy and respect, and work as hard as you possibly can--it will get recognized.
Want to print your doc? This is not the way.
Try clicking the ⋯ next to your doc name or using a keyboard shortcut (
Networking
