As part of your job search, you have attended a networking event and are Networking with Purpose as was discussed in a previous blog entry. Because of your preparation, you met people that you wanted to meet at the event and most likely have a stack of business cards from other people at the event. Now what? Here are next action steps to take to move the process forward.
Input the business cards (contact information) for the people you met into your contact repository.
Prioritize the list of contacts based on your target industry and company size.
Reach out to the contacts and coordinate a time and place to meet. One of the keys is to coordinate the conversation as soon as you can after the networking event. It will increase the likelihood that you will have the follow-up conversation.
Prepare for the follow-up meeting by doing research on your contact.
Look for ways to give. While researching your contact, create a list of a few people in your network that your contact may want to be introduced to.
Attend the networking meeting with your contact.
One of the keys to a networking meeting is to take an action item during the meeting and do your best to complete the action item by the end of the day.
Continue to attend relevant networking events and repeat the follow-up activities. You should continue this even after you have landed your next job. It will enable you to constantly keep your network fresh.
Developing relationships from your networking interactions will help you not just in your job search phase but throughout your career. Networking should become part of your regular work routine. Good luck with purposeful networking!