As an Executive or Senior Professional most of us know the necessity for networking in our careers. The ability to network with our colleagues, across professions, industries and social groups is crucial to our career development and ultimately success. While we are all aware of the need to network, many of us find it difficult to move out of our comfort zone. This is particularly true for those whose professions tend to be ‘internally client facing and don’t involve a lot of selling. As a technical expert in an area say, IT, Accounting or Engineering if your role has an internal focus, it is unlikely you will have gained a lot of experience in selling, particularly yourself!
Self promotion is not a bad word, nor is networking. They are merely the realities of what we all need to learn to do effectively to stand out and compete in today’s marketplace. All of us naturally network to a certain degree in our day to day lives and are generally better at this when it comes to helping others. Networking when it comes to selling ourselves for a prospective job is uncomfortable when you start. However as with anything, once you start practicing and become familiar with talking about yourself you gain confidence and the doors will open.
Kevin Kermes, has recently published a blog post ‘5 reasons to kick your search into high gear in December’ His approach is logical, practical and no doubt is going to prove very successful for those of you who embrace the holiday season to start doing some self promotion and networking. So don’t slow down over the break, network at gatherings and practice talking about what you do and what you are looking for. Practice your Elevator Pitch, your verbal pitch should be the same as your written pitch.
So start 2009 prepared, confident and ready to talk to anyone who will listen about why you’re the person they need to hire or be talking with their friends, colleagues or boss with about hiring you!
