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Topic: networking...help...i suck
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| Author | Message |
| canasta | Posted – 1/26/2005 5:15:00 PM | show profile Last week, I covered an event. At the cocktail hour, I spoke with an exec. We've met a few times at events, I have interviewed him, etc. He noticed that I knew everyone at this cocktail thing (I did; I've been covering this beat for a while) and so I thought...why not try to get on at [his gigantic company]? I am trying to break into corporate writing/PR. So I invited him to lunch. I specified, alone - meaning: without his PR crew. Just him. He agreed. Now - with all the regulation issues, do I need to include the crew? Does he think i was hitting on him? Should i still extend the invite? Time is slipping away; he's going to forget me. |
| fourfold | Posted – 1/26/2005 5:25:40 PM | show profile If I am understandinging your post, you met an executive at an event you were covering for a publication you work for. You would now like to get either full-time or freelance writing gigs from this person. What concerns me is a possible conflict of interest. If you're trying to get full-time work at the company, fine. But if you're trying to get jobs on the side while covering this guy's company and industry, that's a conflict of interest. You'll be on his company's payroll at the same time you're supposed to be reporting news. In either case, why do you need to include the PR crew? And why do you think he thinks you were hitting on him? You sound confused about your motives. |
| canasta | Posted – 1/26/2005 5:41:49 PM | show profile To clarify: I am freelance right now, and I'm trying to get out of journalism and into corporate writing/PR. No, I would not work for both organizations at the same time. I would end my current contract. The reason I bring up the ''hitting on him'' angle is because this is a male-dominated industry (uh...traders) and any kind of friendly attitude is often considered seductive. |
| canasta | Posted – 1/26/2005 6:17:03 PM | show profile And to clarify even further What I want is full-time work with this organization. I am simply unsure about how to approach this person, and I don't want him to misinterpret my invite to lunch. It just seems like such a delicate situation. As I said, I suck at networking. |
| hawaiiwriter | Posted – 1/26/2005 8:46:32 PM | show profile Call him or email him and reiterate your lunch offer and say, ''i wanted to get your advice on how I might transition into the PR field with my background and expereince.'' and just approach it that way. make sure he knows that you are approaching him because he seems to be an expert in this field you want to get into and that you think he can offer you good advice. he might say, hey you have all the skills to get hires at my company. Call so and so. Or he might tell you you are barking up the wrong tree altogether. All you are doing is askign career advice from somone you have met while doing your other job. I don't see that it's a conflict of interest at all. you are allowed to look into changing fields and changing jobs after all. |
| Marie | Posted – 1/27/2005 12:22:24 AM | show profile You're essentailly asking for an informational job interview. And since you already know him, asking to do this over lunch is not odd (probably wouldn't evn be odd if you didn't know him). Follow up and go to lunch. |
| CrazyDaisy | Posted – 1/27/2005 9:00:18 AM | show profile Yeah. Even if he thought you were hitting on him, so what? It'll become pretty clear at the lunch that you weren't. It's not your fault if he miscontrues a simple networking invitation. |
| canasta | Posted – 1/27/2005 10:13:28 AM | show profile thanks guys I emailed a simple invitation, with some praise for this event that was held (it was their first of this kind and very well-attended). Yes, email is a cop-out; but I have to go through several layers of PR to get to his voicemail, so this is the best and most personal route. Fingers crossed. Now, I can wait for the humiliation that follows when I don't receive a reply. |
| foodlit | Posted – 1/27/2005 11:07:39 AM | show profile informational works Hawaii's advice was dead on, when you approach it that way it is more of a 'I'd like to pick your brain, would love your advice' type of thing, which can be very effective, and takes the pressure off. You're not asking directly for a job, but if things go well, the door is clearly open for him to suggest it. What I would do is research the heck out of the job you want, his company, and his background. The more information you have the better, so that you will ask good questions, not ones that you should know or could easily find yourself. Information interviewing is really the way to go, it is a chance to you to gather a lot of information, and also to make a good impression. It is how I got my last two positions, I used this same approach, something like I'm looking to move into this field, and would love the chance to meet with you and learn more about what you do on a day to day basis. People love to talk about what they do, and the natural inclination is to want to offer help if you can. Good Luck! |
| foodlit | Posted – 1/27/2005 11:09:52 AM | show profile meant to add You also did the right thing by e-mailing him. It is definitely better if he knows what the purpose of your lunch is, that way he's already thinking about it.....and hopefully trying to think of where you might fit in. :) |
| canasta | Posted – 1/27/2005 12:16:38 PM | show profile I have a date He wrote back within minutes. I will research the industry as much as I can (the company, I've covered for years) but he is a little harder to track. I don't know where he was before this. I'll do my best. |
| wayout | Posted – 1/27/2005 3:34:54 PM | show profile Nice work, Canasta. I knew you'd bring home the bacon!! |
| vilmoszv | Posted – 1/27/2005 4:56:40 PM | show profile networking...you rule I'm impressed! You're doing a great job, thinking through the potential obstaclesm exploring the available avenues. Fantastic! Now, build on the momentum. Self-motivate so that you can apply everything you've done and learned with this one contact with other contacts. Also: if you don't sense a specific opportunity with this one company, don't hesitate to ask whether he knows of other companies in his industry who are possibly hiring. Your determination will make you more attractive to him as a potential hire while also giving you more options to explore along your career path. |
| UGoGirl | Posted – 1/27/2005 11:00:23 PM | show profile Good luck. I wouldn't be surprised if he still thinks you're hitting on him. Let us know! |
| yesvirginia | Posted – 1/28/2005 7:46:38 AM | show profile Way to go See, you are not bad at networking. Just remain positive and have the research on hand so that you can make the points you want to make at the lunch meeting. Let us know what happens good luck. Sounds like you are making inroads on the skills we all need. |
| canasta | Posted – 1/28/2005 7:53:30 AM | show profile Ugogirl Why? I am genuinely concerned. |
| LiteratinDC | Posted – 1/28/2005 10:59:12 AM | show profile Genuinely concerned? Oh come on now, you're ''genuinely concerned'' about what? Really, this whole thread on whether or not he'll think you're hitting on him is bordering on the absurd. You're a professional. He's a professional. Men deal with other men in professional settings all the time. This is a professional setting and a professional inquiry you're making. End of story. That will be clear from the get-go. |
| canasta | Posted – 1/28/2005 11:01:39 AM | show profile You're right, and that is not why I started the thread in the first place. Thanks everyone for your advice. |
| UGoGirl | Posted – 1/28/2005 12:19:34 PM | show profile What do I know? Probably there's nothing to be concerned about. It's just that some guys have big egos and if an attractive female (not sure if you'd consider yourself in that category) invites them to lunch when it's not made very very clear what your intentions are he might get the wrong idea. But I have no idea what you said to him, and he's probably a decent guy anyway, so I'm probably way off base. Good luck. |
| canasta | Posted – 1/28/2005 4:37:16 PM | show profile Gotcha Mediabistro can be helpful, whether it is a money-making machine or not. |
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