The Great Business

As the temperatures heat up this season, your networking should sizzle. Individuals tend to put networking in the back seat during the Summer and pick it up as the Fall approaches. Not such a good or effective idea. Networking works best when it is consistent and developing. People can focus their objectives and goals toward Summer activities to get the most out of their agenda. It is also a good idea to include friends, family and co-workers on your networking mission.

Listed below are helpful tips for maximizing your social and business efforts.

The Pool Party
Attend pool parties within your neighborhood or with family and friends. These are the ideal venues for getting to know your community. At these parties, set a social and casual tone for your networking. Continue to learn about individuals on a personal level and find ways to connect for future opportunities. Inquire about their social and professional affiliations. It is always important to ask engaging and interesting questions. Also follow up in a timely manner and ask for relevant introductions, when necessary. If you are attending events with family members, find ways of engaging them in your networking endeavors. It is good to take advantage of those close and long term relationships.

Summer Concerts
Get out and meet people who share similar entertainment interests. Concerts are excellent venues for meeting a variety of people. Use the time spent standing on lines for entrances, snacks and souvenirs to start conversations. In between sessions and breaks, get to know the people who are surrounding you. This can also be an excellent way to expand your network nationally or internationally. People tend to travel from different places to attend concerts and entertainment shows.

Networking, both social media networking and traditional face to face networking is one of the most effective methods for securing a new job. As so many people are now unemployed or are looking for a new job and so few vacancies out there if you are already known to the employer then you will have a head start over candidates sending in resumes or application forms. This is just the jobs’ that are advertised, many companies will look to save time and money on advertising or recruitment agency costs and will look to their networks. We have all heard the phrase ‘It is not what you know but who you know’ enough times to know that it is true, so instead of complaining about it, just make your network work for you. Networking should not just be about securing your next job, you never know when people in your network may be able to help you in the future with career promotions, business opportunities or advice and support.

How do you start building your network? First of all look at people you already know, school, college or university friends, members of sports teams or other social activities you have belonged to, family members and their friends, past and present work colleagues, supervisors and managers, customers and suppliers you have dealt with, people you may of met at networking events such as business breakfast meetings, trade shows or exhibitions. Remember that these people are not just there to help you with your career, keep in regular contact, offer as much help to them as possible, socialize with them if possible. With so many people on social networking sites these days, for business or for personal use, keeping in contact with people in your network, sometimes even on a daily basis, is straight forward.

When I used the word “network”, many of you might be thinking that I will provide you a list of Investment Banks, Private Equity funds and Finance companies. While the list is important, it’s also important to look at how to approach people and network in Finance.

Networking is building and maintaining relationships.

Whatever you want to learn, be it Finance or networking, there are strategies and tactics.

Strategies are high level views like how to conduct informational interviews, how to approach people in groups and making a career plan.

Tactics are how you say, what you say, emailing etc.

You need both the approaches in networking.

What key strategies you need to apply? How to develop the mindset for networking?

Follow some do’s and don’ts in networking:

Do’s

1.If the school/college you are graduating from is not well-known, put extra efforts in networking.

2. Start networking months and months before you actually look for a job. You can do this simultaneously with your graduation.

3. Networking is about getting more people to know you, so meet as many people as you can in Finance.

4. When you meet people, be genuinely interested in them. Discuss about their background, interest, hobbies, and any recent personal event. Practice this and you will build relationships.

5. Understand that networking is a long term effort.

6. Change the strategy of networking if you are not getting results after investing months. Ask friends and people in Finance what is going wrong.

7. While networking, don’t overlook names/friends in your circle.

8. Keep in mind that only early bird catches the worm. Have an early start and establish contacts.

9. Check whether you are making progress.