Posts Tagged ‘networking’

It’s a tired cliché, but in my case it’s true: I’m a people person. No, I’m not annoyingly peppy, but I could probably make friends with a tree stump. When nothing’s on the line, I have no problem chatting with complete strangers in stores, doctor’s waiting rooms, post offices. But ask me to go somewhere and network … Network? Gadzooks!  You might as well be asking me to bungee jump from the Golden Gate Bridge.

For some reason, the idea of networking to further our careers scares a lot of us to death. Maybe it’s the idea that something is riding on our ability to be gracious and charming. Maybe we feel disingenuous about socializing to get ahead. But whatever the reason, we balk. And we fail to cultivate the contacts we need to help us connect to the opportunities we’d like to have.

Read the rest of this entry »