How not to feel like a barnacle
Lesa Edwards, MPA, CJSS, MRW, ACRW, CELDC
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Barnacle: A marine crustacean with an external shell, which attaches itself permanently to a variety of surfaces.
I grew up in St. Petersburg, Florida. My family always had boats…we lived on the water. Barnacles were a destructive and ugly problem for our boats.
One of the comments I hear most frequently from clients is that networking feels creepy to them. Like they are taking advantage of people.
I call it being a barnacle.
I teach my clients how NOT to be a barnacle when they are networking, and I’m going to give you an overview of those steps here.
1. Do your homework on the person you are networking with ahead of time, using LinkedIn—brief yourself on their current job duties, achievements, and career trajectory.
2. Start the conversation by asking them questions about themselves—their work challenges, successes, etc.
3. Listen for opportunities to give value to that person—through referrals, best practices, resources, or just an empathetic listening ear.
4. Follow up with whatever you said you would do—make an introduction, send a link. If nothing else, just a thank you for the meeting.
5. When it’s your turn, make a specific ask, based on the homework you did ahead of time. Who would you like to be introduced to? What information would you like them to provide you with?
Remember, you are networking…not sucking something out of another person. Give value first and the other person will be much more open to giving value to you.
Want help with your job search? Here's the link to a series of FREE webinars I'm conducting in September to support you: https://mastercoachwebinars.carrd.co/