Making Time For Coffee

The importance of networking is never under-stressed at business school.  I am sure they push a similar mantra in other fields, but NETWORK NETWORK NETWORK is a requisite for graduation.

But what does it mean to network?  Sure, hand your business card to the speaker who visited your class (hey, aspiring grad, take note: that means get a mature and reasonably professional business card WHILE you are in college.). Be sure to shake hands with lots of people at professional mixers (hey, young professional, that means join a professionals' organization and go to some networking mixers.). Be ready with 30-seconds of talking points about yourself that ends in a question for the other person at a moments notice (this one is easiest when you are honestly selling something about yourself.  Changing jobs?  Say so.  Looking for work?  Say so.  People are actually quite happy to meet you, and to pass you along to people that they know are hiring.  People love being the person who knows people. Let them help you.).

Don't be afraid, it's just a room full of professionals you've never met before.

But the real two in the one-two punch of networking is follow up.

I happened to make the acquaintance of a man who was the VP of Marketing at a modest-sized SAAS company downtown, while we both waited for our quinoa bowls at a gluten free food truck. Now how's that for an oddly specific way to meet someone.  The lesson here is to always be ready to network, or, at least, present yourself well in front of strangers.  You never know who you'll be eating lunch next to.  We stayed nominally in touch via LinkedIn, and he alluded to contract writing positions that might come up periodically at his company.

We had not directly spoken since July of 2015.  Since deciding to pursue a career on my own as a consultant, I thought it was high time I reached out to my network for some leads.

It's almost needless to say that the circumstances of our meeting were sufficiently novel enough that he remembered me immediately. Lesson: Be memorable, and have a good memory yourself.  Be able to trigger a memory with your email, starting with the memo line.  The memo alone has to be the hook, especially when messaging a loose association who reasonably gets 200+ emails A DAY.  Stand out.  Do the mental work for him.  Help him to remember you.

I was able to finagle this memory into a coffee date.

We talked about my work and life changes and leaving a company, and about his work, his life, and how he, too, was in the process of leaving his company.  I managed to email him on one of his last days at his company, at the absolutely last chance when he would be answering the email address I had for him.  Lesson: timing can be everything.  When luck isn't enough, be prepared and think logically about when would be a good time, for your recipient, for you to reach out.  I had luck on my side with this one, but it cannot and should not be counted upon for your success.

Finally, after an exceedingly pleasant 45 minute conversation, he asked me, "So what do you need from me?  What can I do to help?"

Uh, let me pick up my jaw real quick.

I admit, I was floored.  I didn't know.

He had already passed my resume along to his creative director at the company he was leaving (Lesson: when making an open request to be considered for a position - even one that you aren't sure exists right now - ALWAYS attach your resume.  Don't make him ask you for it, go ahead and attach it right away.  Anticipate his needs, and don't make him do more work for you than you are willing to do for yourself.).

He wanted to know if I needed something else.  I asked him to keep me in mind for any future projects he took on, and to let me know if he heard about any writing positions.  I thanked him very much for taking the time to talk to me.  We left talking about the impending snow and his three daughters.

I sent him an email earlier this week, thanking him again for taking the time to meet with me.  I truly appreciated that he took an hour to talk, because I know how time consuming it is to leave a job, and I wasn't even an executive-level employee.  I asked if I could consider him among my group of advisers for the future, if I ever needed a more experienced professionals' opinion as a sounding board.  He was very encouraging, and reassured me that I was setting out with a good idea, and a good sense of where I felt I could fit in the market.

Sometimes the best thing you can get out of a meeting is some support that you're making a reasonable choice.  And, if the title VP of Marketing wasn't convincing you that this man was an expert, let me lay this one on you.

I had coffee with a design architect for Intel in 1993.  He's been a senior level employee at every other company since then, including the founder of one.  This dude is a big, big deal.

And he was willing to have coffee with me.

Because once, more than a year ago, we talked about quinoa at a food cart.