Do You Have What It Takes to Power Network?

There are 2 kinds of networking - are you doing the kind that serves you best?

How do I network for a career pivot?

Over the last 4 years in helping 500+ women network their way into promotions, job and industry changes, I’ve noticed two networking tracks.

Which track you follow depends on where you are in your process, what you prefer and how much time you’ve got to dedicate to this. The are:

  1. Discovery Networking

  2. Power Networking

Let’s dig into each. 

Discovery Networking 

What it is: Coffees/zooms you book when trying to figure out what you want. It's how most job search, particularly in early career when you’re trying to figure out what you want to do & have less lived experience.


When to use it: When you are at a loss for where to go, unclear about your role, need to figure out where your skillset fits.


Pros: 

  • If you are a people person and love being back in touch people from your past, this can be fun

  • Since it’s kind of open ended, it can be a nice way to casually engage your network to help you find your next move

  • Over time, as you get clearer about what you want these conversations might lead to leads


Cons:

  • If seeking a leadership position, being up in the air about what you want may not read as decisive and clear as someone who walks in on day one of a job interview, clear that this role is what they want. If compared to another candidate with this level of certainty, it could be a hard sell.

  • Time and labor intensive with no real process. If you are on a timeline to find your next move, setting up a lot of coffees and sitting on zoom without quite knowing the outcome can take it out of you. You will certainly have some discussions that go nowhere, which can be disheartening if you’re looking for answers.

  • Open ended conversations with people who aren’t totally relevant to what you really want and whose opinions throw you off course (and discourage your progress)

  • Have you ever been on the other side of these calls and felt like the job seeker wanted you to figure out their life for them? When I was a TV writer, I can’t tell you how young people who wanted to break into Hollywood I got connected to, only to have them spend an hour of my time fumbling toward clarity. Unless this was a close connection, I found this very frustrating. Maybe you can relate! You might evoke the same in someone whose endorsement you’ll need later. 

How to do it effectively: 

If you’re going to do this, I would stick to your inner circle as a sounding board for your process, at least until you have a bit more clarity on your destination. 

Power Networking

What it is: Walking into every conversation with a strategy and ask so there’s a clear next step/reason to reconnect and continue the conversation. This builds trust over time - essential for relationship building, which is what networking is. 


When to use it: Anytime you’re able to plan in advance. If you seek clear impactful outcomes and next steps from each conversation. 


How to do it effectively: If you’ve been reading my stuff for a while, you know what I’m going to say: be clear on your end result. If you have not put in the time to get clear on what kind of company or growth stage, culture or function you want, this type of networking is hard to do. You are, by default, in discovery networking mode. 


Pros: 

  • Clear plan and talking points going into every meeting

  • Actionable steps coming out of every meeting

  • Builds trust over time

  • Targeted feedback on your next steps

  • Presenting as leader on a mission, rather than lost or ambivalent (it’s ok to be those things btw, I just don’t think networking for a leadership position job is the place where those serve you)


Cons: Still takes time to plan and who makes the time to do that? 


Tips: I almost wrote that a “con” was there not being a clear method to figure out what you want and that’s not true. I use it with my clients to get clear on their long term visions and then find their next strategic move based on that. It’s just not known to everyone. So what I’ll share is - before walking into these meetings have at least 3-5 solid tangible job “search” terms to guide who you reach out to. 


Those can be: 

industry - company culture - mission - company size - company growth stage - job function - location - title - team size 


This and many more lessons in growing and deepening your network relationships so these advocates go beyond mentors and become sponsors in a job search or promotion.

Introducing the career path breakthrough and vision-setting program for mid-level womxn ready to ditch survival mode and take control of their career strategically –for the next year, five years, and beyond. Our new Career Destination Excavation.

Interested?
Have questions now? Email holler@acelectric.co and ask away!

Alex Cooley