Networkers harness Web to target goals, preferences
The old business card routine way of career networking has largely been replaced by savvy self-promoting job seekers focused on using the Internet to tap into social networking sites, online resources, and email programs.
(Steve Wacksman Illustration for The Boston Globe)When Lisa Stapleton needed a job last year she targeted a Beverly company on ZoomInfo.com, oiled up her LinkedIn profile, and made a connection online.
The mother of a toddler and a 4-year-old, Stapleton didn't have time to hit the professional breakfast meetings, but she knew how to network efficiently using the tools at her fingertips.
"A good connection can come from any number of sources," she said, "and it doesn't have to be in a professional setting."
Career networking is no longer a hit or miss proposition, say specialists. Today, self-promotion is aimed at the bull's-eye instead of the old business card routine of blanketing the room and praying one will stick.
Savvy networkers are zeroing in on their goals, defining their geographic preferences, and choosing their business genres by using social networking sites, online resources, and e-mail programs.
Making a viable connection no longer happens by accident, but through a carefully researched engagement and targeted approach, no matter the venue, said Kathleen Veth, a Chelmsford public relations professional.
"What I've learned about networking is that it is important to go to an event," she said. "But it isn't important to meet every person who's there, and it isn't important to make sure that everyone I meet takes my card."
Veth, principal of Write Connections, said she goes to many events each month to build relationships, but often obtains a guest or membership list before arriving, so she can focus on one or two key people.
Five years ago when she taught communications workshops, Veth told her students to create a self-promotional brochure.
"Today, I say you need a website," she said.
Layers of cyberspace connectivity are developing in numbers too numerous to list. An outgrowth of the MySpace social networking phenomenon, sites such as LinkedIn are geared toward linking professional profiles to garner career opportunities, consulting offers, new ventures, and job opportunities.
Professionals are also using online address book services, such as Plaxo, to their advantage.
Over the holidays, Stapleton said, she broadcasted e-Cards to business contacts in her professional network as a quick and effective way of keeping in touch. The endeavor also tells people she's willing to lend a hand, she said.
"I always look at networking as an opportunity to give back to people," she said. But some are using cyberspace to arrange to meet new contacts in person through the Meetup.com portal. The New York website became famous during the last presidential campaign when it propelled Democratic candidate Howard Dean temporarily to the forefront by helping him build a network of supporters.
Today, it is a venue for people to start groups on topics ranging from entrepreneurship to conversational Italian, to bicycling, to podcasting. Because the Meetup groups are so specific, professionals are using them to advance their business objectives, career goals, and industry knowledge.
Dale Averill of Malden attends the Downtown Boston Entrepreneur Meetup group, as he establishes himself as a mortgage foreclosure counselor. After kicking around for a number of years with no clearcut career direction, Averill, 58, decided he wanted to do two things: help others and make some money.
So last year he went full throttle into real estate investment courses, enrolling in classes and workshops. But he became disillusioned with their effectiveness and networking over the phone.
"As time has gone by, I have dropped certain things," he said, referring to the in-person classes he was attending in 2006.
In September, Averill was browsing Creative Real Estate Online (creonline.com), when he came across an educational offering by a Taunton-based real estate outfit specializing in foreclosures. A phone discussion led to a new venture that meshes Averill's interest in real estate with the current downward trending market conditions.
Realizing that connecting with financially strapped homeowners is challenging, Averill said he's refining his speaking skills by attending a Toastmasters International group. Once he's at the podium, he said, he hopes people will reach out for his expertise.
Both Averill and author Diane Darling said a key aspect of networking today is not so much about showing up at an event, but about headlining it as a speaker.
As this networking technique gathers steam, awareness of Toastmasters, an organization designed to help people sharpen their speaking and communications skills, is rising.
Darling advises job seekers and entrepreneurs to choose their networking events based on a series of decisions, including whether you have a role - speaking or otherwise - to perform at the event.
"If you have a job at a networking event," she said, "then you have reasons to walk up to people. You have reasons to disconnect with people. You have a reason to enter the conversation. You have a reason to exit the conversation."
Darling pulled off a networking coup in 2001 when The Wall Street Journal ran a story about her newly formed networking business on its front page.
The article led to an appearance that night on the NBC Nightly News, and a deal with
In her suburban venue, Veth networks on a smaller, more personal level.
Four years ago, she began collaborating with other "solopreneurs," as she calls individuals running small businesses. Creative Connections, (create-connect.net) kicked off with 12 writers and visual artists, and eventually the members began partnering on projects.
One writer/photographer team recently spent 10 days at a Marine training camp in California, said Veth.
Stapleton, who lives in Boxford, knows firsthand about the benefits of networking. Just over a year ago, she landed her ideal job, as senior manager for
But she didn't find it via cyberspace. The referral came from an acquaintance she met through her children's playgroup.
One of the other parents referred her to a consulting organization in the Boston area. The temporary assignment turned into a full-time job, and Stapleton has the added benefit of working from her home office.
"You never know where a good contact is going to come from," she said.
Joyce Pellino Crane can be reached at crane@globe.com.
