Home > Articles > Professional Networking Made Easy: Priming the Pump

Professional Networking Made Easy: Priming the Pump

  • Article is provided courtesy of Cisco Press.
  • Date: Jul 21, 2006.

Article Description

The value of a strong network of professional contacts is well known. Unfortunately, many IT professionals wait until they are in a career crisis to start building and maintaining their contact list. Matthew Moran provides techniques and strategies to help you create a strong professional network, starting today.

Like this article? We recommend

IT Career Builder's Toolkit, The

IT Career Builder's Toolkit, The

$47.95

Relationship POTTY Training

Yes, I know the heading is odd but I promise it will leave a lasting impression on how to view relationships.

My son Christopher provides some of the best lessons for my writing and speaking. He is a tremendous relationship builder, taking advantage of every opportunity to meet and talk to new people.

Once, when he was a toddler, we were at the mall. I brought him to the restroom to do his business. While in there, Christopher was saying hello and starting conversations with everyone as they came and went. He was silent for a time and then suddenly said, "Daddy, I want to live here."

This brought some laughter from both me and others in the restroom. I then asked him why.

"Because everyone will come to visit me."

This, of course, resulted in even more laughter from everyone in the restroom. Upon reflection I found a lot of wisdom in his simple desire to build friendships. I refer to this concept as Relationship POTTY Training (as discussed in the following sections):

P—Put yourself in relationship’s way

O—Take advantage of relationship opportunities

T—Train for conversation

T—Try something different

Y—You have only the opportunity presented; take it

Put Yourself in Relationship’s Way

One of the most pressing challenges with networking effectively is that many professionals never take the time to go where such relationships can happen. I am not talking about meeting after work for drinks, which is something I neither recommend nor have ever taken part in.

Many of your co-workers and peers at other companies are part of philanthropic organizations or networking groups. These organizations are well-known relationship incubators, providing opportunities to meet with other professionals in a safe and effective environment.

And don’t overlook the less-obvious times you can be put in relationship’s way. For instance, stopping at the local coffee shop. While waiting for your high-priced, multisyllabic coffee concoction, say hello to someone. We are social animals and as such welcome a break in what is often an uncomfortable silence in public settings.

Often, little else is needed beyond that simple introduction. Eventually, conversations ensue, particularly when you see the same people day after day.

Take Advantage of Relationship Opportunities

How many times have you had a conversation with someone but did not get a business card, phone number, or email address? How many times have you seen someone reading something that interests you and not said hello or made an introduction? If you are like me, it happens too often. Effective networking requires taking some risks and stepping outside of your comfort zone. Those who do this continuously develop their network more quickly and more rapidly.

Train for Conversation

This is particularly important for IT professionals. The fact is, many IT professionals revert to shop talk or jargonized conversation. It is important to understand that your network will be much stronger if the relationships you create are not only with IT professionals. Learn to have general business and life conversations. Learn also to make your introduction and conversation-starting natural.

This conversation will become simpler with practice. Some keys to get you started are these:

  • Have a standard introduction. It can be something as simple as, "Hi, my name is Matt...and you are?"
  • Ask questions. People will remember you not for what you said but for what you asked them about.
  • Have an interest in people. I don’t know how to teach this, but if you do not like people in general, you need to understand why not and combat that tendency. It is a relationship-killer.

Try Something Different

Christopher chose the restroom as a great place to develop relationships. I don’t necessarily recommend that you wait in restrooms to meet people, but you should start to think differently about when and how relationships can be started. For instance, checking out of a store often provides an opportunity to say hello to someone. This is easier if there is a common interest point. For instance, if you are at an office supply store, and someone is purchasing something technically related, it is easy to ask them if their purchase is related to their job.

Once again, working on making conversation starters natural and having an interest in people is key to making this work.

You Have Only the Opportunity Presented; Take It

You work and live with people every day. When people leave a company, we often wish them well and that’s it. To develop the most dynamic and rewarding network possible, you have to take advantage of the opportunities you have.

When people leave your current employer, get their email addresses. Tell them you want to stay in touch with them from time to time. You can come right out and tell them you want to include them in your professional contacts. There are few people who do not understand the value of such relationships.

You might extend this even to those companies and people you have interviewed with in the past. Regardless of whether they hired you, you can develop professional contacts, checking in with them periodically. You might find that they view this as a distinguishing factor, separating you from others they interview.

6. Cultivating Relationships | Next Section Previous Section

Cisco Press Promotional Mailings & Special Offers

I would like to receive exclusive offers and hear about products from Cisco Press and its family of brands. I can unsubscribe at any time.

Overview

Pearson Education, Inc., 221 River Street, Hoboken, New Jersey 07030, (Pearson) presents this site to provide information about Cisco Press products and services that can be purchased through this site.

This privacy notice provides an overview of our commitment to privacy and describes how we collect, protect, use and share personal information collected through this site. Please note that other Pearson websites and online products and services have their own separate privacy policies.

Collection and Use of Information

To conduct business and deliver products and services, Pearson collects and uses personal information in several ways in connection with this site, including:

Questions and Inquiries

For inquiries and questions, we collect the inquiry or question, together with name, contact details (email address, phone number and mailing address) and any other additional information voluntarily submitted to us through a Contact Us form or an email. We use this information to address the inquiry and respond to the question.

Online Store

For orders and purchases placed through our online store on this site, we collect order details, name, institution name and address (if applicable), email address, phone number, shipping and billing addresses, credit/debit card information, shipping options and any instructions. We use this information to complete transactions, fulfill orders, communicate with individuals placing orders or visiting the online store, and for related purposes.

Surveys

Pearson may offer opportunities to provide feedback or participate in surveys, including surveys evaluating Pearson products, services or sites. Participation is voluntary. Pearson collects information requested in the survey questions and uses the information to evaluate, support, maintain and improve products, services or sites; develop new products and services; conduct educational research; and for other purposes specified in the survey.

Contests and Drawings

Occasionally, we may sponsor a contest or drawing. Participation is optional. Pearson collects name, contact information and other information specified on the entry form for the contest or drawing to conduct the contest or drawing. Pearson may collect additional personal information from the winners of a contest or drawing in order to award the prize and for tax reporting purposes, as required by law.

Newsletters

If you have elected to receive email newsletters or promotional mailings and special offers but want to unsubscribe, simply email information@ciscopress.com.

Service Announcements

On rare occasions it is necessary to send out a strictly service related announcement. For instance, if our service is temporarily suspended for maintenance we might send users an email. Generally, users may not opt-out of these communications, though they can deactivate their account information. However, these communications are not promotional in nature.

Customer Service

We communicate with users on a regular basis to provide requested services and in regard to issues relating to their account we reply via email or phone in accordance with the users' wishes when a user submits their information through our Contact Us form.

Other Collection and Use of Information

Application and System Logs

Pearson automatically collects log data to help ensure the delivery, availability and security of this site. Log data may include technical information about how a user or visitor connected to this site, such as browser type, type of computer/device, operating system, internet service provider and IP address. We use this information for support purposes and to monitor the health of the site, identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents and appropriately scale computing resources.

Web Analytics

Pearson may use third party web trend analytical services, including Google Analytics, to collect visitor information, such as IP addresses, browser types, referring pages, pages visited and time spent on a particular site. While these analytical services collect and report information on an anonymous basis, they may use cookies to gather web trend information. The information gathered may enable Pearson (but not the third party web trend services) to link information with application and system log data. Pearson uses this information for system administration and to identify problems, improve service, detect unauthorized access and fraudulent activity, prevent and respond to security incidents, appropriately scale computing resources and otherwise support and deliver this site and its services.

Cookies and Related Technologies

This site uses cookies and similar technologies to personalize content, measure traffic patterns, control security, track use and access of information on this site, and provide interest-based messages and advertising. Users can manage and block the use of cookies through their browser. Disabling or blocking certain cookies may limit the functionality of this site.

Do Not Track

This site currently does not respond to Do Not Track signals.

Security

Pearson uses appropriate physical, administrative and technical security measures to protect personal information from unauthorized access, use and disclosure.

Children

This site is not directed to children under the age of 13.

Marketing

Pearson may send or direct marketing communications to users, provided that

  • Pearson will not use personal information collected or processed as a K-12 school service provider for the purpose of directed or targeted advertising.
  • Such marketing is consistent with applicable law and Pearson's legal obligations.
  • Pearson will not knowingly direct or send marketing communications to an individual who has expressed a preference not to receive marketing.
  • Where required by applicable law, express or implied consent to marketing exists and has not been withdrawn.

Pearson may provide personal information to a third party service provider on a restricted basis to provide marketing solely on behalf of Pearson or an affiliate or customer for whom Pearson is a service provider. Marketing preferences may be changed at any time.

Correcting/Updating Personal Information

If a user's personally identifiable information changes (such as your postal address or email address), we provide a way to correct or update that user's personal data provided to us. This can be done on the Account page. If a user no longer desires our service and desires to delete his or her account, please contact us at customer-service@informit.com and we will process the deletion of a user's account.

Choice/Opt-out

Users can always make an informed choice as to whether they should proceed with certain services offered by Cisco Press. If you choose to remove yourself from our mailing list(s) simply visit the following page and uncheck any communication you no longer want to receive: www.ciscopress.com/u.aspx.

Sale of Personal Information

Pearson does not rent or sell personal information in exchange for any payment of money.

While Pearson does not sell personal information, as defined in Nevada law, Nevada residents may email a request for no sale of their personal information to NevadaDesignatedRequest@pearson.com.

Supplemental Privacy Statement for California Residents

California residents should read our Supplemental privacy statement for California residents in conjunction with this Privacy Notice. The Supplemental privacy statement for California residents explains Pearson's commitment to comply with California law and applies to personal information of California residents collected in connection with this site and the Services.

Sharing and Disclosure

Pearson may disclose personal information, as follows:

  • As required by law.
  • With the consent of the individual (or their parent, if the individual is a minor)
  • In response to a subpoena, court order or legal process, to the extent permitted or required by law
  • To protect the security and safety of individuals, data, assets and systems, consistent with applicable law
  • In connection the sale, joint venture or other transfer of some or all of its company or assets, subject to the provisions of this Privacy Notice
  • To investigate or address actual or suspected fraud or other illegal activities
  • To exercise its legal rights, including enforcement of the Terms of Use for this site or another contract
  • To affiliated Pearson companies and other companies and organizations who perform work for Pearson and are obligated to protect the privacy of personal information consistent with this Privacy Notice
  • To a school, organization, company or government agency, where Pearson collects or processes the personal information in a school setting or on behalf of such organization, company or government agency.

Links

This web site contains links to other sites. Please be aware that we are not responsible for the privacy practices of such other sites. We encourage our users to be aware when they leave our site and to read the privacy statements of each and every web site that collects Personal Information. This privacy statement applies solely to information collected by this web site.

Requests and Contact

Please contact us about this Privacy Notice or if you have any requests or questions relating to the privacy of your personal information.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may revise this Privacy Notice through an updated posting. We will identify the effective date of the revision in the posting. Often, updates are made to provide greater clarity or to comply with changes in regulatory requirements. If the updates involve material changes to the collection, protection, use or disclosure of Personal Information, Pearson will provide notice of the change through a conspicuous notice on this site or other appropriate way. Continued use of the site after the effective date of a posted revision evidences acceptance. Please contact us if you have questions or concerns about the Privacy Notice or any objection to any revisions.

Last Update: November 17, 2020