I listened in horror as a friend of mine related this story. The gentleman is not a Finance Chief. He’s not even a finance executive. But he is a director-level professional, which in the world of networking apparently means nothing. He needs a job and that drove his networking faux pas.
John (not his real name) decided to accompany his friend to dinner Saturday night under the guise of getting to meet some movers and shakers within his discipline in the community. Sounds good so far, right?
However, what John did not know is that …
– only one of the two folks would be present,
– she wasn’t the one he needed to meet, and
– she was working that night.
Nonetheless, after she finished working and introductions were made, he handed her his resume. Really? In a social setting, after having met a person but not the right person, he hands off his resume anyway?
Let’s be clear.
Networking is about giving to get. That concept was noticeably ABSENT from this encounter. John has not made one single deposit into the likability or trust account of these business owners that would warrant the “right” to hand over his resume, let alone to do so in a social setting.
There is a time and a place for business, and a public restaurant on a Saturday night, in an uninvited encounter, is not one of those times or places.
John knows I’m in the business. In fact, we talked numerous times about his resume. Still, rather than seek my counsel, he blindly marched right into one of the most common networking mistakes job seekers make.
What about you? Are you unintentionally executing strategies in your job search that are self-sabotaging? Now you have no excuse to make this one!