Professional Networking – How do you do it?

img Jey Bukitvista | September 14, 2023

“The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don’t know”

– Albert Einstein

Doing a professional networking is the way you see the world. It’s the same like you open the next page of your book to discover more and more. You can find your mentor, your business partner, your investors, your new opportunities by doing this. The best part, maybe you can discover yourself!

Here are the things that might help you while starting doing professional networking. We compiled this based on experience, so we learn together.

This is an open source file, feel free to add more, update, and discuss! 😀

Controls

In any professional conversation, there are certain elements that you can control; for example how you respond, and there are certain elements that cannot be; for example how they respond.

Take a look on this table below. There are things that you can and can’t control.

Things to remember:

  • You can manage what you control  
  • Don’t worry about how the audience reacts, that’s their business
  • Your business is how you respond
What you control What you don’t control
Audience selection How your audience will respond.
Questions What kind of answers you’ll get.
Timing If the timing will be good for the audience
Messaging Will your audience understand?
Channel If the channel is a good fit to the audience.
Controls Don’t Control
Timing Selection If the audience engages with you.
Message Selection If the audience engages with you.
Channel of communication If the audience engages with you.
Audience Selection If the audience engages with you.
Pivots If the audience engages with you.

How to start a professional networking?

LinkedIn Profile

  • For the first step, you can use LinkedIn to start your professional networking.
  • LinkedIn is a valuable platform for personal networking due to several reasons:
    • Personal Branding and Thought Leadership: Utilizing LinkedIn allows you to establish your personal brand by sharing insights, participating in discussions, and publishing articles relevant to your field. This activity positions you as a thought leader, enhancing your credibility and drawing the attention of recruiters, potential clients, and peers.
    • Data-Driven Networking: LinkedIn’s algorithmic recommendations and search functionalities are designed to connect you with individuals who share similar professional interests, skills, or have mutual connections. This enables you to network more effectively, as you can target connections that align with your career goals or your company’s partnership strategies.
    • Professional Ecosystem Insights: The platform provides insights into industry trends, competitive intelligence, and potential investment opportunities through company pages and expert analyses. Engaging with these features helps in staying ahead in the market, identifying areas for growth, and fostering strategic partnerships.
  • You should stengthen your personal account, by fulfil profile requirement and activities.
  • You can start to connect with the mentors from your account. Time by time, your profile will be strengthen and you can start your own networking.

Audience Selection

  • Audience Selection is under our control. You can find a good and right one, but sometimes maybe you will get a zonk. Preventing yourself from getting a zonk, here are some points you can consider when you choose a mentor:
    • Select an audience that you want to connect with based on your mission
      • You can filter them from the search engine
      • Join a webinar and connect with the speakers
      • Article based
      • Company’s alumni/talent link
    • Don’t be manipulated by the numbers
  • Even though a high number of connections might be a good point, but you need to check the background closer
    • Do the background check
      • Check their career progress
      • Check their achievements
      • Credibility of their previous company
      • Education background
      • Search their name on Google, look what you will find

PS:

These method will not guarantee you to be 100% successful in finding the right and good mentor. That might be a fail-fast situation which will make you learn and be more aware. We will know after the meeting is begun, you will know where to stop, and it’s totally fine.

There is also a chance to help others first, when you find the audience isn’t the person you are looking for but s/he might be perfect for your team from the other chapter who carries another mission, you can keep connect and collaborate with your team.

Messaging – Self Introduction

  • Introduce yourself professionally
  • Make sure you know who’s your audience well
    • From C-level
    • Senior/Expert
    • Mere employee
  • Make your message is brief and packed
  • Here are several examples how you approach your audience. You can make your own style and snippet. The most important thing is you deliver the message well.
  • If the audience isn’t responded to your message, you don’t need to be anxious. You can keep pivoting and send message to the other audiences while evaluating your message that you have sent to your seniors

Messaging – Follow Up Message

If your message is replied, it might be directed to these possibilities: 

Converted to a meeting

  • If the audience responses your message positively and interested in having a discussion, then congratulations! But maybe it’s too early to celebrate since you still don’t know about their capacity.
  • Some of them will ask you more about the company background and the objective of the upcoming discussion, some of them will not, and the other might give you a response for a paid discussion. For the paid discussion, it will be based on your needs.
  • You can give A/B options for scheduling a meeting. Don’t forget to ask their email.
  • The more detail of how to arrange a meeting will be written down below.

Unconverted meeting

  • A reply can be a refusal for the meeting. At some point, they will explain their reasons. We have to respect their reasons and don’t force them.

No response after their reply

  • After the first reply and we follow up their message, it’s possible if they don’t reply us. If they show any positive sign at the first time, you can reach them back again, maybe they’re busy. The best possibility is, it will be converted to a meeting, and the worst part is, they’re not getting back to us anymore.

How to arrange a meeting?

Meeting Journey

Pre-meeting

  • Timing – Different timezone
  • Find a good timing for you and the audience. If the audience comes from another country and have a different timezone, you can check it on https://savvytime.com/converter
  • A lot of the North America calls will either be early morning or late evening here in WITA
  • European calls work better in our afternoon

  • Channel
  • We have several channels that can be used for the professional networking, we can choose which one will work better for our meeting. It’s easy on the audience side and our side.

Google Meet

Whereby (whereby.com/bukitvista)

Zoom Meeting

  • Attendees
  • Your Mentor
  • Based on the audience’s background
    • The organizer
    • Aligned with your mission: your team member (max. 2 persons)
  • Invite through Google Calendar, arrange 2 meetings:
    • A briefing
    • The meeting
  • Messaging – Preparing Audience’s Profile and Questions Lis

  • Briefing

    • The briefing is held 30 mins or 15 mins before your meeting with the audience. We discuss about the questions, who will lead and the flow of the meeting.
    • ps. Please announce your meeting on Slack at #professional-networking channel to avoid any overlapped meeting with others.

  • Meeting

    • The first meeting will make your heart racing especially when you never do this thing before. This is an important time since you will know whether they will be the right mentor or not. No need to worry, you don’t need to impress your audience, focus on your learning, make your curiosity as a fuel.

    • Things you should remember:
        • Remind your mentor 15 mins before your meeting

        • Don’t forget to record the meeting use QuickTime Player

        • At the end of the meeting, you can take a screenshot together!

  • Post Meeting
    • Debrief
      • Evaluate 

      • If you didn’t feel like you networked well, analyze what went wrong
        Did you select the right audience?
        Did you ask the right questions?
        Did you pick the right timing?
        Did you choose the right message?
        Did you choose the right channel?

      • Your take away of the meeting

        • Things you learn → better improvement

        • Implemented method

        • New initiative born

  • Messaging – Gratitude message
    • Send a gratitude message to them after the meeting finished
        • Thank them for their time

        • Thank them for the insightful ideas

  •  
  • Post an article on your personal LinkedIn
    • Post with a screenshot you took

    • Tagged your mentor, your team member, and Bukit Vista on the pics and your article

    • Give a short summary of your meeting

    • Make it educative yet attractive

  • Make a record/track list from your networking

    • From the video that has been recorded, you can evaluate yourself such as your body language, the way you speak (e.g your tone, your eyes, the words that you use), so you can be better on the next meeting

  • Bonus
    • If the audience shares your article
        • Say thank you

        • If you are luck, you can find another new mentor or they will find you!

Personal Benefit

    • Personal Growth

    • Strengthen LinkedIn’s profile

    • Have many connections and new friends

    • A chance to connect with people around the world

    • New perspective from people around the world

Materials

  • Source Papers

Professional Networking
The Basic of Professional Networking – Bukit Vista style

  • Website

http://utas.libguides.com/SystematicReviews/FormulateQuestion

  • LinkedIn Videos

Building Professional Relationship
High Stakes Communication
Executive Presence on Video Conference Call
Communication Tips

  • TEDTalk 

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