Working on Networking | The Reschool'd Podcast

Welcome to the Reschooled Podcast, the show that discusses all the things that schools

may have missed with your hosts, AJ Coutee and Jason Gordon. Hey everybody, welcome back to the show

We are the Reschooled Podcast, the show that discusses the things that schools may not have prepared you for

As always, I'm AJ sitting across from me, Jason. Jason, how are you doing today? I can't complain, but I got a cold and I'm never in my best self or my best mood when I have a cold

Yeah, but you know, colds right now, if you sneeze in class, everybody looks at you crooked because you don't know if it's just a common cold or the Rona or what

Yeah, and you know, this, luckily I haven't been in class too much. It's been a lot of virtual classes and stuff lately

But, yeah, I've not gone out in public because I don't want to get the dirty looks in case I sneeze somewhere

You have that one kid in the back of your class that sneezes and it's just allergies and everybody turns around and looks at him like they're, you know, they've got the plague

Well, it's going to be like that for a while. Yeah, unfortunately. COVID is fresh on people's minds

But, yeah, I can't complain. I'm doing all right. Well, today we are getting into our eighth chapter of our general career series

I'm really liking the career series. I'm pretty sure you are, too. this is kind of next home to you. But in today's, we're talking about networking. And I think this

is a really important topic. And I think this is one that you've just, we've talked about in a very

almost glossed over because we've talked about LinkedIn and the importance of LinkedIn

which has networking capabilities. But to have an episode specific to networking, I think is

really, really important to the listeners. So what do you think about that? I'm pumped about it. I

I mean, it's one of the most essential elements of career development

So, yeah, I'm pumped up to talk about it. Before we jump in, I do want to do want to remind everybody, please visit us on the social media outlets

Right. LinkedIn, YouTube, all those good things. Also, on your favorite podcast app, give us a like

So, you know, follow us, get notifications when new episodes come on and you'll see all our stuff together at our Web site

Right. Right. Reschooled dot com. Right. That's reschooled with a D, not an E.D. Right. So don't misspell it

Absolutely. Well, let's get into our quick question. And this is going to be another one of those grade yourself

And just keeping with the theme of this this episode, grade yourself on your networking abilities

Grade yourself as a networker, let's call it. Well, as much emphasis as I put on it and as important as I think it is and as many ways as I give students advice on networking to rank myself as a networker, I've got to give myself a C

Oh, I was not expecting that. Yeah, I just I don't live up to my own expectations for students. And I don't know whether that's because I've gotten comfortable in my job, in my career path and I put all my energy into educating. Right. It's just I haven't I haven't been out there with the intention of moving my career forward. Right. Because what I'm doing now as a career is where I want to be right now

Well, you bring up a really good point because as I said that and as I was listening to your answer, in my head I was going a little bit differently

So I'm going to – let's pose the question a little bit differently. Grade yourself as a networker back kind of in your earlier years, maybe your college years

D minus. Whew, that was even worse. I thought it was going to be better. Oh, no

See, the knowledge we are delivering, at least for my part, is acquired way later in life, right

That's the idea. Yeah, we experienced things and can now relate that back

But I was one who made all of the primary mistakes. I was a terrible networker

I didn't establish relationships. I did not expand my web. And for that reason, I was very limited in the opportunities that I saw in front of me

Now, I've been very fortunate because I would set my sights on an individual opportunity

And luckily, it worked out. but there's no telling the number, the amount, or what types of opportunities I forwent in my life

because I was such a poor networker. Wow. I would see me. I would have graded myself higher

in my earlier years. I'm kind of like you right now in my career. I'm almost, it's almost complacent

because I'm happy with where I'm at. Um, and I, I, I have other priorities, but in my college years

I felt like I was, uh, you know, college years, I would give myself maybe a B to a B plus. Now

I'm probably at that C level just because I don't do it near as much, but I loved getting out there

and networking. I went to a bunch of events. I went to, I wanted to meet a whole bunch of different

people. Um, I tried to, in my college career, I tried to set myself up in positions where I was

going to get the most value from networking and being able to talk to people in very high positions

because I was part of a team on, um, in school and stuff like that. So I, I really put value in

that as a college student. Now again, I'm not. And, you know, you did the right thing. You were

So I've talked to, you know, on these podcasts before, I've talked about my orientation in

college as being just a studier, just, you know, I've shunned off pretty much every other aspect

of life to focus on academics. And that came at a cost, honestly. You know, that works in some

scenarios where you have a direct path. Early on, I thought I was going to medical school

And if you're going to medical school, there's very little, there's very little you should focus

on other than academic achievement, right? Because the cutoff point of getting into medical school

is everything. And that depends almost entirely on grades, right? And then the entrance exam

the MCAT, right? So if you don't focus, which is a subject-based, you know, subject matter-based

exam. So your knowledge at that point in time or the information you've retained from your classes

is so important. So, but when it comes to other careers, particularly business, right? It's so

much more about connections in so many other careers, right? Particularly the careers that

are difficult to get into, right? The ones that are in highly sought after industry, sports

fashion, entertainment, things like that. It's just extremely network connection focused, right

So you did right in many ways to try to expand your network, your connections, the people

who could honestly be sources of opportunity for you later on. And I didn't, right? And so that's

a lesson learned. And that's why we're having these conversations, right? So I was really bad

at it. You're really good at it. And hopefully we can help the folks that are listening strike

a happy median there between understanding what they're looking for and what it takes to get there

Network being one of those primary things. Now that you say that, let me backtrack a little bit

My networking ability may have not have been that good. I was also very fortunate in where my dad's

position was in college to see where those, he was, he was able to tell me these opportunities

that he said, this is a good opportunity. If you want to go do this, this is kind of what you would

get out of it. So I kind of had this, this, um, backstage pass, if you will, of what things are

available that will promote networking. And that's kind of where I'd take, I took the

the initiative or I took, I wouldn't say an even initiative. I just made the decision. I was going

to be a part of that. And he wouldn't, he didn't force me to do anything, but he said, here's what

you could choose from. And I pursued that. So me taking the, I guess you'd say, here's the

initiative. Me taking the initiative to find these networking spots on my own, I didn't do

And that's probably something I should have tried harder on. But I did have, like I said

a very fortunate situation where I was able to get that information from my dad because he saw those

from the administrative side of the college. So that did help a ton. I mean, there's a lot of

stuff I would have missed out if it wasn't for him telling me, hey, this is a good opportunity if you have the time or if you want to

Well, good point there. So you did take advantage of a lot of things, but you weren't proactive in generating networking opportunities

That would have been the A plus student, right? Yeah, absolutely. And honestly, that's what we're trying to create here, right

If you turn yourself into an A plus networker, you will be dumbfounded by the amount

the number of opportunities that you would not have otherwise imagined right That seemed just serendipitous right They just arise by virtually Fall in your lap Yeah fall in your lap

Because you have taken the steps to network effectively, right? So that being said, let's jump into it

Let's do it. So let's start with the first question, which is the most basic question

And maybe some of our listeners are thinking, what are we talking about? What is this networking we're talking about

Hopefully you kind of understand it. But if not, let's define networking. What does networking mean to you

To me, it is making connections that are more than superficial. Yep

Right? So not Facebook friends. Yep. Not just you're connecting with somebody you've never met before or following somebody on Twitter

That is not, I guess in a way it can compound or be a tool for networking

But networking is making some level of connection that is more than superficial

Now, not all connections are going to be strictly business. Not all of them are going to be strictly professional. Some of them will be solely personal or a mixture of personal and professional. But the idea is this. Opportunities abound, right? There's awareness of things happening. There's introductions or ways to get your feet in the door. And most of that happens through other people

So simply having someone as a connection, okay, something, again, more than superficial in a way that that information will somehow at some point flow to you or through you to somebody else, right, that you're part of the equation

OK, so that opportunity generation and opportunity awareness happens. You know, in our other episode where we talk about opportunity generation, recognition and exploitation

OK, the opportunity generation, that is where networking is so essential. OK, so that's it. That's my that's my baseline definition

Connections with other people. That is something more than superficial in nature

Yeah. And to that, I would add, I kind of look at it as it's everything you just said. I'm not

changing anything you just said. But one of the kind of things that I do look for is I want to

when I'm networking, I want to connect with somebody well enough that they can get an idea

of who I am, what maybe I'm good at, what my personality would be like, what I mesh well with

And that way, when it comes to me applying for a job, if this person works for that company or

they're in that position, I can go back to them and say, hey, could you put in a good word for me

Because you know who I am. This is not just me calling up somebody who I just met and said, hey

can you do me a solid? This is, you know who I am. You know what type of person I am

And can you either write me a letter of recommendation or can you put in a good word

or can I use you as a reference or those kinds of things? That's what I look for in a networking is

not simply a single, you know, meeting of somebody at a party or something like that

but actually having that connection to where they get to know me and I get to know them

All right. So we've run that aground. What's next? What are we needing to let them know about

So why is it important? Like, why is networking so important in career development

Like, where's the value added aspect? So I'm going to continue on that line of thought I was going down about opportunity generation

And, you know, just as a spoiler for another episode, when we talk about opportunity generation

That is the missing segment in most people's career development. The idea that if you were given an opportunity to do whatever you want to do, right, whatever you most desire in life, people would work so diligently to be able to do that, to proceed down that path, to have the life, the career that they want

The hardest part, though, is realizing that most people will never have the opportunity to do exactly what they want

They settle for other things, and it doesn't mean they're not happy or they're not contented or satisfied by it

But what they initially want, they end up never doing that because they don't create the opportunity to do it

And there's so many things that goes into creating opportunity. There's the education piece

There's the skills piece. But perhaps the most important piece is networking

Like I said before, those connections that you have are the means or methods by which you become aware of things that are happening, things that are going on, job opportunities that are opening, events that you could attend, projects that you could work on or undertake that you could get involved with, skill sets that you could develop by virtue of undertaking those projects or just being aware that you need to practice these things

all the things necessary to generate that opportunity or to get your foot in the door

That's what networking does for you. Okay. It is your, I mean, it is the hall pass that you need in many times, in many situations

to go on that path you're so looking for in life. You know, and what you're talking about, there's so many added values that come from networking

And what you just said is a major one. I'm looking at it from a different perspective

And what I would say is another reason why it's so important. It dumbfounds me when I talk to students, especially specifically in accounting

And I ask them, I say, okay, so what is your major? And they tell me accounting and they want to go into the accounting industry

And I say, what do you know about the accounting industry? Well, I know that we deal with numbers or I know that we do taxes or I know that we do

They don't, it doesn't seem like a lot of people when they go for a specific career

when they go for a specific major, whatever, they know the ins and outs of that career

And you can argue that's what school is for is it teaches you the ins and outs, but it doesn't really give you a good picture of that industry

And so I'm a firm believer if you're working towards a specific career, you really need to learn about that career from the people that work in that industry because you're going to get so much out of it

Could not agree more. You're going to see the day-to-day activities. You're going to see what it takes to be successful in that industry

You're going to see what it takes to move up in that industry. You're going to see the dress of that industry, how they need to act, what kind of personality you're going to have, what kind of networking skills you need to have for that industry in itself

So I think that's a huge piece of networking. I'm so glad you said that, AJ

You know, in our opportunity generation recognition exploitation podcast where we talk about that, I'd say that goes into the recognition piece

In that episode, we talked a lot about education and how studying something or doing an internship in it or being exposed to it helps you understand, does that meet with my internal needs

Is that the type of person I am that this type of job or career path is going to be rewarding for me

Networking works the same way. Yeah. Right. You can understand what somebody does on a daily basis, what it takes to be successful in a given career field or path

And you can make the decision as to whether that is you or not. Yeah, that's I was going to say that, too. It's like you get to know if that career is really for you pretty quickly instead of having to go through college, get the degree, get into the position to go, really, this this is not good

This is not my style. Right. And so bottom line, those connections are going to

And even later on, when you go through the exploitation stage of an opportunity, the people that you know are going to be your references

They are going to be the people who help you learn and develop, who help you move along a career field or path or whatever your journey is in life

They're going to help you at every stage of the way in so many ways. You know, statistically, the number one way that people move up in a single company is by following the coattails of the person ahead of them

Right. So if you have networked well and have a great relationship, a great fit with your superiors, right, particularly your direct supervisors, you will move up as they move up

OK, that is your network helping you exploit an opportunity again. So once again, this your connections that you make via networking are going to play so many roles in your personal development, your career development and in as you navigate life. Right

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, you're going to have you're going to have in networking. You can when you go with the idea of I'm going to go to this event or I'm going to go do this for networking, those networking, those networking opportunities, the people that you gain the connections to can be friends later on

You can gain a really close connection with them or they can be mentors where they are helping you You can gain a lot from the idea of networking that goes way past just hey this is who I am This is my personality This is what you can this is how you can trust me This is kind of me you know not in depth

but more superficial, but still have that connection. You can go way past that when it comes to networking

Yes, absolutely. And, you know, like I say, not everybody you network with needs to be your best friend. Yes

Or your mentor professionally, right? but something more than cursory. Some level of relationship that has a bit more permanence

a bit more substance to it, right? A bit more ability to reach out and have a meaningful conversation

or if nothing else, a funnel by which information comes through you

and goes to them and vice versa. Yep. Well, the next question that we have is really, it's not a question

it's more of, it kind of goes back into the tips and tricks. Let's talk about the three best or top three, our top three ways of networking

Number one, hands down, unquestionable. There is nothing else that compares in any way when it comes to your networking

Now, I will say there's one thing that trumps it and I'll talk about it in a minute. But the number one way to network is an internship

Okay, that makes sense. You work alongside somebody, everybody in that business, everybody you come into contact with has the potential to become part of your network

And because they see more than just the personality that you put out there, they see your work ethic

They see your motivation. They see your interest and how you manifest that

They see your willingness to learn. They see how you interact with others

They see so many of the things that are critical to what makes a competent person

Because remember this, if people in your network are going to help you, they're going to help you for a reason

And lots of times that reason is personal back on them, right

They want to be the person that finds somebody for a position. They want to be to help somebody else in a way, the same way they're helping you

And in promoting you and helping you, you need to have the type of professional brand and identity that they can rely on

Nobody wants to recommend someone who they don't believe is going to show up, who is going to be irresponsible

Right. So all those things. The the person with whom you're networking needs to understand who you are in a positive light

And there's no better realm or mechanism through which to demonstrate who you are as a person and a professional as working alongside somebody

So that's number one, internships with somebody. My number one, and you're right, you can't touch internships because you just gain so much information and you're working with these people over an extended period of time

This is not like, you know, I meet them at a networking event or whatever, but I would say my top one would be extracurricular activities

If you're talking about in college, getting engaged in college, getting engaged in clubs, participating in teams if they're dealing with business teams and stuff like that, and even sports teams, but more business teams

That's a huge way because they're going to give you the opportunity to get set up to meet new people and network with those people

Like, and I'm a perfect example of that. That's what I did. I mean, I was part of a business team in my school and we made it to nationals and within nationals, they put us, uh, I was very fortunate enough to sit in a round table discussion with the, at the time, the CEO of Walmart international, the CEO of Bicpens, the CEO of Campbell soup, the CEO of Coinstar, like being able to sit at a round table with them and just talk to them and talk to them

like they're just regular people was really, really, really cool because you got to learn a

lot about them. And so I would say put yourself in positions that's going to set you up to be able

to network with people from various industries. That way you get this kind of knowledge and

learning ability from a vast array of industries potentially. So that would be my number one

Absolutely. That's a great one. I'm going to piggyback off of that. Not just the extracurricular, the clubs, the teams and stuff, but whatever your career center at your school is offering

So we're focusing this on people about to go to college or college students, that type of thing

Well, you know, obviously you can you can work alongside somebody anytime

Internships normally happen while you're in school. but your career center has all sorts of built-in networking opportunities that you may not know

about. They start with things like career and industry nights, right, where they bring in

people from a given career industry just to talk with students, to give them information about it

You can pick their brains, things like that. They tend to offer one-on-one mentoring with

professionals who volunteer their time back through the school. They'll match you up with

mentors in your given career field or path, sometimes just the people in the career center

can be great networks for you because they come across so many opportunities, right

And these tend to be more direct listed opportunities, maybe posting of an internship

posting of a job, that type of thing that come across their desk as part of their job

But having them as a point of contact, right? They will make you aware of opportunities and stuff

So my number two for the college student after internships is get your hooks in there at the career center and take advantage of everything that they offer

So my number two, and I'm speaking about this for those who may live in a smaller town, not a huge metropolitan area, but just a smaller town, because a lot of times in a smaller town, it's more connected

So my number two would be work or be involved with some of the town activities because the town activities is where a lot of the higher ups within the town are going to come and you get to meet people and you get to talk with them and socialize and and really get to take some time to meet them

And at least if nothing else, open the door for further communication that will lead to a more of a more networking relationship

Yep. And so and I like I said, I used to do that a lot because, you know, we used to have a few events around town where, you know, the mayor and a bunch of the business professionals would come, the small business owners and stuff like that

And you get to meet them and they would get to meet you. And again, it just gives yourself that ability, that opportunity to meet these people that could be useful

And I say useful because, you know, lack of better words, but could help you further your career or at least get into your career in that town

So I would say that would be my number two. Okay. I got to steal that one as a third one. That was on my list. I was calling it something different. Mine is community involvement the same way. Right. I mean, you have to. And don't just think about your industry related stuff. Right. So this is available for anybody, not just a college student. Right. And I know it's a little bit different. Lots of times when college students leave their hometown and go to a new place. Well, that makes it all the more necessary to get involved in the community. How do you do that

Well, there's any level of social groups that you do, whether you do anything like affinity groups, like you're in the you join a kickball league, you play tennis or you softball or Thursday night basketballs or whatever

Right. I know those are all sports related, but there's there's book clubs, there's animal related groups and things like that

There's basically anything that you have an affinity for. There is a group for it

And again, just making connections with people. We're going to talk about in a separate episode where we talk about professional conversations

That is actually one of my favorite topics. But it's basically how you have a conversation with someone and convey in a professional manner that conveys all the things that you need to convey back and forth between you two to create what ultimately becomes more than a cursory connection within that creates a more meaningful relationship with them from the start

So that being said those three things are and I just give a preview of it real quick is you want to tell somebody what you want why you want it and what you done to get it And there a method to that You don just outright and tell them right But that ultimately what you want them to understand what you want why you want it and what you done to get it

If they understand those things about you, they fully understand where you are professionally in terms of career development and what your aspirations are and things like that

And so with that being said, OK, if you are if you have a relationship with other people, if you are in a religious group or a social group or even a business related community thing like the Chamber of Commerce or, you know, anything like that, right

anything where you can make a connection with people, you still need to understand, even if

your primary relationship is friendship rather than just a professional relationship, right

You want to make certain that they understand those things about you. And in return, this

you understand those things about them because networking is a two-way street, right? It's not

just one way, right? That's exactly. You just wanting something for someone else doesn't endear

you very far to them, right? You have to demonstrate that you care about them in the same way

So anyway, conveying those three things. So being involved in the community in any way you can

through any means manner possible, and conveying those things to those people so that

you feel like they understand you and you feel like you understand them

That is the starting point for something more than a cursory relationship

I think my number three is really going to piggyback on what you just said, because you're talking about community involvement. And my number three was, you know, we talked about

participating in community activities, but I also think there's a sub-level to that really. And that

is volunteering, volunteering your time, because that's going to put you again in positions where

you're going to get the ability to network. And they're also going to see you, that your work

ethic, you're giving, you know, giving back to the community. You're doing all these things and it

puts you in a good light immediately. So I would say my last one would be volunteering

Okay. Well, let's jump into this last thing we wanted to talk about. We both discussed this ahead of time. We want to lay some things out there that you do not do when you're networking

Yeah, and my top of my list is a lot of times networking is you're put into, you know, obviously in a public situation, depending on where that activity or that that opportunity goes, it may end up having drinks at the end of the night

Don't get just so obliterated that, you know, everything that you just work for is thrown out the window because you act like an idiot because you're just so drunk

I've seen that more times than I wish to admit. Not myself, but I have seen it before

And it just you can throw any relationships you had out the window if you did that

Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, there's always that aspect of anything negative

It takes an exponential number of positive things that you need to demonstrate to overcome one negative thing that you demonstrate

Number one, don't talk negatively about other people. Yes. Yeah. If you have nothing nice to say, remember your grandma's advice, right

You don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. So if you talk negatively about people, those people automatically believe you will talk negatively about them

Now, if that's your personality, that no matter what you tell the truth, I happen to have that personality

Whatever I say to anybody, I will say to their face. It doesn't endear me a great deal sometimes because I'm overly truthful about the things I say

it's just a tendency I've always had. And it's something I find that's very difficult to break

for me. But that being said, if your only purpose there is to complain, right? Don't do it to the

people you're trying to build a stronger connection with, right? If other people are complaining

listen, don't join in, right? Listen, be a consoling ear, but don't be part of the complaining

Right. If you have something to complain about, you know, do it in a different setting

Right. Not while you're not to people who you're trying to maintain as more solid professional connection

OK. It will endear you in the long run. So that's my tip. I would say my last one is there's a fine line between explaining the goods, you know, the good qualities that you have and bragging

and you don't want to go past that line. You don't want to come off as braggadocious

You don't want to come off as you're better than everyone, but you also need to be confident in yourself

And so you need to find that line. And there's no way, there's no threshold that I can give you

that's going to tell you, you just got to find that line and almost toe up, but definitely don't go over it

I think that could be something that could be very off-putting for somebody if all you do is talk about yourself, which granted networking is, again, trying to tell

people the good qualities that you have. But if all you're doing is bragging about yourself and

not, again, I think the best thing you just said a few minutes ago is it's a two-way street. So if

you're only talking about yourself, you're not showing what value that you can bring to them

You're just saying, this is who I am. And there's no two ways about that. You're just, it's all

about you. At some point you have to come across the table and say, okay, so, you know, it's about

the other person. And if you're always bragging, you're not doing that. That is my point as well. No self-centeredness. I mean, we were aligned on that one. Number one

above anything else, establishing a relationship is a mutual exchange. People who only care about

themselves, only want to talk about themselves, don't ask questions about others. Those people

do not endear themselves well to others. It just doesn't happen. People tend to gravitate towards

people who they believe understand them. And for somebody to feel like they're understood, you have to listen to them

People who talk more than listen do not do that very well. So that being said, that's a great segue into our episode that will come up next, I believe

Yeah. Next. I think it's next week. We are going to do professional conversations, how you communicate with somebody directly

one-on-one to create a longer-lasting opportunity. It is a modification of a lot of people you hear say things like the elevator pitch

Elevator pitch is a tool used in a very, very, very specific and limited circumstance

Very limited. But the ability to have a professional conversation that conveys all the information that you want to

But does it in a way that it does not bombard the other person with information about yourself or doesn't offend them or come off as as conceited or one sided

It actually, you know, creates the grounds for a more meaningful relationship

That's what we're going over. That's what we're going to talk to you about. Well, I can't wait because that sounds something like I know networking

I'm pretty like I said, I'm pretty confident in networking, pretty comfortable in the scenario, this situation

but the personal communication or professional communication side of it I'm interested to learn

a little bit more about that because you know that's not something that you're taught explicitly

you know that's just something that you just kind of have to learn over time and in that learn in

that learning process you get the bumps and bruises that are not always the best and you know I think

it's gonna be great for the listeners to be able to get our our experience with it that we've gone

through and learned so that'll help them so they don't have to go through as many the trial and

error periods that we went through. So I'm looking forward to that, but this has been a really great

episode. I've been, I've been waiting for this one. Like I said, networking is something that I

generally enjoy. Um, and it's, it's a personality thing. I do think so. Uh, Jason, you got any

parting words before we head out? Just remind everybody, hit us up on the website, let us know

the things you're thinking about. Check us out on the social media handles, like us there and give

us those four stars or five stars. If you like us on the, um, podcasting platforms and, you know

send us messages. We want to hear from you. We want to know what you want to hear about. So that's it

Awesome. Well, until next time, guys, we hope to see you there. Goodbye

Take care. Thanks for listening to the Reschooled podcast. Be sure to head over to Reschooled.com for news and other information on things we're

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