Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Nobody wants to Buy What You’re Selling

We all know about networking, right? Well, it might be wise in this economy to stop doing it — at least in the way you’ve been probably been doing it.

And why, in this terrible economy, with nothing else on your plate and no job in the future, should you stop networking to find a gig? Because most people do it incorrectly, and they make networking ineffective and unpleasant. More importantly, they don’t get the results they’re looking for — usually the quick sale — and quickly generalize that networking is useless and a waste of time.

Here is the top reason why you shouldn’t network: Nobody wants to buy what you’re selling.

We’ve all experienced people trying to sell their products, services and/or themselves at networking events. In fact, most people attend a networking event because they have an agenda: usually to get something from someone quickly, whether it’s a client, a referral to a hiring manager, or an actual job.

People are handing out resumes and business cards and making mass elevator pitches to each other. No relationships are being built, and everyone is seen as either a quick opportunity or a dead-end. It’s like an old Amway convention. Some people get lucky enough to run into someone naïve who will help a stranger, and most find people who are generally polite in person, but won’t return your phone call or email after the event.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Sound familiar?

It’s no wonder that networking events are experiencing a 25-60 percent downturn in attendance, according to Business Week magazine. The very thought of going to an event where you’ll have to be on selling mode or receiving sales pitches and resumes for three hours is enough to make you call in sick.

So if a job networking event isn’t about scoring a quick gig, why should you even bother putting on a suit and spending hours at Kinko’s updating your resume?

Well for one, candidates, recruiters and hiring managers can meet each other and build relationships which will help everyone in this market .

Here’s the deal; you need to change your mindset from selling to connecting. Connecting is about relating to one another, becoming interested in each other and wanting to help each other reach goals. It’s about caring, generosity, and candor.

When you become interested in others, they take notice and naturally become interested in you. When you care about someone else, they tend to care about you. And lastly, if you’re generous, and try to help them achieve their goals, they tend to reciprocate and want to help you.

So instead of trying to sell yourself — which is very difficult, uncomfortable, and intimidating (especially for introverts) — try connecting instead. It’s natural, feels good, and people will like you more. Heck, maybe they’ll care enough to want to help you and that, my friends, is the point of networking.

Top 10 Job Networking Tips

  1. Focus on networking with your warmest contacts first.
  2. Be generous in sharing ideas, resources and contacts.
  3. Be yourself.
  4. Take a genuine interest in other people, their challenges and their goals (and not just your own needs.)
  5. Focus on the quality of relationships rather than the number of contacts you’ve got.
  6. Keep asking “How can I help you?” rather than “How can you help me?
  7. Share and help others without expecting anything back.
  8. Listen twice as much as you talk.
  9. If you’re not going to follow up religiously, don’t bother networking.
  10. Think long term relationships rather than short term job leads and opportunities.
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Top Websites To Buy Instagram Likes + Bonus Tip!

Next Article

SDSU pres gets highest pay raise in state over last 15 years

Union-Tribune still stiffing downtown San Diego landlord?

We all know about networking, right? Well, it might be wise in this economy to stop doing it — at least in the way you’ve been probably been doing it.

And why, in this terrible economy, with nothing else on your plate and no job in the future, should you stop networking to find a gig? Because most people do it incorrectly, and they make networking ineffective and unpleasant. More importantly, they don’t get the results they’re looking for — usually the quick sale — and quickly generalize that networking is useless and a waste of time.

Here is the top reason why you shouldn’t network: Nobody wants to buy what you’re selling.

We’ve all experienced people trying to sell their products, services and/or themselves at networking events. In fact, most people attend a networking event because they have an agenda: usually to get something from someone quickly, whether it’s a client, a referral to a hiring manager, or an actual job.

People are handing out resumes and business cards and making mass elevator pitches to each other. No relationships are being built, and everyone is seen as either a quick opportunity or a dead-end. It’s like an old Amway convention. Some people get lucky enough to run into someone naïve who will help a stranger, and most find people who are generally polite in person, but won’t return your phone call or email after the event.

Sponsored
Sponsored

Sound familiar?

It’s no wonder that networking events are experiencing a 25-60 percent downturn in attendance, according to Business Week magazine. The very thought of going to an event where you’ll have to be on selling mode or receiving sales pitches and resumes for three hours is enough to make you call in sick.

So if a job networking event isn’t about scoring a quick gig, why should you even bother putting on a suit and spending hours at Kinko’s updating your resume?

Well for one, candidates, recruiters and hiring managers can meet each other and build relationships which will help everyone in this market .

Here’s the deal; you need to change your mindset from selling to connecting. Connecting is about relating to one another, becoming interested in each other and wanting to help each other reach goals. It’s about caring, generosity, and candor.

When you become interested in others, they take notice and naturally become interested in you. When you care about someone else, they tend to care about you. And lastly, if you’re generous, and try to help them achieve their goals, they tend to reciprocate and want to help you.

So instead of trying to sell yourself — which is very difficult, uncomfortable, and intimidating (especially for introverts) — try connecting instead. It’s natural, feels good, and people will like you more. Heck, maybe they’ll care enough to want to help you and that, my friends, is the point of networking.

Top 10 Job Networking Tips

  1. Focus on networking with your warmest contacts first.
  2. Be generous in sharing ideas, resources and contacts.
  3. Be yourself.
  4. Take a genuine interest in other people, their challenges and their goals (and not just your own needs.)
  5. Focus on the quality of relationships rather than the number of contacts you’ve got.
  6. Keep asking “How can I help you?” rather than “How can you help me?
  7. Share and help others without expecting anything back.
  8. Listen twice as much as you talk.
  9. If you’re not going to follow up religiously, don’t bother networking.
  10. Think long term relationships rather than short term job leads and opportunities.
Comments
Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Reader 1st place writing contest winner gets kudos

2nd place winner not so much
Next Article

Flowering pear trees in Kensington not that nice

Empty dirt plots in front of Ken Cinema
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.