News & Press

December 01, 2003

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Geri Koeppel
Tribune

'Tis a season of nutmeg, nog and NETWORKING

Two years ago, Jeremey Stawiecki arrived in town from the Boston area with no job and no business contacts.

Before long, he was hobnobbing with state legislators and corporate leaders, landing positions first with a lobbying group, then with a business networking group. Now he’s a business development officer at First National Bank of Arizona.

He did it with help from American Career Executives, a Phoenix company that prepares people to be expert networkers.

"By introducing yourself to total strangers and letting them know what you’re trying to do, you never know who you’re going to meet," said Stawiecki, a Chandler resident.

Although unemployment figures are getting better — down to 5.6 percent in September compared with an average 6 percent the previous three months — a lot of people are still out of work, not to mention underemployed or just plain bored.

Linda Baugh , president of American Career Executives, says networking is the way people really get ahead — especially in an employer’s market.

"One of the top executive recruiters in town here said after the ‘dotcom bomb,’ hiring went underground," Baugh said. She asked what he meant, and he told her, "People are not going to post ads on the Internet and get thousands of responses." It’s too time-consuming. Instead, companies increasingly are using word-of mouth to fill positions.

An article in Organizational Dynamics (Winter 2002) said that 61 percent of executive positions filled were landed through contacts with friends.

The holidays are a great time for networking. Fewer job seekers are active during the holiday season, which means less competition. Holiday cheer makes hiring decision makers less resistant to your message. And, it’s easier to make contacts at informal meetings, such as holiday parties.

But there’s a right and wrong way to network. Stawiecki — whom Baugh calls her "star student" — urges job seekers to think of every person they meet as a potential contact. Don’t avoid talking to people because you don’t think they can do anything for you: They might be valuable down the line.

Stawiecki also cautions people not to be too aggressive, especially if you’re trying to schmooze in social settings as opposed to networking meetings.

First, use small talk to develop a rapport. Give the person your "30-second elevator speech," describing your line of work and what your responsibilities have been.

"A mistake people make is they want to give their whole life history," Baugh said. "Keep it short."

And don’t hit the person with, "Are there any job openings at the ABC Company?" Instead, say, "I don’t want to talk business here, but I’d love to schedule an appointment to sit down and talk."

Afterward, call the person’s office to set up a time to have a cup of coffee. Don’t quiz them on jobs, but ask for general advice on getting into the field or the company.

"From my experience, most people are willing to help you," Stawiecki said.

He also suggests taking a job in the field you want to be in, even if the position isn’t exactly what you want. For instance, he wanted to get into public policy, so he took a job with the Arizona Association of Industries, a lobbying group for the manufacturing industry. It wasn’t a lobbying job, but it put him near the action.

After getting an inside look at politics, he decided to veer away from it and used his networking skills to land his next job, as executive director of AZSNAP, a business networking group in the Scottsdale Airpark.

Craig Morningstar, managing partner of Second Look Financial in Scottsdale, founded AZSNAP and offered Stawiecki the job.

"Jeremey understands the key points of initiating appropriate conversation," Morningstar said. "You start a conversation by asking questions. If you ask the wrong questions, the conversation will go in the wrong direction."

Of course, the hardest part about networking for many people is simply getting up the nerve to talk.

"You have to realize the person you’re talking to is a person," Stawiecki said. "They put their jeans on one leg at a time like you do."

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