本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛I can spot a good student networker a day or so after I initially meet them.
I know that sounds a bit strange, but it’s true. I attend hundreds of networking events every year, meet thousands of post-secondary students, and collect stacks of business cards (I’ve lost count of the vast number of cards that I have handed out myself). But of all the people I meet, how can I identify the truly effective networkers? How can I tell which ones understand the incredible value that solid network construction will play in their future? Easy, I just check my LinkedIn invitations or email inbox the day after we meet.
The very best network builders are the students who understand that the value of an initial connection has a very short shelf life. Think of your latest connections as a fresh loaf of bread: they must be attended to very quickly lest they go stale. I believe the best networkers make follow-up connections within 24 hours of initial contact, 48 hours at the outside.
When I receive a LinkedIn invitation or an email the morning after meeting someone at a networking event, my memory of them and what we talked about is fresh in my mind. Usually I‘m inclined to respond to their message or connection request right away. Not only that, my impression of them as young professionals with high potential is bolstered by the very fact that they recognize the value of establishing a connection promptly. Invariably, these young people have impressive LinkedIn profiles and a healthy number of connections. These are the people that “get it.” These are the individuals that will benefit from effective networking construction and maintenance.
On the other hand, are the many emails and LinkedIn connections I will receive several weeks or even months after meeting someone for the first time. Naturally, the odds that I can recall these students are long, and get longer with every passing day. I’m sure that other business people are also less inclined to contact an individual if they don’t recall having met the person. The impression they made on me has most lost its value. The loaf of bread has gone from fresh to stale to rock hard. .
So, simply understanding the incredible value of reconnecting promptly and then acting on that understanding is the secret to building an effective network. And an effective network will retain its value, a value that will serve students not only when they graduate, but also as they progress through their careers.
I’m very good at following up on networking connections now, but that was not always the case. I was perhaps one of the worst. We’ll leave that little story of how I changed for next week.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛I recently came across an article written by Kristen Hilderman on bcbusinessonline.ca titled “The Four Worst Networking Personalities.” The article highlighted four common types of networkers to avoid at networking events, and I couldn’t help but laugh at Kristen’s humorous and all-too-familiar descriptions of The Pusher, The Cling-on, The Wandering Eye, and The Salesman. Having encountered these types of networkers in the wild many times, I’d like to offer you some tips on how not to become them.
1. The Pusher. At a networking event, the Pusher’s objective is to maximize the number of connections by handing out and collecting as many business cards as possible. Instead of blindly trying to spray the room with your business cards, try to focus on the quality instead of the quantity of your connections. Before handing out your business card to someone, offer a firm but friendly handshake and introduce yourself to the other party. Give those you meet an opportunity to do the same. At this point it would be a good time to exchange business cards.
Mission accomplished? No. Just because you got the business card doesn’t mean you’re done networking. Take some time to initiate conversation & learn about what the other person does. They might just be inclined to learn about what you do. Listen and look for opportunities where you can offer your help and promise to follow up.
2. The Wandering Eye. In North America, it is generally expected that you make eye contact with the person you are speaking to. Keep your eyes from wandering by maintaining frequent eye contact with the other party. You don’t need to have a staring contest, but try to keep your general gaze in their direction. Wandering eyes can lead the person you are conversing with to feel unimportant and disrespected. If the person you are speaking with is uninteresting and you feel the need to move on, wait for a pause or a lull in the conversation and exit gracefully. Say something like, “It was good to meet you. I need to connect with a few more people around here so if I don’t see you later, I hope you enjoy the rest of your evening.”
3. The Cling-on. For those who are shy or just naturally introverted, networking events may be uncomfortable. The Cling-on finds security by clinging to people or circles of people already in conversation. Try and seek out and initiate your own conversations. If you find it hard to talk to complete strangers, warm up with familiar faces—perhaps there is a classmate or co-worker at the event.
If you know in advance who might be at the event, prepare some questions to ask. If you find it difficult to come up with something to talk about, talk about the event itself, a speech you just heard, the food that is being served, or a display or exhibit at the event. Ask simple questions to prompt conversation: How many people do you think are here? What did you think of the keynote speech?
4. The Salesman. So you love to talk and can chat endlessly about your product/service, or maybe you have a great idea that you’re trying to pitch in the hope of finding your next angel investor. If you have come to a networking event with the objective of making an immediate sale then you may be disappointed. Worse, you may be making a networking pariah of yourself. Leave the sales pitch for the sales call and remember that networking is about creating and building relationships. People like to do business with people they like and know. Be genuine and listen attentively to others. They may reveal something that presents itself as an opportunity, but the key is to listen.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛An elevator pitch, elevator speech, or elevator statement is a short summary used to quickly and simply define a person, profession, product, service, organization or event and its value proposition.[1]
The name "elevator pitch" reflects the idea that it should be possible to deliver the summary in the time span of an elevator ride, or approximately thirty seconds to two minutes.[2][3] The term itself comes from a scenario of an accidental meeting with someone important in the elevator. If the conversation inside the elevator in those few seconds is interesting and value adding, the conversation will continue after the elevator ride or end in exchange of business card or a scheduled meeting.[4]
A variety of people, including project managers, salespeople, evangelists, and policy-makers, commonly rehearse and use elevator pitches to get their point across quickly.

The Perfect Elevator Pitch To Land A Job
If you’re looking for a job, one of the first tasks on your to-do list should be crafting an ideal “elevator pitch.” It’s the 30-second speech that summarizes who you are, what you do and why you’d be a perfect candidate.
You should be able to reel off your elevator pitch at any time, from a job interview to a cocktail party conversation with someone who might be able to help you land a position.
(MORE: Job Interview Advice Older Men Don’t Want to Hear)
Sounds simple enough, right? But condensing 50+ years of your life accomplishments into a 30-second statement that packs a punch can feel as challenging as trying to stuff an elephant into a Volkswagen Beetle.
I get that. So to help you develop a knockout elevator pitch, I’ve broken the process down into nine steps:
1. Clarify your job target. As Yogi Berra famously said, “You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going, because you might not get there.”
So when you begin putting an elevator pitch together, nail down the best way to describe your field and the type of job you’re pursuing. Until you can clearly explain the type of position you want, nobody can help you find it or hire you to do it.
2. Put it on paper. Write down everything you’d want a prospective employer to know about your skills, accomplishments and work experiences that are relevant to your target position. Then grab a red pen and mercilessly delete everything that’s not critical to your pitch.
Keep editing until you’ve got the speech down to a few key bullet points or sentences. Your goal is to interest the listener in learning more, not to tell your whole life story. So remove extraneous details that detract from your core message.
3. Format it. A good pitch should answer three questions: Who are you? What do you do? What are you looking for?
(MORE: Job Interview Advice Older Women Don’t Want to Hear)
Here’s an example of how to begin a pitch that includes the essentials: “Hi. I am Jessica Hill. I am an accountant with 10 years experience in the insurance industry and I’m looking for opportunities in the Dallas area with both insurance and finance companies.”
That speech would take about 15 seconds. Jessica would then want to use her next 15 seconds to add details about her unique selling proposition, special skills and specific ways she could help a potential employer.
4. Tailor the pitch to them, not you. It’s important to remember that the people listening to your speech will have their antennas tuned to WIFM (What’s in It for Me?) So be sure to focus your message on their needs.
For example, this introduction: “I am a human resources professional with 10 years experience working for consumer products companies.” The pitch would be more powerful if you said, “I am a human resources professional with a strong track record in helping to identify and recruit top-level talent into management.”
Using benefit-focused terminology will help convince an interviewer that you have the experience, savvy and skills to get the job done at his or her business.
5. Eliminate industry jargon. You need to make your pitch easy for anyone to understand, so avoid using acronyms and tech-speak that the average person or job interviewer might not understand.
The last thing you want to do is make your listener feel stupid or uninformed.
6. Read your pitch out loud. As Fast Company’s Deborah Grayson Riegel recently pointed out in her article “The Problem With Your Elevator Pitch and How to Fix It,” writing is more formal and structured than speaking. If you’re not careful, your elevator pitch can come off sounding more like an infomercial than a conversation.

Reading it aloud then tinkering with the words will help you sound more authentic.
7. Practice, practice, practice (then solicit feedback). Rehearse your pitch in front of a mirror or use the recording capabilities of your computer, so you can see and hear how you sound.
This might feel awkward at first, but the more you practice, the smoother your delivery will be.
Keep tweaking your pitch until it no longer sounds rehearsed. When your presentation is polished to your satisfaction, try it out on a few friends and ask them what they thought your key points were. If their response doesn’t square with your objective, the speech still needs work.
8. Prepare a few variations. You might want to say things slightly differently to an interviewer than to a former colleague. Also, sometimes you’ll just have 15 seconds for a pitch (kind of a short elevator ride), other times you may have a minute or two.
So focus on mastering a few key talking points then work up ways to customize your speech for particular situations.
(MORE: The Art of First Impressions)
Use the word count feature on your computer to create shorter and longer pitches; a good rule of thumb is that you can say about 150 words in one minute.
9. Nail it with confidence. The best-worded elevator pitch in the world will fall flat unless it’s conveyed well.
When you give the speech, look the person in the eye, smile and deliver your message with a confident, upbeat delivery.
Get your pitch right and you might soon find yourself riding an actual elevator at your new job.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net

本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛Last week, I described how I spot successful networkers—they follow-up initial in-person contact with an electronic message within 24 hours or so. I also said I’d share my evolution from poor network maintainer to the superstar :)networker you know today.
That evolution was the result of cultivating a few simple yet effective habits.
In days gone by, I would arrive home from an event with the business cards of people I just met filling every pocket. These business cards would eventually get dumped on a shelf at home, on my desk at the office or, worse yet, never make it out of the car. The cards would then sit for several weeks, months even, until I gathered them all up and tried to decide what to do with them – which was often to file them away in an old-fashioned business card file box. Sadly, these little black boxes are like graveyards for networking connections whose value has died. Business cards unlike, say, a fine wine, don’t get better after years of sitting in the dark. My messy stacks of new contacts’ business cards and boxes crammed full of card files lost value every hour they sat unused. Combined, they represented a truly phenomenal loss of networking potential—for me, for my now-stale contacts and all the third parties we could potentially have helped together.
The old business card hoarder wouldn’t recognize me or my incredible network. What changed? For one, my post-event habits. But as with all good habits, I had to stick to them until they became automatic.
Here’s how I treat all those newly acquired business cards:
 Scribble the first chance I get. I’m not afraid to make a follow-up note to myself on someone’s business card that I have just received at an event or luncheon. (Note: This must be done out sight of the card owner: many people would find marking of their cards a cultural gaffe.) I find it incredibly effective if I can make the little note right there at the event. These are tidbits of information that I think may be of use in the future; points I might otherwise quickly forget. A little note like “worked with Bob at ABC,” or “wants to talk about hiring CGA students” can be very valuable to aid recall when following up and making an effective connection.
 Sort and prioritize. As soon as I get home, to the office, or to the hotel, I gather all the day’s business cards. Instead of tossing them into a vast pile, I get to work on a quick sorting process, pen in hand. This preliminary sort sets effective network building into action. Often one or two cards can be discarded immediately. A few may require immediate email attention that night or first thing in the morning. The ones that require a LinkedIn response within 24 hours; I arrange them just after the important ones that require emails. It only takes a couple of minutes, and I have a tidy and incredibly valuable little stack of 10 cards or so.
 Initiate while the irons are hot. The first thing I do when I start work the next day or turn on the iPad at the coffee shop is take out this little stack. The critical email follow-ups are dealt with immediately. Often these are crucial because I’ve made a promise in a conversation to get in touch the following day. The LinkedIn follow-ups stay in the shirt pocket to be dealt with then or later that same day.
 Keeping LinkedIn. I keep LinkedIn as the default homepage on my web browser. This reminds me of that little LinkedIn stack in my pocket. It also reflects just how important networking maintenance is to me.
 LinkedIn: This time it’s personal. Lastly, I never ever use the default invitation greeting on LinkedIn. You know the one that reads, “Hello. I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.” Always personalize your invitations. It helps the person remember who you are and that they’ve actually met you. This is where the little notes written on the business cards come in handy.
I’d love to hear your experiences and suggestions that make your networks grow and stay vibrant.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net