Right and wrong method of networking
“It’s time you realized that you have something in you more powerful and miraculous than the things that affect you and make you dance like a puppet.”
Imagine this…
You send a customized LinkedIn note to 50 people for a coffee chat.
23/50 people accept the connection request.
7/23 agree for a coffee chat.
You go on those coffee chats, have good conversations, and think that maybe a few might even refer you.
A few days/weeks later…
3/7 refer you for the role that’s come up on the company’s career page.
You wait for a week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks but nothing happens.
You start losing your patience and think…
“I spent 1 hour daily reaching out to people on LinkedIn for the past 1 week, customizing each and every connection request note. I did so much research to send that customized note. After all of this work, I finally got 3 referrals but why the hell am I not getting an interview call from those 3 companies :-( !”
That’s because you reached out to the wrong people!
Confused?
Every referral is not the same.
The position of the person matters.
The effort of that person matters.
A weak referral is one where:
They just told you to put your name or ID in the application in the field “Did someone refer you for this role?”
The person doesn’t even work in your target department and doesn’t even know who the HR is.
They didn’t email or verbally say to the HR or the Hiring Manager to give your application priority.
9/10 times, this referral will amount to nothing. So, along with working hard, you need to start working smart.
You need to reach out to the right people!
A strong referral is one where:
That person IS the HR or the Hiring Manager for that role
They have some kind of influence over the decision making (your future teammates, VP, Director, etc.)
That person will email or speak to the HR or the Hiring Manager to look into your application.
So, don’t work hard in the wrong direction and end up wasting your time.
Keep Blooming,
Bani Singh