Confident networking
- 1. Dr Sara Shinton Dr Sara Shinton www.shintonconsulting.com Welcome to Personal Impact & Confident Networking!
- 2. PhD & Postdoc Physical Chemistry Teaching Assistant Careers Adviser Founded Shinton Consulting in 2000
- 5. NETWORKING – IT’S REALLY IMPORTANT AND SCARY! Actually, it’s just about talking to people. You do it every day…
- 6. What are your personal barriers to networking? Take a moment to note your own, then share with someone...
- 7. Common barriers Cultural differences – not knowing rules of different societies and attitudes to small talk/direct questions/speaking to strangers! The awkwardness of starting conversations Knowing what to say Feeling intimidated by people who know more stuff than me (and them making sure I know they know more stuff than me…) Talking to people with more status than me Saying something stupid Insecurity Feeling I HAVE to network Build your cultural awareness by talking to people from different cultures You might also get some tips from cultural experts such as: http://www.geert-hofstede.com/
- 8. “ The awkwardness of starting conversations” Good habits from natural networkers – a supply of great questions to open conversations. Situational questions (about the environment or shared experience) Let’s get comfortable talking to each other Motivational questions (explore the values or attitudes this person has) Are you like me? Functional questions (understand this person’s knowledge, skills, contribution) Let’s find out more about you. These questions develop and emerge during the conversation so we can dig deeper more gradually. My preference is to see if we have a shared attitude to life before looking more deeply at common knowledge or skills… Can I pour you a coffee? Isn’t this weather awful/fabulous? How was your journey? Do you know this city/venue well? Why are you here? Are you enjoying it so far? What did you think of that talk/session? Where do you work? What are you working on? Sources of interesting facts to share – Twitter or Radio 4 !
- 9. What about me will attract & engage people? Write a quick summary of your research
- 10. 5 reasons you are interesting... You work at the cutting edge Your approach and knowledge are a unique combination You are using the work of others and have opinions on this work You are researchers at Dundee You are immersed in research. (Not admin, teaching, politics, grant writing)
- 11. Make yourself even more interesting by... Sounding interested in what you do Reflecting your passion in your language – positive words, talk about the possibilities and importance Relating your work to others and their interests or knowledge Using hooks to get their interest Constructing your story – i.e. we are here, we want to be there, this is what we’re doing to get there
- 12. Entertain me! Why is your work important?
- 13. Think of one person you would like to connect with Think of THREE things that might interest them Now identify one value you or your work will have for them
- 14. Potential for new projects or collaborations New methods for existing/old questions Opportunity to share facilities
- 15. Bridging “East” and “West” Reducing risk of recruitment Access to people or resources in Dundee
- 16. To summarise Think about the value, importance and relevance of your work Start with headlines, then add detail React to your audience Smile!
- 17. What's in your networking toolkit?
- 18. What's in your networking toolkit? Questions Think of three great questions in your group that will stimulate conversations Your ears! Into pairs. One describes the last really interesting paper you read, the other listens carefully. Let the conversation flow... Your enthusiasms Into NEW pairs. If I gave you a day to do anything, how would you spend it?
- 20. Networking is worth it because... Facilitation of collaboration Knowledge Exchange, Public Engagement and Impact Filter information and save time Feedback, inspiration and insight Evaluation of your work through a 3 rd party Thanks to Louisa Lawes, University of Edinburgh for these ideas!
- 21. Using technology The following slides come from the session on social media, but were worth recycling here!
- 22. Networking with social media? www.shintonconsulting.com
- 23. www.shintonconsulting.com Networking with social media?
- 24. www.shintonconsulting.com Networking with social media?
- 25. www.shintonconsulting.com Networking with social media?
- 28. Twitter - personal favourite because of the limitation on posts - just 140 characters to inform, educate, entertain and engage Makes it efficient to follow a diverse range of people Hashtags (#) enable you to follow trends & conferences without following all those posting on these topics You can send private messages (DM) or restrict your profile to invited or accepted followers only Many choose to “lurk” rather than post - a good start, but a waste of the potential of the site www.shintonconsulting.com
- 29. The obvious careers related site - many people are explicitly looking for opportunities. Think about who you are connecting to - your network is a reflection of your professional status. If you are seeking to move on from academia, try to broaden your network. You can engage in discussions on LinkedIn through the groups facility This is also a way to connect with people with common interests without accepting them into your network Academia is an academic version of LinkedIN which is set up for the academic career. You can post papers, presentations and engage in discussion with an academic community www.shintonconsulting.com
- 30. The principal SM site - has a “leisure” element but is beginning to meet LinkedIn “in the middle” A useful facility is the “business” page which you can set up for your research group, community or any topic. This is a way to connect with people you don’t want to see your full profile. Remember you can manage your profile and only post certain material to certain users. www.shintonconsulting.com
- 31. www.academicblogs.org Blogging sites- choose the one that suits you best and market it through your other SM channels! www.shintonconsulting.com
- 32. A few of the many content sharing websites - useful depositories of papers, presentations and other media which you can point to or embed in other places. www.shintonconsulting.com
- 33. articulate.com JOINING - the right SM place for me (LinkedIn and Twitter) Finding the right groups and people on the sites I choose (follow tags for common interests, follow conference feeds, follow people through connections) Posting an appropriate photo (be consistent across profiles) Defining a clear objective for my SM use. Looking for feedback and input from my community linking my various SM and find a way to manage them efficiently contributing to relevant discussions structuring my profile, using groups to help me finding the right balance of personal information in my professional feeds (enough to build relationships and establish my personality writing some recommendations (hopefully some will reciprocate) integrating SM into my daily routine (apps) Putting new information up Subscribing to RSS feeds or accumulators to manage this for me www.shintonconsulting.com I COULD START BY…
- 34. To summarise Think about the value, importance and relevance of your work Start with headlines, then add detail React to your audience Find your online community Identify connectors & contributors Comment, repost & contribute
Editor's Notes
- #2: Welcome to the session – this ran on November 28 th in Dundee University for research students and staff as part of the OPD programme. See www.dundee.ac.uk/opd/ for further details of this and other workshops
- #3: A little background about me. My career has depended on networking.. As a PhD student a major breakthrough in my research came about through a conversation at a conference I got my first non-research job after working out who was best equipped in my department to give me advice – and by asking them for help As a careers adviser I built a network of peers and employers to enable me to give better advice to students And as a small business owner I must be visible, memorable and effective. I don’t advertise or market my company, so networking is a key tool in building and maintaining my reputation.
- #4: Some people find networking easy, others find it hugely challenging. What we will try to do today is to identify the good habits of natural networkers and to apply them to ourselves. We’ll try to identify out own weaknesses and concerns and find comfortable ways around them.
- #5: The four main areas we’ll cover today – looking at the good habits I mentioned earlier and how technology can help to take some of the sting out of networking And what I don't This is what I need This is my USP This is why to use me
- #6: I want you to stop feeling like this. If you think of networking in terms of being “something” it becomes more intimidating. Don’t think about going to places to network. Just go to places. Don’t think about people you need to “network” with – just think of people you might be interested in hearing more from Don’t think of it as something MAKE OR BREAK – just a moment in time where something might happen or something might not
- #10: Be really clear on why you are attractive and interesting to others
- #13: Another networking myth/ barrier – feeling you have to be the most interesting or entertaining person in the room. You don’t, but you do need to think about what the person listening will benefit from by listening to you.
- #19: We looked at some of these exercises in other places in the workshop, but they are good reminders and you can practice with them to hone your networking skills.
- #20: Sorry, this slide is a bit tatty but if I delay to tidy it up it won’t ever make it into the big wide world….
- #21: Networking is like having a board of directors http://www.cio.com/article/164300/How_to_Network_12_Tips_for_Shy_People http://manchesterpgcareers.wordpress.com/2011/03/31/networking-for-shy-people/ http://sachachua.com/blog/p/6510/
- #23: A multi- way conversation
- #24: An online neighbourhood which you can construct to your own specifications. Think about what you see as you walk around your neighnourhood - what information is conveyed to you? Who lives there? Which organisations have bases there?
- #25: A way to connect with people and ideas far beyond your geographical position. Who do you want to be connected with? who would add value to your network?
- #26: A personalised delivery of information you will find interesting - what do you need to know to manage you career more effectively?
- #27: SO, before launching into the social media universe, think about answers to these questions: What are the conversations you want to be having? What does your perfect neighbourhood look like? Who “lives” there? (general environment) Who is missing from your network? Who do you want to connect with (actual, personal connections) What information would make all the difference to your career? At the heart of SM is the user - you - identifying and selecting the SM that meets their needs. 4 questions you must have the answer to at this stage