Have We Met?

Business Networking as Boston.com reports can be intimidating for us college students. Why do we have such anxieties towards business networking when social networking is our forte? In my eyes there are two reasons people use networking to get jobs.

1. To connect to companies that you otherwise would have no access to
2. To have a person who can vouch for you when trying for that new job.

But there is a third "mystery" reason that isn't talked about much and it's the reason I believe many people are afraid of business networking.

3. It will help get a job that you otherwise would NEVER be considered for. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing for us, but it is a bad thing when you are the person who is qualified but the step-half nephew of so and so got the job instead.


I've only discussed this with a hand full of people because you never know who is working solely due to their connections and not because of their smarts.

BUT

Of those people, I know they do have moral issues with this. We want to get our job based on our abilities and personality not because we "know" someone.

.......

I have never gotten a good job through business networking. Allow me to list them off:
-Grocery store clerk
-Gift shop wench
-fax/copy machine extraordinaire at a non-profit

But I do believe business networking is important purely for finding jobs that aren't listed. And I think it can be done in a way where you won't feel guilty later. Just use the people you meet as a conduit for your resume. If they don't know you in a way where they could discuss your work ethic, etc then let them know that you don't want them to be a fake reference for you. Maybe they'd respect that? Not sure. If your past boss or manager is referring you to a new job then it makes perfect sense to have him or her vouch for you. If it's your Uncle or cousin there may be too much family bias built in for you to feel good later about it.

Maybe I am too naive about this topic but I can dream can't I?

The 34 Commandments!

It seems like everyone has their rules of thumbs for every topic and Robert Scoble and Shel Israel are no different. In their book Naked Conversations they have what they call "The Corporate Weblog Manifesto", a somewhat detailed list of 34 rules to blog by for the big wigs of the world. I hate to admit it but I agree with most of what they say. Here are a few quick excerpts with comments by moi:

"Use a human voice. Don't get corporate lawyers and PR professionals to modify your speech"
I really appreciate this "commandment" as I've been calling them. As a head of company/blog writer the first goal in writing a blog is to be readable and honest to who you are. Loads of legal jargon and P.C. talk is not only boring to me but incredibly impersonal. I'll admit it may be tougher for a company head to write a blog than a well-informed/well educated person with no legal ties. They have to balance honesty, opinions, and positive information with the truth and do so without doing harm to the goodwill of the company.

"Know your influencers ... if you can't connect to them during a crisis, you shouldn't try to keep a corporate weblog. (...because they often know when you're under attack before you do.)
That last quote kind of ties the last few weeks of class up as to why social networking within a physical group of people is important. Social networking within social networking in order to socially network. Very meta.

"Be nice to everyone.... You never know when a janitor will go to school, get an MBA, and start a company."
Very Jesus-y of them.. kind of. My feelings on this, on a non-business level is to only be nice to people who deserve it. Not to say if someone talks smack about you, your company, your product, your mom, etc that you should retaliate, but I wouldn't recommend feeling obligated to be nice afterward. After-all, when the CEO, mail room boy, and even the janitor go home, they still have to deal with their personal feelings towards those people who weren't so kind to them. If you couldn't live with it in your personal life why should it stand in your business life? Isn't it harder to respect a pushover than someone who stands up for them self?

All in all, the list was pretty agreeable. It really allows you to appreciate the balancing act a CEO or similar person-in-charge must endure in order to "keep up with the times"