Networking and Luck
I'm a horrible networker. Horrible. I have a really hard time at these types of events. Standing around with drink in hand, talking about myself, "What do you do?... Oh, that's interesting" "What do you do?". And I really don't mind hearing about other people's lives - I rather enjoy it, it's the talking about me that gets hairy. I'm not very good at "promoting" myself when the spotlight is on. I love what I'm doing, yet talking about it just to get business feels weird and fake. But I know that if I want to succeed, I have to do a little bit more than wait for business to come to me...or do I?
I've been reading this book called "The Luck Factor" by Dr. Richard Wiseman - a fairly quick read that talks about how luck is more how you approach life and less about, well, some kind of magical fate. His first basic principle for leading a "lucky" life is: Maximize your chance opportunities. So, if your looking for a job (or for that matter, a place to live, a life-partner, a used TV...) the best way to optimize your ability to find one seems to have less to do with attending formal networking events and more to do with chance happenings. When I really thought about it, I realized I had a lot of examples of that in my life.
I found my first job because I told a friend of mine that I really wanted to work for this particular company in our town. Turns out he knew someone in the budgeting department that was looking for someone with my exact skill set. My last consulting gig (which has turned into numerous projects throughout the years) happened because I sent my resume to a speaker at a women's CPA meeting that a friend invited me to at the Como Inn. I didn't even know the topic when she invited me, but I wanted to see my friend (and I love the food at the Como Inn!). I've met clients in lines at museums where the last thing I was thinking about was hypnotherapy. And the hypnotherapy came about because it was offered as an elective at my massage school.
Depending on my mood, I can be the person at a party talking to strangers, or the one sitting quietly on the train reading a book. I don't plan on talking to everyone I see and it really, really seems that these kinds of situations come along when you're not too focused on looking for them. But opening yourself up to possibilities really can maximize these seemingly "chance" happenings. Not being shy about telling your friends what you're looking for, doing things that interest you and staying open to talking to the people around you, being sincere in your enthusiasm and keeping your ears open for others can take the work out of networking and what you want (or better yet, what you didn't even know you wanted) may just come to you.
I've been reading this book called "The Luck Factor" by Dr. Richard Wiseman - a fairly quick read that talks about how luck is more how you approach life and less about, well, some kind of magical fate. His first basic principle for leading a "lucky" life is: Maximize your chance opportunities. So, if your looking for a job (or for that matter, a place to live, a life-partner, a used TV...) the best way to optimize your ability to find one seems to have less to do with attending formal networking events and more to do with chance happenings. When I really thought about it, I realized I had a lot of examples of that in my life.
I found my first job because I told a friend of mine that I really wanted to work for this particular company in our town. Turns out he knew someone in the budgeting department that was looking for someone with my exact skill set. My last consulting gig (which has turned into numerous projects throughout the years) happened because I sent my resume to a speaker at a women's CPA meeting that a friend invited me to at the Como Inn. I didn't even know the topic when she invited me, but I wanted to see my friend (and I love the food at the Como Inn!). I've met clients in lines at museums where the last thing I was thinking about was hypnotherapy. And the hypnotherapy came about because it was offered as an elective at my massage school.
Depending on my mood, I can be the person at a party talking to strangers, or the one sitting quietly on the train reading a book. I don't plan on talking to everyone I see and it really, really seems that these kinds of situations come along when you're not too focused on looking for them. But opening yourself up to possibilities really can maximize these seemingly "chance" happenings. Not being shy about telling your friends what you're looking for, doing things that interest you and staying open to talking to the people around you, being sincere in your enthusiasm and keeping your ears open for others can take the work out of networking and what you want (or better yet, what you didn't even know you wanted) may just come to you.
posted by Christa Ojeda @ 6:29 PM
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