Career toolkit: Expanding your network

Hello, and welcome to MIT career advising and professional development’s career toolkit video series. In this video, I will be sharing with you the different approaches to building and expanding your network. I’m going to be going over resources that you can also find on our website at capd.mit.edu.

CAPD staff are all able to support you with a variety of career-related questions. Whether you are certain about pursuing industry or academia, uncertain about what you would like to do, or find yourself at any point somewhere in the middle, CAPD is able to help you navigate your needs.

Appointments are a great way to get tailored support on topics including major selection, job internship search strategies, resume writing, cover letter writing, interview preparation, salary offer negotiation, medical, graduate school, and more. To schedule an appointment, click on Career Center in Handshake.

There, you will see a button for appointments and can schedule a new appointment. You will select the type of appointment you need and can see available time spots. Appointments vary in length, but most are between 30 minutes to an hour to accommodate your schedule, and appointments are offered year-round.

If you have an urgent need or do not find a time that works for your schedule, CAPD can be reached at capd.mit.edu to find possible options. Is networking about finding a job? Well, not exclusively. A network can help you in so many ways. You might seek out recommendations for a restaurant, a vacation spot, or a store.

You might get advice, as you navigate adulting, and it might also help you with various obstacles you may encounter in life. And why is networking important? In many cases, it helps individuals grow their career and navigate their lives. It gathers important information about yourself and the people around you, and it can also strengthen social connections.

A way to think about networking is to liken it to the art of gardening. It wouldn’t be reasonable to throw a seed at the ground and expect it to bear fruit the next day. Networking takes time and patience. I’m going to show you ways to initiate contact, build your network, and deepen your connections that will help your career both now and well into the future.

So to initiate, start with your pitch. An elevator pitch is a short introduction that highlights your background, experience, accomplishments, and interests. Perfecting your 30- to 60-second introduction includes your name, maybe your course and graduation date, some areas of interest, and some relevant experiences.

Think through the goal of your pitch and what you want to convey. Describe what you do, focusing on strengths, interests, and recent accomplishments. You might also credit team members and mentors, peers who might have helped you along the way. Engage your listener with questions and give them an opportunity to respond.

Avoid basic questions you could have googled in advance, such as what does your company do? A great way to get started with an elevator pitch is to use almost like a Mad Lib to generate your pitch. Here is an example of elevator pitch. With a greeting, hello, my name is Erik Pavesic, and I’m a junior at MIT, with a major in civil engineering, with a minor in economics.

I recently completed a research project on navigating traffic in Venice and even presented during a poster session at a local conference at MIT. I understand that your work in this role is similar to this research, and I would love to learn more about your work. Can you share a bit more information about how you’ve done this work in your current role?

Using the format of Mad Libs, fill in the blanks to generate a quick and easy introduction of yourself to use at networking events and fairs. You can find an example of this on our website, capd.mit.edu. To build your network, get familiar with tools, like LinkedIn and Advisors Hub, to identify and grow your existing network. Finding ways that people are connected to each other can help you get referred to new connections easily.

A great way to prioritize is by finding how the companies and making connections connect with your priorities. Author Steve Dalton developed the two-hour job search. By starting with a focus list of organizations, you will identify networking connections that may help you grow your specific career pathway.

Prioritize your list based on the availability of connections, your personal interest level in the organization or employer, and the types and appeal of the jobs they have available for you. You can find an example of this on our website, capd.mit.edu. To deepen your existing connections, keep in mind that you already have a network comprised of family members and supporters, classmates and peers, faculty and staff, and basically everyone you know so far.

Start to learn more about your existing networks to see if they might have ways to support your career development. A great way to do this is to use the personal board of directors. This was conceived by Kate Hutson. And a personal board of directors is a group of people you can assemble as part of your network to help you develop and navigate your career.

They might include individuals who validate your feelings, help celebrate you, give you honest feedback, might be a good advocate or sounding board, and may make you feel heard. You can use this activity to recognize the network you have and identify your networking needs. You can find an example of this on our website, capd.mit.edu.

Informational interviews are a great way to build and deepen connections. They can also be used to help build rapport with an existing colleague. You can find more information about informational interviewing on our website. And a great way to think about informational interviewing is asking for AIR.

When conducting an informational interview, ask for advice, information, or referrals. Advice is a way to get your network to help you strategize what are possible things you should or maybe should not do. Information might provide you with the details that will help you make decisions or take action. And referrals might lead to new connections or find new resources.

They might help you connect deeper with other individuals as well. So now here are some ways to develop confidence before networking. You might try a visualization exercise, so maybe imagine potential interactions and shift from anxiety to enthusiasm, as you navigate the imaginary situation.

Script your interactions. You could create prompts or outlines for what you would like to cover. Having a list of talking points or questions can help. Prepare your mind and body. Make sure you get sufficient rest, eat well, and give yourself time for a clear head. And definitely, take a couple of deep breaths before engaging in anything that might give you a little bit of pause.

And while you are networking, be a whole version of yourself. Avoid just focusing on your professional identity and integrate your whole self. Think about your interests, your hobbies, your plans, your values. Maybe even start with low stake interactions. Find people like you. Maybe they’re at a similar level, they have a similar personality that may help you get practice.

Focus on a brief initial contact. Don’t feel that you have to connect with people for long periods of time. Give it, maybe, 5 to 10 minutes for an initial interaction. Now moving forward, you can find a variety of resources on our website, including information about how to network and conduct informational interviews, three activities to start networking in a flash, develop your elevator pitch, and conducting informational interviews.

You might also think about taking additional steps in connecting with MIT alumni, attending an employer event. Book an appointment with us on Handshake or check out other career events. Thank you for joining me. Be sure to check out all of our career toolkit videos– resumes, cover letters, elevator pitches, networking, the job search, and interviewing.