Networking for College Seniors

It has been a very productive week for week for Maria.

Saturday I went to a PRSSA conference, Innovation Through Leadership, and this evening I went to a COM networking event, which included a lesson on networking etiquette.

Free pens = 2
Sweet nametags = 2
Job offers (so far) = 0

HEY! It's only March.

Here were some of the takeaways from each event:

PR Advanced: Innovation Through Leadership

[From Mike Volpe, Vice President of Marketing at HubSpot]

• Leveraging inbound marketing tools changes tactics from interruption based to attraction based
• Create a large digital footprint so people can find you on a variety of platforms
• Measurement of PR is changing; it is easier to track the progress and success of campaigns
• The shift of focus from budget to creativity gives smaller clients a greater chance to be awarded accounts
  
• MARKET YOURSELF

[From Gary Sheffer, Executive Director of Corporate Communication and Public Affairs at General Electric]

• A good reputation is your license to do business
• Public relations must reset tactics and channels of communication to succeed
• News is now a river running past us instead of a train making stops; anyone can throw anything into the river
• Crisis communication and management are increasingly vital

• There are three ways to win in a post-crisis world

1. Social responsibility
2. Transparency and authenticity
3. Engaging communities personally and digitally
   

• The role of communicators

1. Help define a company, not just describe it
2. Develop channels for messaging AND networks
3. Shift perceptions
   

• Gary's Tips For Finding a Job

1. Start right now
2. Every experience is good
3. Do something. Show results.
4. Read the Economist. Then Gawker.
5. Careers are built, not made
   

• It is essential for PR professionals to be news junkies; you have to know what's going on in the world if you want to tell people how to present themselves in the world
• The most important thing you have is your integrity. Never compromise that. I mean never.

COM Networking at the Castle

[From Jodi Smith, founder of Mannersmith Consulting]

• Etiquette is culturally and situationally specific; since corporate cultural differences exist everywhere, there are etiquette guildelines, not rules.
• You have 5-7 seconds to make an impression on someone you're meeting for the first time
• People like to be right; If you make a bad impression, it takes about 14 positive encounters to change their perception.
• Networking, by definition, is strange and awkward. You are going to an event and engaging with a room full of strangers.
  
• Save elevator speeches for the elevator
• People like you better when they can talk to you.
• Asking about business opportunities before engaging in small talk is like asking a stranger to marry you without asking them on a date.
  
• Small talk leads to big talk.
• It is better to be over dressed than under dressed.
• Never go hungry
• Networking: You are a lion in the Serengeti. The others are wildabeast at the watering hole. Find the watering hole and attack.
  

In Conclusion:

The economy sucks. Almost no one is hiring.

BUT.

Market your inner lion, find the watering hole and make the kill! Market yourself. Go to networking events. Leave nothing but a bare carcass.