Networking in Shanghai: When Done Right, It’s Good for Your Career
FC Club (Fortune Connection Club) is networking organization in Shanghai and Beijing dedicated to bringing together business professionals, business managers, expatriates, human resource managers, and headhunters for its monthly events.
Exchanging Information
One of the main reasons to network is to research the market. The most important contacts made at networking events will not be in a position to hire, but they will have information. They will share insights on market and industry trends. They might know which companies are hiring, and perhaps even be acquainted with people within those companies.
Of course giving information is equally important. Earning a reputation for sharing knowledge and helping others can be a real career booster.
Forming Solid Relationships
Quality over quantity is the mantra here. Unfortunately, many people hit the networking circuit with a lottery mentality. They are just hoping to find that needle in the haystack—an immediate job opening—so that they will be saved from the misery of job hunting.
Building a professional network is most effective when we develop solid relationships with people with whom we will re-connect on a regular basis. We can send articles of interest or career-related status reports, make phone calls just to say hello, or catch up over tea or a meal.
A good benchmark is to re-connect with key contacts every six weeks. We certainly don’t want to be so busy networking under the guise of “developing solid relationships” that we don’t have time to follow up with people.
Getting Referrals
The larger the number of quality contacts who know about our career aspirations, the greater the odds that they will refer us onward or tell us about an opening when they know of one.
If engaged in an active job hunt, we can show people our Personal Marketing Plan—our one-page list of targeted industries and companies (you do have one, don’t you?). Even if happily employed, looking for another job at some point is inevitable, so the Personal Marketing Plan serves as a roadmap to explore future possibilities.
As we expand our network, we get closer to our targets—to jobs. It isn’t uncommon for job seekers to land employment interviews through someone six or seven levels removed from the first person they met at an event.
Being Remembered
The more we network, the more visibility we create for ourselves—that is, the more people know who we are and what we are about.
At networking events, we position ourselves by what we say. We can take control of our positioning by preparing a clear Two-Minute Pitch which answers the question, “So, tell me about yourself” (you also have one of these, right?). The clearer the pitch, the more likely that people will remember it—and recall the person who made it.
Networking is a life skill. It is an important meeting-generating technique for job hunting and is an overall proven career management strategy. People with a solid network, particularly in their targeted field, find jobs quicker. Those who methodically keep in touch with people in their network simply do better in their careers.
So get out there, meet new people, and enjoy the process! You never know; you just might make some lifelong friends while you are at it.
Forming Solid Relationships
Quality over quantity is the mantra here. Unfortunately, many people hit the networking circuit with a lottery mentality. They are just hoping to find that needle in the haystack—an immediate job opening—so that they will be saved from the misery of job hunting.
Building a professional network is most effective when we develop solid relationships with people with whom we will re-connect on a regular basis. We can send articles of interest or career-related status reports, make phone calls just to say hello, or catch up over tea or a meal.
A good benchmark is to re-connect with key contacts every six weeks. We certainly don’t want to be so busy networking under the guise of “developing solid relationships” that we don’t have time to follow up with people.
Getting Referrals
The larger the number of quality contacts who know about our career aspirations, the greater the odds that they will refer us onward or tell us about an opening when they know of one.
If engaged in an active job hunt, we can show people our Personal Marketing Plan—our one-page list of targeted industries and companies (you do have one, don’t you?). Even if happily employed, looking for another job at some point is inevitable, so the Personal Marketing Plan serves as a roadmap to explore future possibilities.
As we expand our network, we get closer to our targets—to jobs. It isn’t uncommon for job seekers to land employment interviews through someone six or seven levels removed from the first person they met at an event.
Being Remembered
The more we network, the more visibility we create for ourselves—that is, the more people know who we are and what we are about.
At networking events, we position ourselves by what we say. We can take control of our positioning by preparing a clear Two-Minute Pitch which answers the question, “So, tell me about yourself” (you also have one of these, right?). The clearer the pitch, the more likely that people will remember it—and recall the person who made it.
Networking is a life skill. It is an important meeting-generating technique for job hunting and is an overall proven career management strategy. People with a solid network, particularly in their targeted field, find jobs quicker. Those who methodically keep in touch with people in their network simply do better in their careers.
So get out there, meet new people, and enjoy the process! You never know; you just might make some lifelong friends while you are at it.
Peter Hill—an award-winning career advisor and Principal Consultant of P.H.I. Consulting—is a member of The Five O'Clock Club Guild of Career Coaches. He is also an enthusiastic networker. Peter can be reached at pjhill@phi-yourcareer.com.