The 10 Cardinal Sins of Networking

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Alison,

What a great article.

My name is David Snell and the ceo of:

SnellExperts.

I need to talk to you about doing some writing for my group on Linked In called: mold inspectors and mold remediators.

We now have 1,520 companies in the group.

You are welcome to join us and I will introduce you ok?

If you like that is.

We are an open group by the way.

David Snell

704-545-0098

David Snell of NC 9:37PM March 24, 2013

I teach what you are writing about and you are right on target. Your approach is simple to use and well-written - thank you for putting this out there.

Heshie Segal of PA 1:10PM June 09, 2012

Good advice about networking. Keeping your network up-to-date and offering to help them is a positive step.

Laura A. Hobson of OH 10:48AM June 06, 2012

is there any advanage to networking. i have found no use for it so i do not use it.

capac programmer of MI 8:38AM June 06, 2012

Appreciate your article Allison. I especially like you comment about thanking people and following up. It is frustrating when you give a person a great "right" contact and tell them to use your name and never hear anything.

If you want to truly build relationships with people that helped you--make sure you keep them in the loop--that goes especially if you have asked people to be a reference for you for a new job.

kathy condon of WA 12:30PM June 05, 2012

Allison,

Networking is the ultimate tool to uncover job leads and to get inside help for getting hired. However, most job seekers don't understand the reciprocity of the situation. Look for ways to contribute to your contacts before asking for their help. Follow up on birthdays, or news reports that talk about their company. You will find that the conversation naturally rolls around to you, and you can naturally ask for job leads as a result, and find people so much more willing to help out.

Dean Giles of UT 12:05PM June 05, 2012

I like this, I've tried to practice most of these as much as possible. Although I think #10 is finicky because there is a number of reasons why a contact in a network does not state they can handle this. Generally life can get in the way sometimes, they maybe working on other jobs, projects or business professionally and may not know because their attention is being pulled to areas of other importance.

You cannot be mad at someone for not knowing if you didn't try to let them know, especially if you had a position they didn't know about.

Jackson of NY 11:13AM June 05, 2012

i realy thank you alison green, for good article and well minded words to us , thank you alot.. salehe from tanzania

salehe of TN 2:36AM June 05, 2012

Here's another tip: Connect with people via LinkedIn - it is a polite way of asking people to interact and they always have the option of not connecting. I part ways with people I've just met with "I'll send you a LinkedIn invite" and follow up shortly thereafter. I had a recent chuckle when I attended an event one evening and received a LinkedIn invite 5 minutes after meeting a young intern - I literally had just met her and she was sitting in the row behind me when I checked my iphone and saw the invite. She politely leaned forward and whispered "Accept" - we laughed about it later and it certainly made me remember her!

Tara of MD 4:39PM June 04, 2012

Something just occurred to me. Can you network if you really aren't interested in your job? I would guess probably not. This may be who so many people network badly.

When you are passionate with your job, you can develop real personal relationships with those who share your passion. If your job is just a paycheck, then you lapse into the behaviors that are illustrated in the the article above.

Perhaps this is why networking has such a bad reputation. Most people just work for a paycheck, rather than having a passion for their job. Maybe, because this is the norm, it's difficult, if not impossible, for these people to network without being fake and cynical.

I can relate because I'm not really interested in my job. I am pretty good at networking within the community related to my hobby. But my hobby would not provide enough income for me and my family to survive, so I don't work in that area.

I wonder how many others are in the same boat?

Scott M of TX 3:28PM June 04, 2012

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