Your #Career : A 3-Step Process To Ensure You Keep #Networking Even After You Land The #Job…We All Know People Who Only Reach Out When They Need Something. You Don’t Want to be THAT person. Adopt this Simple 3 Step Process so You can Effortlessly Build in Networking Day-to-Day.

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The best time to network is when you don’t need anything. But the reality is that it’s easy to forget about networking until you need something. (No communication is one of the five big networking mistakes I’ve pointed out before.) If your job is in jeopardy or you just can’t stand your employer any longer, you overcome the inertia, the awkwardness, and the busyness and put networking into your schedule. But what happens after you land that next job? How do you continue to network and not once again lapse into only networking at the next emergency?

networking

Here is a three-step process to ensure you keep networking even after you land the job:

1- Pick a topic – you do have something to say

The biggest obstacle I hear regarding networking day-to-day is what to talk about. I don’t want to seem like I’m stalking. People are busy; I don’t want to interrupt them. I don’t have anything to say. Yes, you do have something to say. First of all, you probably have news to share: you landed a job; started a new project; or hit a personal milestone (e.g., moved to a new part of town, took an interesting trip). Certainly if you landed a new job, you need to circle back to everyone who even remotely helped you to thank them! Secondly, you can reach out about a general topic: a business initiative; management issue; professional development challenge; personal hobby; volunteer or community issue. Depending on what you decide is your topic, reach out to reconnect over the issue and invite but don’t presume a dialogue:

Hi Jane, I recently moved uptown, so lots going on by me. It occurred to me that we haven’t spoken in a while. How are you? Hope you’re well!

Hi Jane, I recently took over a new client in the energy field. I recall that you used to (still do?) work a lot with energy folks, so it made me think of you. How are you? Hope you’re well!

Hi Jane, I recently saw this recipe for vegetable samosas. It made me think of you. Are you still into Indian cooking? Hope you’re well!

Whether you choose a personal interest of the other person, personal news about yourself or even a professional topic, you can easily craft a short email that is personalized and friendly and doesn’t ask anything of them.

 

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2- Select your contact – you already know the right people

Another common networking obstacle I hear is keeping up with the “right” people – senior, powerful, or otherwise influential. The best networking is genuine and unassuming, so if you’re only doing it to attract people you think can help you, then it’s going to seem forced. Instead, focus on maintaining a diverse network with both quality and quantity – quality people you genuinely like and trust; and enough quantity of people so that your network doesn’t become too insular. Don’t assume that your network needs to change.

You already regularly connect with people in your department; you also want to connect with people in your company in other departments (people who may not be around you day-to-day so you have to actively reach out). You probably know people doing a similar job to you or in the same industry; you also want to know people in other jobs and other industries. When you think networking, you probably think of your professional life, but don’t forget people in your general contact list – from your alma mater, personal interests, community groups. Finally, your networking target list should also include people you don’t yet know but would like to meet – people you’ve read about; speakers you heard at a recent conference; names mentioned to you by common contacts.

3- Build in the time

Now that you have possible topics to discuss and a list of connections to rekindle, step 3 is to build in the time. You have a lot of options to fit networking into your schedule but also to mix and match when and how you reconnect:

Use your lunch hour – even if you meet people just once per week, that’s 50 connections over the year. You might focus on people in your company for ease of scheduling or specifically reserve your lunches for people outside (e.g., other jobs, other industries, personal contacts, new contacts)

Make a habit of sending a few daily emails, targeting people you haven’t connected with in the last month. Pick names at random out of your phone or use LinkedIn updates as a prompt (if someone pops up as changing their profile or having an anniversary, send them a message). Use the quick email samples I share above as a template
Reserve specific times each week or each month for a networking activity. This can be to do more emails or to add breakfasts or dinners to the mix. Or you could attend a professional association event or take a class in a personal interest (expanding your network over a shared hobby rather than professionally).

Set a reminder in your calendar to reconnect quarterly. For people you want to build a stronger relationship with, you want to connect more regularly. If you set a reminder for each quarter, you can use that prompt to circle back to key contacts additional times. Quarterly is frequent enough that you can build off previous contacts but not so frequent that it’s disruptive to you and them.

At the very least, consider an annual mailing, such as a holiday mailing, to ensure you get in touch at least once per year.

We all know people who only reach out when they need something. You don’t want to be THAT person. Adopt this simple three-step process so you can effortlessly build in networking day-to-day.

Caroline Ceniza-Levine is co-founder of SixFigureStart®career coaching. She has worked with executives from American Express, Citigroup, Condé Nast, Gilt, Goldman Sachs, Google, McKinsey, and other leading firms. She’s also a stand-up comic, so she’s not your typical coach. Connect with Caroline on Google+.

 

Forbes.com | August 9, 2015 | Caroline Ceniza-Levine