Networking: It’s not a dirty word

Does your gag reflex kick in when you hear the word “networking?” Images of business-card shufflers, compulsive happy-hour hoppers and me-monsters flash before my eyes…

If your aim in networking is to befriend people with an angle and an agenda, then you likely are in a time of desperation in your life or you need to adjust your moral compass. Sadly, in Washington, or any city filled with Type-A overachievers, you encounter lots of these toxic networkers and social climbers.

Alas, it doesn’t have to be this way!

Before you start thinking that I’m all against networking, you should know that 50% of my 9-to-5 job is to network. My paycheck depends upon being decent at building strategic relationships. So, I’ve had to be intentional about how to build a meaningful network and not be slick and self-serving… because I just couldn’t live with myself otherwise.

Whether you like it or not, the old adage, “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know,” rings true in most fields. It was true for me. My first big-city internship opportunity and first job came at the recommendation of one of my good friends and mentors in college.

I didn’t cultivate this relationship because I wanted to work her to land me my dream job. We just became friends because we shared the same passions, I had fun hanging out with her and thought she was awesome at what she did. And you know what? Three years later, I was able to return the favor and recommend her for a job.

There are so many relationships in my life that open doors that I wouldn’t have been able to pry loose myself, and I think this is what makes being a part of a vast, diverse community (or what some may call, “A Network”) amazing. Three cords braided together is stronger than one all by its lonesome.

I think there are two vital perspectives to have to be an excellent networker, or heck, just someone who is an active participant in the world around you:

Find people interesting: PEOPLE ARE AMAZING. We travel the globe, we make music, we run marathons, we cure diseases, we invent crazy technologies, we adopt children. How will you ever know these things about your neighbors, seatmates on a plane, the stranger next to you at happy hour, etc., unless you ask them? Make it your mission to find out what amazing stories people are hiding. Forget networking, this is just plain fun.

Be more of a giver than a taker: When I used to help coach middle school volleyball players, we would play a game called “Givers and Takers.” We would set up a scrimmage and plant an encouraging Giver and whiny Taker on each team. It became obvious real quick who you wanted on your team. In every relationship, think more about how you can help the person you are befriending rather than what you can take from them. This is a no-brainer and it feels silly to even write it out, but for some reason, the “Giver” mentality flies out the window when some people put their “Networking” pants on.

These two perspectives manifest themselves into some practical tips for networking:

• Ask questions, listen intently (not just to words, but to body language also) and talk less.
• Be a connector. If you can, think of whom you might introduce to the person you meet that may be of value.
• Follow up. Did you mention a restaurant you love, an article you read, or some kind of help you offered? A nice follow up goes a long way.
• You’re more likely to establish a connection with people who you find interesting. Go places where these people are.
• See opportunity everywhere! I once got a job offer on a plane… I’ve also gotten a marriage proposal from a drunk Argentinian man. You win some, you lose some 😉

What are you best tips on building a meaningful network?

Making a Big Change: Interview with Samantha Reho

Making a big life change (moving to a new city! taking a new job! AH!) can be overwhelming. Not to get all Robert Frost on you, but when the road diverges and you have to decide which path to walk down, it feels both exhilarating and terrifying. Em recently wrote some advice about decision making for the blog, but we wanted to ask a friend who’s had to make some big decisions what her path looked like the first few years out of college.

Samantha Reho is one of our dear friends who lives the heck out of every day, has an awesome career at a young age, and is someone who we admire. Check out her story!

Age and Current Job: 

25, Communications Specialist at the Veterans Benefits Administration, Washington D.C. First job post college: Public Affairs Specialist with the United States Army at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas

What options were you considering after undergrad?

I knew I wanted to pursue a career encompassing my public relations and communications background.  Throughout college, I positioned myself in various leadership positions that broadened my depth of experience and would hopefully make me a successful entry level candidate in the public relations industry.  Additionally, I began expanding my networks of various contacts during my senior year of college of those located in the major markets for public relations – to include New York City, Washington, D.C., and Chicago.  However, bottom-line, I knew I had to find a steady job that (fingers crossed) had health insurance and a 401K plan!  Those student loans weren’t going to pay themselves 🙂

What did you decide to do, and why?

Well, I had incredibly lofty plans of heading back to New York City where I completed the Harold Burson Summer Internship Program the summer before. However, the 2009 recession hit and all of my contacts I had made that summer and throughout my career were unable to help me get a job due to the poor state of the economy.  Right after graduation, I got an interview for a dream assignment, but didn’t make the second round.  When I called to ask for recommendations on my interview, they told me the only reason I didn’t get it was because I wasn’t in the location in the first place – since the recession hit everyone, they were looking for immediacy before budgets plummeted.

So then and there, I decided to make a bold decision and move to Washington, D.C., for six weeks – the time I gave myself to find a job.  Thankfully, I had very kind friends willing to host me on their couch during that time so I was able to focus on finding employment.  Every day from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. – I researched jobs, tailored resumes, wrote cover letters, made phone calls and when possible, jumped on the metro in my business suit to meet “wish list” companies for informational interviews.  That persistence and “in-person” presence helped solidify my first job with the United States Army.

Describe the decision-making process (did anyone tell you it was a bad idea? how did you make this choice? etc.):

I’m pretty sensible and rational when it comes to looking at career options – having health insurance, a 401K plan and with a steady organization were important factors for me to consider when researching options.  With each job I applied for, I made a pretty extensive Excel checklist with pros/cons, etc. that helped me ultimately differentiate all the many positions out there.

When the opportunity with the Department of the Army internship program opened up, I admit that I was incredibly hesitant in applying because I didn’t think I’d be “good at it.”  On a whim, I applied, got an interview a week later at the Pentagon and received an offer the following week!

When looking and weighing at all my options, I knew the Army provided me federal government employment (perhaps the only thing steady in the economy at that time) and an opportunity to work with our Nation’s best Soldiers!  Four weeks later, I was driving West to El Paso, Texas, to begin my new adventure!

 

What skills did you develop that you could use later in your career during this year?

The first year of employment is really all about discovery – figuring out what kind of employee you are, how you are motivated, what projects interest you the most, where your strengths and weaknesses naturally lie, etc.  Being flexible and having a willingness to take on assignments outside your comfort zone – both are skills that I still use to this day.  Some of my biggest career-defining moments have grown out of taking on a project that I was terrified of.  Be bold!

 

What did you learn about yourself in this position?

You’re more capable than you think you are.  One of the more important things I did is kept a log of all the projects I worked on – at the end of the year its amazing to remember all the stuff you were able to accomplish that were completely brand new to you when you started the position.

 

Are you happy you decided to do this with a year of your life?

Absolutely – making the bold move to El Paso with the Army was not only a defining moment professionally but also personally.  I had the great luck of meeting fantastic people, experience the Southwest in a completely different way and work in an environment in which I found the best motivation each day (got to give it up for our amazing US Soldiers!)  Having that experience ultimately positioned me, experience-wise, to make the move back to the East Coast to work at the Pentagon for two years before beginning my current job with the Veterans Benefits Administration.

 

What advice would you give someone deciding whether or not to move to a new city and jump into a fast-paced career?

The advice I give to recent graduates is to make one important decision:  Is it more important for you to be in your exact industry/company or to be in your city of choice?  For me, it was more important to get into the industry wherever it may take me (hello El Paso!!) and continue working to position yourself to make it to a more ideal location (for me, DC).  Once you make that decision of what’s more important to you – go for it full force!

Moving to a new city (big or small) to begin your first job is incredibly empowering – take advantage of being young and transient!  Opportunities to make bold decisions with your career slowly diminish the older you become.  The time is now!

Staring Rejection in the Face

If you’re in your 20s, you likely grew up in a culture where everyone is a winner and everyone is special. We all received little plastic trophies at the end of t-ball season, everyone got playing time on the soccer team, and elementary school teachers gave out A’s for effort.

There is even concern among educators that grading papers in red pen causes anxiety in students.

Are there negative side effects from this well-intentioned shelter from failure, anxiety and rejection? I think so. Many in my generation are unprepared to deal with life’s ups and downs and view the world (and ourselves) through rose-colored glasses.

So many sociologists call us the “Me Generation,” as made famous by the Time Magazine cover article that stated that “the incidence of narcissistic personality disorder is nearly three times as high for people in their 20s as for the generation that’s now 65 or older.”

To generalize, many of us start out believing we are greater than we maybe are—especially right out of the gate. On the positive side, we are dreamers and think we can truly change the world. We’re the innovators who start tech companies and social entrepreneurs who are finding ways to alleviate poverty around the world.

The ugly flip side of millennial self-aggrandizing comes out in those first few years after college during the job hunt and that first or second job.

The scenario: It’s the summer after college graduation and Sarah sends her resume off to 20 jobs—from the world-changing non-profits to the Fortune 500 firms. Don’t forget that we’re coming out of the tail end of the worst recession in nearly thirty years and the odds aren’t great for entry-level positions. Her parents and college advisor tell her that she’s intelligent, hard-working and ambitious—who wouldn’t want to hire her? After all, she had a 3.9 GPA (forget grade inflation… yikes)!

Reality hits for Sarah in the form of rejection e-mails. And when she finally receives an offer, it is for a position she thinks is lower than her skill level. But she takes it anyway because, let’s be honest, she’ll take anything at this point. She has her first quarter review, and her boss tells her she isn’t doing too bad, but has a lot to learn and has messed a few things up. Sarah begins to question how talented she actually is (or thinks that her boss has no clue).

This is where the feelings of rejection sink in, and for many millennials, it is for the first time.

Our lives will be scattered with mile-markers that are failures, I don’t care who you are. But it’s at those defining crossroads of rejection that we have a choice.

It’s our choice to learn from rejection and let it make us wiser and stronger. Alternatively, you can let failure paralyze you in fear of moving forward and messing up again. Even worse, you can choose to be a victim and blame rejection on your boss, your friends, your upbringing, your city, the weather, your haircut that day… Please, don’t choose to be a victim.

I’ll be the first to say that rejection is REALLY HARD. If you need some encouragement, check out Jia Jiang’s blog on 100 Days of Rejection Therapy and his Ted Talk below:

7 Steps to Build Your Social Media Brand

Photo from socialmediatoday.com

We are supposed to be the digital generation. Facebook, texting, Twitter, and Instagram are a big part of our social lives. Our iPhones have a seat at every meal with us and can by found without fail on our bedside table- maybe even slumbering in our hands after some late-night Facebooking.

Social media is so integrated into our daily habits that I think we forget how to use it purposefully. For better or worse, we have come to the point where you are outwardly defined by your appearance on social media– especially in the professional world. Your online presence can tank your reputation or boost your professional street cred.

Putting some solid thought into your personal brand online can reap sweet rewards. It could help you land a job in your desired field, build a broader professional network, or boost credibility in your current position. Even if you don’t consider yourself a social media maven, it’s not hard to put your best foot forward on social media.

Seven Steps to Build Your Social Media Brand

Step 1: Clean up your current profiles.

Delete any pictures, posts, or tweets that you would be ashamed to see on the cover of the New York Times. No employer wants to see that junk. And for heaven’s sake, please proofread your LinkedIn profile.

Step 2: Set a vision and purpose for your personal online brand

What skill set are you building? What are your career goals? What is your niche? What are your hobbies and interests that make you unique?

Don’t just focus on professional skills and goals, but also your personal goals. Think about who you like to follow on social media… these people typically have pretty cool lives outside of work that they post about!

Step 3: Write down some themes that guide your vision

This will help give you some parameters for your types of posts. Ask yourself how you want to be known. Examples: Adventurous, artsy, tech-savvy, classy, thoughtful.

Step 4: Research who the opinion leaders are that align with your vision and then become friends with them

If you want to build a reputation for being tech savvy, follow on Twitter and like the Pages of leaders in your field who are tech savvy. Join LinkedIn groups. Attend events or conferences that they attend. Show some love and repost their stuff.

Caveat: There is a line here. Don’t be a creepy stalker! And please do not bombard them with emails and direct messages if you haven’t established a rapport. Only Facebook friend or LinkedIn request people you have actually met or, at the very least, emailed.

Step 5: Identify your audience

Are opinion leaders in your field following you and friends on Facebook? Are your co-workers following you? Do you want to have different audiences for different platforms? For example, you could use Twitter professionally and Facebook for personal friends only.

Having a clear idea who you are speaking to will help you choose content that speaks to your peeps.

Step 6: Post interesting content that your audiences care about and is tailored to the platform (Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, etc.)

This is tricky and takes some feedback from your audience to get a true sense of what they find valuable. Take mental note of articles that get retweeted, how many likes you get on certain photos, who comments on your status updates, etc. Replicate the popular things and ditch the others (after scientific analysis, you may be shocked to find out that no one actually cares about your midnight slurpee run photos).

My personal pet peeve is when people link their Twitter to their Facebook and LinkedIn. If I really wanted to see your 50 tweets a day, I would follow you on Twitter. Each platform has a different purpose, so your content should be customized as such. If this is overwhelming (that’s a lot of time online!), pick one platform and dominate it.

If you don’t know what the best kind of content is for a given platform, then spend a week following what power users post and emulate their style.

Avoid being that girl that posts way too much all the time. No matter how cool you think the content is, people will start hiding you from their news feeds. Think about the friends you really enjoy talking with face-to-face: are they the chronic oversharers or do they listen to what you have to say and share the things that are truly important in their lives?

Step 7: Step back and evaluate your work

After a few months building your personal brand online, step back and evaluate how you’re doing. Are a few of your favorite opinion leaders following you? Have some of your co-workers liked your posts? Ask a friend if they’ve noticed a difference.

PS This shouldn’t be a draining process. The goal is to promote your best, most unique attributes that make you an awesome professional and human being! If you aren’t having fun with it, then maybe do some soul searching about the vision and goals for your personal brand.

Did I leave anything out? Do you have any tips for branding yourself on social media?

~Rach

5 Steps to Turn an Internship into a Job

I was living in the land of the unemployed when I graduated, having panic attacks about feeling like a failure in life and worrying what the heck I was supposed to do with my adult life. My Myers-Briggs  assessment listed some top career choices for my personality type which included:

• Sister in the Roman Catholic Religious Order,
• School Bus Driver
• Food counter (I kid you not)
• Corrections Sergeant,
• Nurse- (yuck I HATE needles)

Hmmm. Needless to say, I felt like my future was not looking too promising. I decided to accept an internship with the full intent of gaining a job out of it or leveraging it to obtain a position elsewhere-ideally outside the food counting industry. After a few months of working my tail off, I was fortunate to get hired full time for an entry-level position at the PR firm-whoo hoo, no needles for me!

In this day and age it’s not uncommon for recent grads to accept an internship in lieu of a full time position. In hindsight, I wish I didn’t panic nearly as much as I did. An internship is a good move in order to gain more experience before landing a coveted full time gig.  So, how do you turn your internship into a full time job if you are a recent grad? Here are some tips I picked up along the way

1. Treat Each Day as if it’s an Interview

Your internship is essentially a 10 week interview so make sure you are consistently on point in how you present yourself and communicate with others. Not only is the intern coordinator watching you, but all employees, managers and potentially the higher ups are observing you as well to see who you are and what you would bring to the company if hired full time. There is no room for slacking off during an internship. Give it 110% every day. Your hard work now will pay off later.

2. Treat Each Person Like They are Interviewing You

Resist the urge to get too comfortable with the full time employees. I served as the intern coordinator for the PR firm after some time, and I witnessed a bright and hard working intern make the grave mistake of confiding in a full time employee how she wasn’t sure if the firm was the right fit for her. When a position later became available, the Partners did not consider her a viable candidate because of her previous comment.

Right or wrong, intern gossip is water cooler fodder in the office, so watch what you say because there is a good chance everyone in the office might hear about it. Keep your conversations professional and positive. Details about what you did last night or your real thoughts about the company should remain private and unspoken between 8 to 5. Even if you find out that the company is not a good fit, you’ll still want a glowing reference for other opportunities that arise elsewhere.

3. Communicate Proactively

No one will manage your career for you. Reach out to employees who have a position you’d like to find out how they got where they did. Make sure to solicit feedback from your supervisor to ensure that your efforts are in line with his or her vision. Find out what is important to your supervisor and work toward that end. Express your intent and goals for the internship from the beginning.

4. Be Positive

As an intern, many of the tasks you engage in on a daily basis might not be the most challenging or exciting, but the key is to remain positive and look for ways to add value where you can. Be gracious and thankful for all the opportunities you are given-this goes a long way!

5. Ask for the Job

If you are a recent grad, it will come as no surprise that you are looking for employment. If you want to work for the company, make it known early on so the higher ups have the chance to observe you as a potential candidate. This will put you one step ahead of the other interns. The timing and the person you have this conversation with depends on the organization, but it’s always a good idea to start with your intern coordinator halfway through your internship at the latest. The intern coordinator then can funnel your interest to the higher ups or he or she may suggest that you speak with another decision maker closer to the end of the internship. Now is the time to continue working hard and doing your best because all eyes will be on you!

When you finally speak with the hiring manager, make sure to ask if they would have any hesitations about hiring you. This allows you to address any concerns, and if they have none, go ask for the job! If you don’t feel comfortable doing this, at least express a keen interest in being a part of the company long term. If you’re excited and upbeat it will show. Moral of the story is go ask for the job. You are awesome and you owe it to yourself!

Great on the Job

http://amzn.to/YBgRoI

Love this book by Jodi Glickman! She delves into what we all know- you don’t necessarily have to be the most qualified in your profession to be the most successful. Effective and clear communication can put you on the fast track, even if you feel like you’re fakin’ it till you make it. Here’s a little secret….ALL freshmen in life have to do this at one point or another, so get to work on honing those communication skills!