Comments on: How To Introduce Yourself To Someone Two Degrees Away http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/2008/01/16/how-to-introduce-yourself-to-someone-two-degrees-away/ advocacy for the job seeker Thu, 09 Feb 2012 02:23:17 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 By: links for 2008-01-18 at Race in the Workplace - how diversity, race and racism influence our working lives http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/2008/01/16/how-to-introduce-yourself-to-someone-two-degrees-away/comment-page-1/#comment-134015 links for 2008-01-18 at Race in the Workplace - how diversity, race and racism influence our working lives Fri, 18 Jan 2008 10:30:11 +0000 http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/archives/1082#comment-134015 [...] How To Introduce Yourself To Someone Two Degrees Away - JibberJobber Blog ” I find the best relationship building I do is face-to-face, over lunch. It’s more likely that I’ll have undivided attention, as well as a lot of time. Compare that to a superficial string of e-mails where it’s really hard to get the information an (tags: workplace networking skills advice) [...] [...] How To Introduce Yourself To Someone Two Degrees Away – JibberJobber Blog ” I find the best relationship building I do is face-to-face, over lunch. It’s more likely that I’ll have undivided attention, as well as a lot of time. Compare that to a superficial string of e-mails where it’s really hard to get the information an (tags: workplace networking skills advice) [...]

]]> By: Louise Kursmark, executive resume writer and career consultant http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/2008/01/16/how-to-introduce-yourself-to-someone-two-degrees-away/comment-page-1/#comment-133200 Louise Kursmark, executive resume writer and career consultant Thu, 17 Jan 2008 13:00:50 +0000 http://www.jibberjobber.com/blog/archives/1082#comment-133200 Jason, I think you have hit on precisely the key points - Get their attention, tell them who you are and why that should interest them, and ask for a meeting! I think a short, to-the-point message (either via email or when introducing yourself in person) is MUCH more effective than an entire biography. Start the dialogue and see where it takes you! When job-seekers tell me "networking isn't working," often we can trace the problem back to the fact that they don't know how to introduce themselves effectively and don't make it easy for contacts to help them. They usually try to cram their entire career history into a 3- or 4-minute introduction that should ideally last only 30 to 90 seconds... and that's when you're INVITED to "tell me about yourself." In your example, you haven't even had the invitation yet, so you need first to establish that you have mutual interests. Another key point - it doesn't have to be flashy. You don't have to wow them with a clever line. Thanks for opening up this topic! Jason, I think you have hit on precisely the key points – Get their attention, tell them who you are and why that should interest them, and ask for a meeting! I think a short, to-the-point message (either via email or when introducing yourself in person) is MUCH more effective than an entire biography. Start the dialogue and see where it takes you!

When job-seekers tell me “networking isn’t working,” often we can trace the problem back to the fact that they don’t know how to introduce themselves effectively and don’t make it easy for contacts to help them. They usually try to cram their entire career history into a 3- or 4-minute introduction that should ideally last only 30 to 90 seconds… and that’s when you’re INVITED to “tell me about yourself.” In your example, you haven’t even had the invitation yet, so you need first to establish that you have mutual interests.

Another key point – it doesn’t have to be flashy. You don’t have to wow them with a clever line.

Thanks for opening up this topic!

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