I never said how our networking workshop went. In an earlier blog, I compared "networking events" to Jr. High dances with everyone circling the other side and no one being completely comfortable. People dropping resumes into boxes and hoping someone might contact them. The goal of our event was to eliminate that.
We were lucky enough to have Sandy Jones-Kaminski volunteer to help. I've written about her book (I'm at a Networking Event, Now What?) previously. It's a terrific little book, so pick it up if you get a chance. Sandy brought the wisdom of that book to the event. She debunked the "Four Great Myths of Networking" and then gave us very specific words to use, and they worked. Among other things, all of the resumes disappeared, then people engaged with each other. The conversations were distinctly appropriate as well. People spent enough time to understand if they could genuinely help someone, exchanged enough information to know if they had something worth finding more about, then found the next person to chat with. It was great.
Matt Youngquist of Career Horizons was our co-host and he just brings terrific value. If you don't already follow his blog, it's worth the time.
We are doing this again. Next time is May 11th and while there will be some changes, the basic format worked. We will work on adding additional value, but being able to help people get better at networking is still the goal. I'm excited about it and hope you can join us. www.meetup.com/notes-from-the-job-search.
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