Podcasts about minute networking meeting

"Suspend an expectation that there's going to be a transaction. You don't know where it's going to go." Networking does not have to feel icky. Unfortunately many people see networking the way Kathi Brewer-Gouthro once did. When she first had to dive into networking,  she felt stuck in a “rigorously unproductive” mindset. Networking always seemed to focus on schmoozing, which felt unnecessary and uncomfortable. When Kathi was faced with a career transition she knew it meant she had to also update her network. That prompted a needed change her approach. Over time she reframed her assumption that networking is just about who you know. It's about genuine connections and a mutual exchange of value. It started to click for Kathi when she picked up a copy of "The 20-Minute Networking Meeting" by Nathan Perez and Marcia Belanger. Before reading that book, she had a handful of awkward, zero-value conversations. After embracing their structured approach, things changed dramatically. Each networking “meeting” had a: Strong first impression Clear overview of my career Genuine discussion points Respectful, timely ending Sincere follow-up within 24 hours Since implementing this structure Kathi has had dozens of successful, enriching conversations. The conversations have not only broadened her horizons, they also made networking feel authentic and purposeful. Networking does not need to make you cringe or feel uncomfortable. Instead of avoiding it, equip yourself with the right tools. Approach conversations with genuine curiosity and value-driven intentions. You may be surprised at how organic and rewarding those connections can become. Looking for help with your own career transition? Reach out to our team at Best Culture Solutions.  Notable Moments 01:02 Networking is essential, not just passive engagement. 05:39 Networking requires active effort and learning. 09:22 Using a 20-minute networking structure for intentional connection. 11:45 Take the time to prepare, stick to schedule, follow up afterward. 14:20 Networking enhances comfort and success in career transitions. 17:58 Your network can provide opportunities and supports career development. 21:33 People value genuine connection and support. Connect with Kathi Kathi on LinkedIn Email Kathi Connect with Tim and his team: Website: https://bestculturesolutions.ca/ LinkedIn: Best Culture Solutions, Inc Instagram: @best.culture.solutions   Email: tim@bestculturesolutions.ca Kathi Brewer-Gouthro  

Episode Notes In this episode of Workplace Hugs, Shannon and Rami discuss the book "The 20-Minute Networking Meeting" by Marcia Ballinger and Nathan A. Perez. They explore the structure and strategies for conducting effective and efficient networking meetings, especially for those who feel anxious about networking.

Imagine you're at a crowded industry conference, a little unsure where to start or whom to talk to. You spot someone alone at a coffee stand and decide to say hello. Lo and behold, that brief interaction leads to a job offer, a career change, or maybe a lifelong mentorship. It's the power of networking – transforming a simple moment into a significant opportunity. On this episode of The Career PROgressions Podcast, we've invited Dr. Marcia Ballinger to help us explore how short, focused conversations can shape your career in ways you might never expect. Marcia is not only a co-founder of a national executive search firm based in St. Paul, but she's also an acclaimed author and a respected voice in the world of executive search. With a robust background that spans corporate search, human resources, and board leadership, Marcia brings a treasure trove of insights and strategies to the table. Marcia's groundbreaking book, “The 20-Minute Networking Meeting,” has helped countless professionals revolutionize their networking skills just 20 minutes at a time. I hope you'll join us for this conversation!

There is so much that goes into having a networking meeting – from finding the right person to connecting with that person to getting a time on the schedule. There is a lot of time, energy, and logistics that go into making it happen. Then the day comes, you have the meeting, and that's it. It feels like a dud. Yet, it's not clear what went wrong. Nathan Perez, Principal, of Career Innovation, professional and keynote speaker, and Co- Author of the 20-Minute Networking Meeting, believes that you need clear prep, a solid plan, and more than a little gratitude. In this CareerCast, Nathan unlocks the mysteries of having an enjoyable, productive, and successful networking meeting that can become the start of an enduring professional relationship.

Nathan Perez is the co-author of the bestselling book, The 20-Minute Networking Meeting. We will be discussing how preparation and focus allow you to have an informative and powerful conversation, the questions you should be asking, and how to remain engaged while networking. Nathan and I will be chatting about this and more on our podcast LinkedIn Live. Give Career Club a follow to stay up to date with this and all of our upcoming events

When Adam Getz first joined the military, his plan was to finish his initial enlistment as an Army musician and separate. As his roles changed within the military, Adam decided to serve for 20 years with the goal of having a second career in the private sector.  Adam earned an MBA, PMP and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certifications to prepare him for his next career in project management. When Adam left the military4/2021, he spent a year as a Senior Project Manager in pharmaceutical contract manufacturing. Today, he is a Senior Project Manager in Supply Chain Operations at Indiana University Health. Adam finished his MBA earlier in his Army career. Once he focused on becoming a project manager, he completed his PMP and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt closer to retirement. Adam used a full 24 months to prepare for his transition by attending TAP classes, leveraging LinkedIn and networking . After using The 20-Minute Networking Meeting book as a guide on how to conduct an informational interview, Adam conducted close to 100 interviews. With each conversation, Adam learned more about project management in the private sector, gained new mentors and ultimately confirmed that he did want to pursue project management. His interactions helped him to translate his Army skills to industry standard terminology. As an introvert, networking did not come naturally to Adam. At first, he felt like he was imposing on people but then realized after a few informational interviews that people are eager to help.  Adam reflects on the differences of project management between the military and the private sector. Because rank is not a factor in his current position, it's not always obvious how to get something accomplished. The job of a project manager is to lead cross-functional teams as an individual contributor and yet influence people to meet deadlines and finish projects. Building relationships and having expert knowledge are keys to being a successful project manager.Adam discusses how asking questions has earned him respect with coworkers and supervisors in his post-military roles. He learned that people are eager to help and asking questions builds teamwork, relationships and rapport. Adam encourages veterans to check their ego and stay humble. While some people will show appreciation toward a veteran, others are indifferent.When job searching, many roles do not post a salary range.  Adam discusses how his informational interviews and mentors gained through LinkedIn helped him uncover a desired salary range based on his background and skills. Adam and Lori end the podcast discussing leaving jobs in the private sector, sometimes even in the first year. While Adam acknowledges that finding a job that you are passionate about is ideal, it's not realistic for everybody. He instead encourages people to find jobs that match their skillsets and ones they enjoy in some capacity. When a job isn't right for you, it's okay to find something that is a better fit. Sometimes you have to make a change to move forward. Head over to the Lessons Learned for Vets YouTube channel at https://tinyurl.com/llforvets22 to hear a bonus clip on struggles and surprises Adam has encountered during his first 18 months out of uniform.You can connect with Adam at https://www.linkedin.com/in/adamcgetz/Explore The 20-Minute Networking Meeting book by clicking here.SUBSCRIBE & LEAVE A FIVE-STAR REVIEW and share this to other veterans who might need help as they transition from the military!

Big changes coming soon! Stay mf tuned ya'll cause it's finna be dope

Paul is an executive and career coach, licensed psychologist, former human resources leader, and friend of the podcast who's generously agreed to guide us through his steps for making a career change. Paul shares his approach for:Finding your values and interests beyond your academic discipline through self-discovery questions he poses to clientsCrafting your “work story” and framing how your skills and talents can apply outside your academic and work experienceBuilding and tapping into your network (and yes, you have to network, but it's not as bad as it sounds) Navigating interviewers who question a lack of “relevant work experience” Learning the skills a new job demands Yes, it's infinitely easier to update your resume and indiscriminately apply to jobs. But slow, steady, and strategic is the better bet according to the experts, our guest included.   Books & other resources mentionedThe 20-Minute Networking Meeting by Marcia Ballinger and Nathan PerezUnique Ability by Catherine Nomura, Julia Waller, Shannon WallerFree career aptitude and personality assessments guideA primer on learning agilityWhere to find Paul and Global Talent StrategiesGlobalTalentStrategies.com Paul on LinkedInCheck out more from The Work SeminarVisit theworkseminar.com or find @TheWorkSeminar on social media. Sign up for The Work Seminar newsletter to receive updates straight to your inbox.Support the show (https://ko-fi.com/theworkseminar)

"The overall point in sharing information is that you're giving people something that they can be able to relate to, and you're doing it in a way that they can understand." Nathan Perez Regardless of your profession or where you are in your career progression, the importance of networking can not be overlooked. When done right, networking can bring tremendous benefits both professionally and personally. For some people, networking may feel uncomfortable, but our guest today, Nathan Perez, insists that networking is not as complex as it has been portrayed and involves exchanging information. Besides being a genuine and hardworking introvert, Nathan Perez is also an award-winning author, a national speaker, and an executive and job search career coach at career innovation. He comes from unusually unique and diverse professional backgrounds himself and has a rare viewpoint on networking and how that relates to job search and career development. Nathan is a formerly trained actor with a bachelor's degree in fine arts and theatre. His 20-year career in the arts was supported by simultaneously developing a business career, which involved an inordinate amount of resumes, networking meetings, and interviews in multiple businesses and industries. Utilizing that background, Nathan ties together his deep live audience experience with almost 15 years in the executive search industry, delivering dozens of webinars, seminars, and guest speaking engagements each year on the topics of networking, job search, and career development. Before his work as an executive career coach, Nathan held the title of Vice President of Research in the retained search industry, where he was responsible for the first step of the executive recruitment process, devising strategies of "where and how to find" qualified candidates for all national and global search engagements. Consequently, networking was and continues to be a day-to-day function of his job. As a result, and because of his combined professional expertise, Nathan regularly works with professionals from different backgrounds and experience levels. This includes everyone from Hollywood movie stars and producers to sound engineers, fashion designers, new college grads, non-profit and civic leaders, veterans, and senior global executives. He has been cited by The Huffington Post as one of the most connected people on LinkedIn worldwide. He is a member of the Actors Equity Association union (AEA); a voting union member of The Screen-Actors Guild (SAG-AFTRA); the Author's Guild; and served as Vice Chair at The Loft Literary Center, the nation's largest literary and writing organization. He is an Honorary Commander with the 934th Airlift Wing, U.S. Air Force Reserve, home of the Global Vikings. In today's episode, our guest will talk about why networking is the most important skill you need for career development. He will also provide us with insightful tips on how to get the best out of networking meetings. Listen in! Social Media https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanperez/   https://www.linkedin.com/company/cipress   https://www.facebook.com/Career-Innovations-Press-100479695381379/ I'm a professional speaker, an executive career coach, and I've been doing that for about eight years. [3:44] Before that, I was in the executive retained search industry, where I found the executive candidates for the executive recruiters to go and recruit, so networking was a major function of my overall job. [3:49] Before that, I spent 20 years in the entertainment industry as a professional actor and writer, formally trained in BFA Theatre Arts. [4:22] In 2012, the last firm that I had joined, I met my co-author for the book, "20 Minute Networking Meeting," which eventually turned into three more editions. [4:41] A combination of her experience in the retained executive search industry and my experience in the retained executive search industry combined with the entertainment industry, networking was a topic that she had brought up as a bucket list idea for a book, and we jumped all over it. [4:53] All this has led to all the professional speaking in the workshops I do, where I give around 70 webinars and workshops per year. [5:12] Most of my speaking is geared around networking, not just job search, but networking for anything, including sales, business development, marketing, whatever it may be. [5:21] Currently, I work with universities, the military particularly the veterans, senior executives, and corporations, both for the corporations themselves and internally on building relationships. [5:33] Sometimes we call it networking, but at the heart of networking is relationship building, and I work with them one-on-one and in groups. [5:48] Networking is essential to just about everything, and I don't think we necessarily think about what we're doing to be [6:37] The word networking has gained sort of this negative connotation because of the behaviors that have been associated with it over time. [6:48] Networking is just the obtainment and exchange of information, and so we are doing it every day in every discussion that we ever have. [7:10] When doing an elevator pitch, you can have something general for someone you don't know anything about. [11:45] If you're intentional about your networking, you've hopefully researched someone and talk about your background in a way that's relevant to that person you're speaking to. [11:55] The overall point in sharing information is that you're giving people something that they can relate to, and you're doing it in a way that they can understand. [13:36] Commercial break. [15:08] Networking is just about the obtainment of information. [16:47] When it comes to running a meeting, there are five steps to it based on the 20-minute networking meeting. [17:06] The first step is just a great first impression of you in the meeting. This could be over the phone or virtual, but basically, it's just a Hello. [17:23] The next step is a 30-60 second snapshot of your background or your professional experience. [17:45] Step number three is the great discussion and is the bulk of your meeting. This is about 12 to 15 minutes long, and it's comprised of five key questions. [18:11] The first three questions are very specifically formulated for your contact from the research that you've done on your contact beforehand. [18:33] Question number four is about expanding your network where you ask for more names because people want to help and because they said yes to your meeting, more often than not, people will give up those names. [19:24] Question number five is the kind that takes your contact by surprise but in the best possible way. That question is, "how can I help you?" [20:15] Step number four is wrapping up the meeting. [21:32] Step number five is following up afterward, which can be immediate or ongoing follow-up. Ongoing follow-up is about keeping your network alive with time. [21:38] Every little piece of information that we exchange eventually kind of adds up into a big pile, and that big pile can be reserved for a continued discussion with that person, or that bigger pile could be informing other little piles that inform other discussions with other [24:31] There is never bad information, just what you do with it. [24:49] Understand that this networking thing is just the obtainment and exchange of information, and we're doing it all the time. [25:55] If you can look at it this way, then every discussion you're having is networking, and if you do something with the information, you will carve out a path for you wherever you want to go. [26:10] …..….……………… Thank you to our January sponsor!  KukuaBiz can provide dedicated and affordable talent from Kenya to help you grow and scale your business. Virtual employees are skilled in administrative functions, sales, podcast management, video editing, marketing, social media marketing, website design and management, and more. Learn more: https://www.kukuabiz.com  

Expert Business Panel Kat Kanavos interviews Business Experts and authors Frank Zaccari , Dr. Sally and Nathan Perez on the Secrets to Leadership, Networking and Love for Success in our business and personal life. After working from home during the COVID epidemic, many “workers” have switched hats and become “entrepreneurs.” How do successful business people network, become leaders, and balance home and business success? Is it possible to network in 20 minutes? And how do the experts make success look so easy? You decide as our expert panel answers these questions with poignant true stories. Find inspiration for your business and personal life as you gain a deeper insight into the meaning of Success. Guests: Dr. Sally Adukwu-Bolujoko https://sallybolujoko.com/, Nathan A Perez https://nathanaperez.com/,  Frank Zaccari www.frankzaccari.com  Bios: Dame Sally Nkem Adukwu-Bolujoko, PhD, FNIM, CNIM, OON. says, “Praise is like fire—a good servant but a bad master.” Dr. Sally is the author of many books, including her latest published by WEBE Books, Leading Without Title: Real Life Leadership Philosophy That Works. She's a speaker, a seasoned administrator, educationist, management consultant, community leader and loving mum. A committed Christian, Dame Sally's life mission is to serve and worship God- a difficult endeavor during these challenging times. She is the Founder of Ministry of Divine Empowerment, an NGO, through which she touches the lives of orphans and widows. Dr. Sally Adukwu-Bolujoko was conferred the prestigious national award of the Officer of the Order of the Niger (OON) by former President Goodluck Jonathan. “Dr. Adukwu-Bolujoko's book captures the tribal and religious conflicts; the rift between privileged bureaucrats and average people, and the incessant fighting that has held back the great potential of Africa's most populous country. It underscores the tragic plight of Christians and women, in particular, struggling to survive in the cultural crossfire of a nation on the brink.”~Peter Canova-International award-winning author of Pope Annalisa Learn more here: https://sallybolujoko.com/ Nathan A Perez- Nathan A. Perez is the award-winning author of The 20-Minute Networking Meeting which offers step-by-step guidance on how to make networking really work for you, and relieve your hesitancy. Whether you are doing your networking online over Zoom or having a face-to-face meeting, those 20 minutes can change your life and make you stand out ahead of others who are stymied by the tepid job market during a pandemic. Nathan is a national speaker and executive career and job-search coach at Career Innovation. He brings to his clients a rare viewpoint on networking, job-search and career development. A formally trained actor with a BFA in Theatre, Nathan's 20-year career in the arts was supported by simultaneously developing a business career, which involved an inordinate amount of resumes, networking meetings and interviews in multiple business and industries. Utilizing that background, Nathan tied together his deep live audience experience with nearly two decades in the executive search industry, delivering webinars, seminars and guest speaking engagements each year on the topics of networking, job search, and career development. Learn more here https://nathanaperez.com/ Frank Zaccari- is the author of many books including his latest Business Secrets for Walking on Water, published by WEBE Books. He is an engaging key note speaker and written communicator, with a successful history of guiding companies through transitions and turnaround environments. One of his favorite quotes is, "The secret to walking on water is to know where the rocks are. Frank will help you find the rocks.." Frank has had a long and successful career as a professional problem solver committed to growth and process improvement. He has helped countless organizations to quickly determine what is and isn't working, make the necessary changes, create a foundation and establish processes and procedures to sustain success. Frank also hosts a TV/ROKU show called Life Altering Events, many of which are used as examples in his book. Frank says, “These life altering events occur in every aspect of our professional, personal, and family lives. Life altering events present us with opportunities to seize the moment and make difference in our own life, and those of our loved ones, friends, and business associates.” Learn more here: www.frankzaccari.com Teaser- How has the pandemic changed the business industry and leadership? You decide as our Expert Business Panel answers these questions and much more from a Personal Perspective that includes poignant true stories on challenges facing Christianity, education, and leadership in Nigeria that is mirrored worldwide. She will help you find inspiration for your life as you gain a deeper insight into the meaning of Leadership without Titles. Video Version: https://youtu.be/xl3orl2ZkPg Call in and Chat with Kat during Live Show with Video Stream: Call 646-558-8656 ID: 8836953587 press #.  To Ask a Question press *9 to raise your hand Have a Question for the Show? Go to Facebook– Dreams that Can Save Your Life Facebook Professional–Kathleen O'Keefe-Kanavos http://kathleenokeefekanavos.com/

Award-winning author/national speaker/executive career coach Nathan Perez talks about his latest book “The 20-Minute Networking Meeting” offering a step-by-step guide to networking and how to create an agenda, construct key questions, express your professional background in less than 60 seconds and expand your network! Looking for some momentum in your job search or networking with others? Don't miss the amazing Nathan Perez and check out his book on Amazon and www.nathanaperez.com ! #nathanperez #nathanaperez #awardwinningauthor #20minute #20minutenetworkingmeeting #networking #meeting #executvie #job #jobsearch #professional #jobhunt #connection #lookingforwork #amazon #audible #iheartradio #spreaker #spotify #itunes #googleplay #applemusic #youtube #anchorfm #mikewagner #themikewagnershow #mikewagnernathanperez #themikewagnershownathanperez --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/themikewagnershow/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/themikewagnershow/support

Award-winning author/national speaker/executive career coach Nathan Perez talks about his latest book “The 20-Minute Networking Meeting” offering a step-by-step guide to networking and how to create an agenda, construct key questions, express your professional background in less than 60 seconds and expand your network! Looking for some momentum in your job search or networking with others? Don't miss the amazing Nathan Perez and check out his book on Amazon and www.nathanaperez.com ! #nathanperez #nathanaperez #awardwinningauthor #20minute #20minutenetworkingmeeting #networking #meeting #executvie #job #jobsearch #professional #jobhunt #connection #lookingforwork #amazon #audible #iheartradio #spreaker #spotify #itunes #googleplay #applemusic #youtube #anchorfm #mikewagner #themikewagnershow #mikewagnernathanperez #themikewagnershownathanperez

The Secret to Networking In today´s episode of ‘Professional Success Podcast’, Sheila shares her views on the power of ‘Networking’ and the right approach towards it.  Episode Highlights:  Sheila mentions the book “The 20 Minute Networking Meeting”’ that discussed how networking is creating an opportunity to build not only advocates but evangelists who can help you to attain professional goals. She recommends having the elevator pitch or your value mansion ready to go. When you're networking, the first thing to consider is to not ask for a job! Ensure that when you're networking, according to the strategy, you should keep the meetings under 30 minutes. It is hard to believe that 50% of networking meetings don't even include the word ‘Thank-you’. She talks about the 4 steps of the secret sauce of ‘Networking’. The host stresses the importance of a meaningful follow-up right after the meeting. Networking is the key to professional success and it is the secret sauce to any job search process. 3 Key Points: There are three main avenues of where jobs come from including 1)Online Job Postings, 2)Referrals, and 3)Networking. After you deliver the elevator pitch focus on a great discussion-This is when you ask questions about the other person! Networking is the most powerful when you're networking to expand your network. In the beginning, start with the people you already know, you don't have to find the exact right person who's in the exact right industry with the exact right job or what your goal is! Tweetable Quotes: “Networking is connecting with other people, and that is different than just connecting on LinkedIn- it's connecting with other people and having meaningful conversations” - Sheila Boysen – Rotelli “You already have a network and you want to start there, you want to start networking with people that you ready know…..” - Sheila Boysen – Rotelli “Remember, when done right, networking is mutually beneficial!” - Sheila Boysen – Rotelli  Resources Mentioned: ·      Sheila Boysen-Rotelli: Website Podcast

Our guest on the pod this week is Nathan Perez.  Nathan is an award-winning author, national speaker and executive career and job-search coach at Career Innovation.  He brings to his clients a rare viewpoint on networking, job-search and career development. Resources mentioned in this episode: Nathan's website The 20 Minute Networking Meeting book The Nap Ministry Green is the Color of Love article The Rim2Rim2Rim trail run The Podcast Success Team Paul's business coaching site

Nathan Perez talks about his book 20-Minute Networking Meeting that teaches you all the techniques you need to know to get the job you want! NathanAPerez.com 20MNM.com

Nathan Perez talks about his book 20-Minute Networking Meeting that teaches you all the techniques you need to know to get the job you want! NathanAPerez.com 20MNM.com

https://www.jamesmillerlifeology.com/feed/ Nathan Perez talks about his book 20-Minute Networking Meeting that teaches you all the techniques you need to know to get the job you want! NathanAPerez.com 20mnm.com #networking #employment #interviews #corporateamerica #nathanperez #cipress #career #impostersyndrome #jamesmillerlifeology #20mnm #csuite The post Get The Job You Want: Guest – Nathan Perez appeared first on James Miller | LIFEOLOGY®.

My special guest Nathan Perez is back for Part 2. Nathan is an award-winning author of, The 20-Minute Networking Meeting, national speaker and executive career and job-search coach at Career Innovation. A formerly trained actor with a BFA in Theatre and a 20-year career in the Arts has given Nathan a unique perspective that is insightful and effective. Nathan gives examples of how to structure and tell your story in less than 60 seconds. He teaches us how to connect in a professional way with others that builds relationships. Nathan talks about being an introvert and moving past your fears. Getting a job is easy when you apply Nathan's techniques. Job well done! https://loaradionetwork.com/dr-erika

My special guest Nathan Perez is back for Part 2. Nathan is an award-winning author of, The 20-Minute Networking Meeting, national speaker and executive career and job-search coach at Career Innovation. A formerly trained actor with a BFA in Theatre and a 20-year career in the Arts has given Nathan a unique perspective that is insightful and effective. Nathan gives examples of how to structure and tell your story in less than 60 seconds. He teaches us how to connect in a professional way with others that builds relationships. Nathan talks about being an introvert and moving past your fears. Getting a job is easy when you apply Nathan's techniques. Job well done! https://loaradionetwork.com/dr-erika

Nathan A. Perez is co-author of the multi-award-winning books The 20-Minute Networking Meeting, and national speaker and executive career and job-search coach at Career Innovation, LLC., a consultancy that works all experience levels of job-seekers from across the country. Linda Hollander has been featured by Inc. and Entrepreneur Magazines as the leading expert on corporate sponsorship. She is the author of the book, Corporate Sponsorship in 3 Easy Steps: Get Funding from Sponsors, Even if You're Just Starting Out. She is also the founder of Sponsor Concierge and the Sponsor Secrets Seminar. Join Robert Manni, author of The Guys' Guy's Guide To Love as we discuss life, love and the pursuit of happiness. Subscribe to Guy's Guy Radio on iTunes! Buy The Guys' Guy's Guide to Love now!

Nathan A. Perez is co-author of the multi-award-winning books The 20-Minute Networking Meeting, and national speaker and executive career and job-search coach at Career Innovation, LLC., a consultancy that works all experience levels of job-seekers from across the country. Linda Hollander has been featured by Inc. and Entrepreneur Magazines as the leading expert on corporate sponsorship. She is the author of the book, Corporate Sponsorship in 3 Easy Steps: Get Funding from Sponsors, Even if You’re Just Starting Out. She is also the founder of Sponsor Concierge and the Sponsor Secrets Seminar. Join Robert Manni, author of The Guys' Guy's Guide To Love as we discuss life, love and the pursuit of happiness. Subscribe to Guy's Guy Radio on iTunes! Buy The Guys' Guy's Guide to Love now!

Are you looking to sharpen your networking skills and present your best self at the next virtual or in-person networking meeting? Did you know that between 70-80% of all jobs are obtained through networking regardless of the industry? Another way of looking at this is that 70-80% of all jobs are not posted. These missing job posts make up what is called the Invisible or Hidden Job Market. It's real, and it all works by word of mouth. Nathan A. Perez is a multi-award-winning author, national speaker, and executive career coach at Career Innovation. Coming from an unusually unique and diverse professional background, Nathan brings his clients a rare viewpoint on networking, job search, and career development. A formally trained actor with a BFA in Theatre, his 20-year career in the arts was supported by simultaneously developing a business career, which involved an excessive amount of resumes, networking meetings, and interviews in multiple businesses and industries. Utilizing that background, Nathan ties together his deep live audience experience with almost 15 years in the executive search industry, delivering dozens of webinars, seminars, and guest speaking engagements each year on the topics of networking, job search, and career development. In his co-authored books with Marcia Ballinger, Ph.D., "The 20-Minute Networking Meeting," Nathan presents an easy 5-step approach anyone can leverage, including introverts from any background in any setting. The Huffington Post cited him as one of the most connected people on LinkedIn worldwide. Join Nathan Perez and me on Tuesday, April 13, 10 - 11 A.M. CT US. We will be having a conversation about his remarkable life's journey and "The 20-Minute Networking Meeting" advantage!

Today we are excited to be joined by author Nathan Perez. Nathan co-wrote The 20-Minute Networking Meeting. He is an executive career and job-search coach at Career Innovation, LLC. Nathan is a formally trained actor with a BFA in Theatre. Nathan's 20-year career in the arts and entertainment world prepared him well for connecting with people. He also worked in the corporate world in places like Goldman Sachs in NYC. You can find Nathan's books here: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=the+20-minute+networking+meeting&crid=AHXU4WE3RQ0T&sprefix=the+20-minute%2Caps%2C158&ref=nb_sb_ss_ts-doa-p_1_13 You can find Nathan's website here: https://innovationsoftheworld.com/nathan-a-perez-career-innovations-llc/ We love to hear from our listeners, send us your questions, comments, and suggestions at bela.and.mike@gmail.com - we will answer your questions in a future episode. Thanks for listening, Bela and Mike --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/bela-musits/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/bela-musits/support

The 20-Minute Networking Meeting with Nathan A. Perez Retained executive search professionals Nathan A. Perez and Marcia Ballinger, PhD. have broken down the mystery of networking for any kind of networking scenario in an easy, 5-step approach that can be leveraged by any professional from any background. Whether your meetings are virtual or in person, this book will successfully serve any job-seeker from any background—field sales to customer service; doctor to bartender; teacher to derrickman; legal aid to construction; retail to management. All you need is desire; the rest is in this book! Nathan A. Perez (besides being a genuine, hard-wired introvert) is an award-winning author, national speaker and executive career and job-search coach at Career Innovation. Coming from an unusually unique and diverse professional background himself, Nathan brings to his clients a rare viewpoint on networking, job-search and career development. A formally trained actor with a BFA in Theatre, Nathan’s 20-year career in the arts was supported by simultaneously developing a business career, which involved an inordinate amount of resumes, networking meetings and interviews in multiple business and industries. For more information visit: www.nathanaperez.com for book info visit www.20MNM.com ************************************************************** For more information about BITEradio products and services visit: www.BITEradio.me

Nathan A. Perez - THE 20 - MINUTE NETWORKING MEETING by Richard Dugan

For Beyond 50's "Business" talks, listen to an interview with Nathan Perez. He'll teach you how to take control of your job-search discussions and, ultimately, your career. He took the best elements of the best networkers from a multitude of industries and professions, combined with his 40 years of experience. You'll learn to to master the 5 most important parts of a networking meeting; construct key questions to lead a discussion; break into the "invisible/hidden job market"; and more practices that can be done within 20 minutes. Tune in to Beyond 50: America's Variety Talk Radio Show on the natural, holistic, green and sustainable lifestyle. Visit Beyond 50 Radio (https://www.Beyond50Radio.com) and sign up for our Exclusive Updates.

If finding a job by focusing on online job boards is not the way to land your new job, what is? The key to landing the job of your dreams is by building, rekindling and nurturing relationships - networking. In this episode we discuss: The three step process for effective networking, A-I-R Why you should decline offers to circulate your resume. How to successfully navigate a networking event by viewing the opportunity as a G.I.F.T. The 20-Minute Networking Meeting Why people have a fear of networking and how to overcome it. Links Mentioned In The Show Don Cooper, Networking is a G.I.F.T. - http://www.doncooper.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/july-2011-sales-tip-networking-conversations-mp3.mp3 The 20-Minute Networking Meeting book - http://www.doncooper.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/july-2011-sales-tip-networking-conversations-mp3.mp3 Subscribe to the Show On Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/landed-advice-on-landing-the-job-of-your-dreams/id1478513628 On Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3OReMwjKcX89oMc1iWKtaR?si=8aeAsyuHS5q31txpjUqm8g On the Stitcher App: https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/lee-silverstein/landed-advice-on-landing-the-job-of-your-dreams?refid=stpr.   Follow Right Management Via Our Website: https://www.rightflorida.com/ On LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/right-management-florida-caribbean/ On Twitter: https://twitter.com/RightFlorida On Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RightManagementFlorida/ Email the show - podcast@rightflorida.com        

Often, when busy professionals receive a request for a networking meeting, time is the deciding factor as to whether or not they accept it. If you want to improve your chances of meeting an important contact, make it clear that you only want twenty minutes of his or her time. In this bonus podcast episode, Nathan Perez, executive career and job search coach, as well as co-author of the 20-Minute Networking Meeting, shares his advice on how to organize and execute a short, focused informational interview.  Here are his key tips: Have a focused agenda prepared in advance. Give your contact context about your professional background.  Ask a short set of targeted and strategic questions. Know the background of the person you're meeting with and understand how they can help you with your job search. Listen and stay actively engaged in the conversation. Preparation and focus allow you to have an informative and powerful conversation. If you master the art of the 20-minute networking meeting you will quickly build a network that will advance your job search. You can find more useful job search insight in Land Your Dream Job Anywhere, now available on Amazon. To preview the first chapter for free, visit www.macslist.org/anywhere. Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com.

Episode 126 is live! This week, we talk with Marcia Ballinger in Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN. Marcia is the Co-founder and Principle at Ballinger | Leafblad, an executive search firm focused on serving civic clients including foundations, non-profits, and higher education intuitions. She’s also co-author of The 20-Minute Networking Meeting. On today's episode, Marcia shares her secrets to getting and executing a 20-minute networking meeting successfully. If you're struggling with networking, this episode is a must listen! Listen and learn more! You can play the podcast here, or download it on iTunes or Stitcher. To learn more about Marcia, visit her website at http://www.ballingerleafblad.com/, or check out her book, The 20-Minute Networking Meeting here: http://amzn.to/2mYB3p2. Thanks to everyone for listening! And, thank you to those who sent me questions. You can send your questions to Angela@CopelandCoaching.com. You can also send me questions via Twitter. I’m @CopelandCoach. And, on Facebook, I am Copeland Coaching. Don’t forget to help me out. Subscribe on iTunes and leave me a review!

More than 10 million Americans work for nonprofits today. Even the Great Recession couldn’t stop growth in this sector. According to the federal government, the number of nonprofit jobs increased by 18% between 2000 and 2010. And that trend shows no sign of slowing down in the near future. And while the demand for skilled nonprofit workers is huge, it’s often be difficult for established professionals to transition into this sector. It can be a challenge to frame skills developed in the profit world in a way that resonates with nonprofits. Plus, there’s a huge amount of diversity within the nonprofit space. This week on Find Your Dream Job, Mac talks with Marcia Ballinger, an executive recruiter for nonprofit organizations and co-author of The 20-Minute Networking Meeting. Marcia shares her tips for how professionals in the private sector can make the jump into a nonprofit career. She believes it’s all about fit; you need to find the type of nonprofit--and a role within that nonprofit--that aligns with your skills, passions, and professional narrative. In this 33-minute episode you will learn: Why so many people want a nonprofit career The multiple paths into the nonprofit sector How to find the best “nonprofit fit” for your professional background Why you need to get specific and focussed in your nonprofit job search How to manage salary and benefit expectations when you move into the nonprofit space The role of passion and values in a nonprofit career This week’s guest: Marcia Ballinger, Ph.D. (@marciaballinger | LinkedIn)Co-founder and Principal at Ballinger | Leafblad, Inc.Co-author, The 20-Minute Networking MeetingMinneapolis, Minn. Listener question of the week:  I’m currently hunting for a job in the nonprofit space. I’ve recently saw an opening where the job duties perfectly align with my skills and professional interests; unfortunately I’m not really passionate about the organization’s mission. How should I address the “passion” issue during my interview? Answering our question this week is Aubrie De Clerck, principal at Portland-based Coaching for Clarity. If you have a question you’d like us to answer on a future episode, please contact us at communitymanager@macslist.org. Resources referenced on this week’s show: ASAE: The Center for Association Leadership Ballinger | Leafblad, Inc. The 20-Minute Networking Meeting Aubrie De Clerck - Coaching for Clarity Land Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond) - 2016 Edition If you have a job-hunting or career development resource resource you’d like to share, please contact Ben Forstag, Mac’s List Managing Director at ben@macslist.org. Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com.     

Employers hire candidates that they know and those who are recommended to them by people that they trust. That's why networking is so important: it gets you face-time with fellow professionals and kickstarts relationships that get you known in the community. When you're looking for a job, one of the best things you can do is conduct informational interviews with professionals in your desired field. But how do you find the right people with whom to meet? And what are the takeaways you can expect from these meetings In this episode of Find Your Dream Job Mac talks with Nathan Perez, an executive recruiter and writer who has mastered the art of networking. According to Huffington Post, Nathan is one of the most connected people on LinkedIn, with 30,000 professional contacts. He is also the author of The 20-Minute Networking Meeting, a primer on how to conduct successful informational interviews.    In this 36-minute episode you will learn: How to structure a short but effective networking meeting How to make a good impression in an informational interview How to build and leverage your network The one thing you should never do in a networking meeting This week's guest: Nathan Perez (@NathanAPerez) Principal, 20 Minute Communications Author of The 20 Minute Networking Meeting Minneapolis, Minn.   Listener question of the week: What do I do when a professional connection "ghosts" (disappears) on me? Do you have a question you'd like us to answer on a future episode? Please send your questions to Cecilia Bianco, Mac's List Community Manager at cecilia@macslist.org. Resources referenced on this week's show: The 20-Minute Networking Meeting (Executive Edition) The 20-Minute Networking Meeting (Graduate Edition) Young Nonprofit Professionals Network Network After Work Ignite Conferences Eventbrite Meetup.com Find Your Dream Job in Portland (and Beyond): The Complete Mac’s List Guide If you have a job-hunting or career development resource resource you'd like to share, please contact Ben Forstag, Mac's List Managing Director, at ben@macslist.org. Thank you for listening to Find Your Dream Job. If you like this show, please help us by rating and reviewing our podcast on iTunes. We appreciate your support! Learn more about Mac's List at www.macslist.org. Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com.    Full Transcript: Mac Prichard: This is Find Your Dream Job, the podcast that helps you get hired, have the career you want and make a difference in life. I’m Mac Prichard, your host and publisher of Mac’s List. Our show is brought to you by Mac’s List, you best online source for rewarding, creative and meaningful work. Visit macslist.org to learn more. You’ll find hundreds of great jobs, a blog with practical career advice and our new book, “Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond.” Welcome to our podcast, Find Your Dream Job. Every week, we bring you the career tools and tips you need to get the job you want.Joining me are Ben Forstag, managing director of Mac’s List and Cecilia Bianco, community manager of Mac’s List. Ben, Cecilia, how are you? Cecilia Bianco: Good, Mac. How are you? Mac Prichard: Doing great; Ben? Ben Forstag: I’m having a great week. Mac Prichard: Good. Every week we bring Ben and Cecilia to you, our audience, so that they can share with you resources and answer your questions. Let’s start with Ben. He spends his week among other things, looking in the nooks and crannies of the internet for blogs, podcasts and other tools you can use in your job search. Ben, what do you have for us this week? Ben Forstag: Mac, this week I bring you more than one resource. Mac Prichard: You’re rocking my world here. Ben Forstag: I know. I’m going to start collecting overtime soon. I’m bringing you 5 resources and these are my own top 5, can’t miss professional networking opportunities. We sell an e-book on the Mac’s List website. That e-book contains a list of 100 networking opportunities. I’m not going to do all 100. That would take forever and it would cost you a whole lot of money in overtime, Mac. These are my own personal top 5. These are opportunities to get face-to-face with people in your community and folks who work in the sectors where you want to work. They are opportunities to expand your network within your field of interest and build relationships that can help you land a future job and/or advance your career. As you know, the one tip we give all job seekers in one word is? Cecilia Bianco: Networking. Ben Forstag: That’s right, Cecilia. We’ll start with #5. Number 5 is the young nonprofit professional’s network, YNPN. This is an organization I’m sure you guys have heard of. They’re very active here in Portland. They have a great event every month. I’ve been to some of their events on the east side, but as you say, they’re a national organization. They are dedicated to training emerging leaders to become active social change-makers. They have 42 chapters in cities around the country so if you’re not here in Portland, I’m sure there’s a YNPN chapter somewhere near you. They have regular networking educational events. It’s a great group of folks and you don’t necessarily need to be in a nonprofit to be a part of this organization. The other key thing with this is membership in YNPN is actually free. You have to pay for some events, but you can be a member and get a lot of their resources for free. You can learn more at YNPN.org. Mac Prichard: Coincidentally, Ben, I was on vacation last week visiting family in Iowa and of course, I met somebody for lunch on my vacation. We were standing in line in a coffee shop and he introduced me to the president of the YNPN chapter in Rock Island, Illinois. Ben Forstag: That is synergy right there, Mac! Number 4 is Network After Work. Have you guys heard of this one? Cecilia Bianco: I have heard of this one. I haven’t attended, though. Mac Prichard: This is a new one to me. Ben Forstag: Okay, so Network After Work is actually a nationwide organization and they host networking events for professionals to attend. They have 50 chapters in cities all around the country. They said last year that they had 1 million people participate in their events. These are typically informal networking mixers held in a local restaurant, a bar or other social venue. They tend to be pretty trendy places where they host these events. They’re paid events, but they’re generally less than 20 dollars. A great way just to meet folks in your community, meet folks, other working professionals and so forth. You can learn more about them at networkafterwork.com. Number 3... this is one of my personal favorites: Ignite conferences. Cecilia, you ever heard of Ignite? Cecilia Bianco: I haven’t, no. Mac Prichard: I’m actually familiar, Ben, with the Ignite presentation. I’ve been to conferences where, I think the custom is you have 5 minutes and 20 seconds a slide and if you get out of sequence with your slide, you have to catch up frantically. Ben Forstag: Yeah. These are essentially TED type of presentations. They tend to be a little bit more accessible, though, and much more affordable. They’re usually only 2-hour long events. The general deal with them is that presenters share their personal passions using 20 slides at auto advance every 15 seconds, for a total of just 5 minutes. I’ve gone to several of these events, both in D.C. and in Portland and they are fantastic. You hear all kinds of cool things. It’ll be a presentation about healthcare right next to a presentation about beekeeping. The important thing is you meet really interesting people there and make great professional connections that you can leverage later on. They have events all around the country and indeed, all around the world. Here in Portland, they’re on the 13th iteration of this. You can find local events at igniteshow.com. Number 2 is EventBrite. EventBrite is not an organizer of events per se, but it’s a technology platform that a lot of organizations use to manage their events. In fact, Mac’s List uses EventBrite to manage our own events. The nice thing with EventBrite is if you go there, you can actually search all the events that people have put on using that technology according to location, subject matter, number of people participating, all this stuff and you can find out a lot of events that you might not have ever heard of anywhere else. I definitely suggest people check that out. That’s at eventbrite.com. Mac Prichard: One of the things I like about EventBrite is once you register, you sign up to attend an event, there’s a record of all the events you’ve attended in the past so if you’re trying to get in touch with an organization or look for contact information or recall an event where you might have met someone, it’s there in your EventBrite account. Ben Forstag: Yeah, that’s definitely nice. Cecilia Bianco: Yeah. It’s also a really great tool if you’re going to host an event. It’s one of the best tools out there. We always use it and it’s super helpful. It lets you share the guest list with people and it’s a great tool. Mac Prichard: For a time, we used eVite and then we moved to EventBrite. Why did you make that choice? Cecilia Bianco: I think just because EventBrite has so many more options. It’s more searchable and more people are able to find our event and it’s easier to manage the guest list. It’s just a better tool. Mac Prichard: Good tips. Ben Forstag: Great, so it works both for folks who are organizing events and people who are looking to network through events. My #1 networking tool, this is my personal favorite. It’s an oldie, but goodie. It’s Meetup.com. I know everyone here has heard of Meetup.com. Mac Prichard: Yeah. I’m ancient enough that as you both know, I worked for elected officials on political campaigns and I remember when Meetup.com was defined by the Howard Dean campaign in 2003. That’s how they first came to prominence. Howard Dean has certainly faded from the political scene, but Meetup.com not only endures, but it’s gotten bigger and much, much better. Ben Forstag: Yeah and in fact, Meetup has become a noun in and of itself. "We’re going to a meetup." The site has been around for a long time and it provides hyper-targeted local groups based around personal or professional interests. Literally, whatever your interest is, I’m sure there’s other folks in your neighborhood and your community who want to meet up and talk about that. I did a quick search of the Portland groups. There’s plenty of professional groups that meet through Meetup. If you’re a techie, there’s just about any kind of programming language, there’s a Meetup group. If you’re a vampire, there’s a Meetup group for you here in Portland and you can find other vampires. Participation varies city-by-city, I understand. In Portland, it is a very active network; other cities, not so much. You can learn more about Meetups at Meetup.com. Mac Prichard: I know many of our listeners are in the nonprofit world or want to work with nonprofits and one of the Meetup groups that you can find nationally, including here in Portland, is Tech 4 Good. I’m familiar with the Portland event. It is organized by the staff of the National Technology Education Network, NTEN, which is a terrific national group. It is a wonderful place for meeting people who are interested in technology, social change and nonprofits. Ben Forstag: The nice thing about that group is you don’t need to be a techie to get it. A lot of what they do is educating lay people like me and you in how to use this technology for good. Mac Prichard: Well, thank you, Ben. That was a wonderful list. Do you have a suggestion for Ben? You can write him. His email address is Ben at macslist.org. We encourage you to reach out to Ben and he may share your idea on a future show. Let’s move on. It’s time to hear from you, our listeners. Every week, Cecilia goes through her mail bag or her inbox these days and pulls out a question from our listeners. Cecilia, what do you have for us this week? Cecilia Bianco: This week, a reader wrote in and asked what should I do when someone promises to help me at a networking event and then ghosts me? I have to admit, I had to Google what ghosting was. I wasn’t quite clear. Have you guys heard this term before? Ben Forstag: I have. Mac Prichard: I have, as well. I first became aware of it; I saw it in the New York Times earlier this year. It had a celebrity angle. Apparently, when Charlize Theron broke up with Sean Penn, she according to the Times ghosted him, which meant cutting him off on all of her social media channels and not responding to his texts and phone calls. Cecilia Bianco: Yeah, it makes sense. Ben Forstag: Mac, I’m glad to hear that you stay up-to-date on the celebrity news! Cecilia Bianco: Yeah, so ghosting is exactly what it sounds like. It’s when you poof, disappear and you promise something and then you don’t follow through. Maybe you’re ignoring the person. In this case, a job seeker went to an event and was promised help in her job search and then never heard back from the person. I know this has happened to me before and I’ve also been guilty of the other end which I feel bad about, so I know that it’s important to follow up at least twice when this happens to you. I had a student reach out to me through email asking for help. Obviously, I wanted to help her, but we’re busy as professionals. I’ll flag the email and then think I’ll get to it later and forget, so sending a follow-up email is definitely appropriate and sending at least 2 is great. What do you think, Mac? Mac Prichard: I think that’s absolutely right. I think sometimes and I’ve been in this position, too, where I’ve reached out to someone, I haven’t heard and I interpret their silence as rejection. What I’ve learned is by making a 2nd or even a 3rd attempt, I usually get a response, almost always, actually. I know as a job seeker, it’s hard to make that 2nd attempt or even the 3rd, but I think people will be pleasantly surprised by the result. It’s as you say, people get busy and I certainly have been guilty of it, too. I try very hard to get back to everyone in as timely a manner as I can, but sometimes, things fall through the cracks. A reminder is always welcome. Cecilia Bianco: Yeah, definitely, and I always suggest waiting 4-5 days before sending a 2nd follow-up just so you can give them a chance. If they have it saved in their inbox, they might respond, they’re just busy, so waiting a few days, see if they follow up and then follow up again. I think probably after 3, it’s time to let it go. What do you guys think? Ben Forstag: I think that’s probably good advice. Mac Prichard: Yeah. One thing I do on my 3rd message, I just do a very brief and I’ll just say, “I don’t want to be a pest, I’ll just wait to hear from you.” I almost always hear back. Cecilia Bianco: Yeah. I have responded to this reader and she followed up with me and asked if it matters how she follow up with a person. If they’ve only communicate through email, is it a bad idea to follow up with a phone call? I thought it was a great question because you can definitely get someone’s attention quicker with a phone call, but I was more inclined to tell her it’s a bad idea just because you might not want to put them on the spot by calling when you communicate usually through email. I think it’s better to stick with the mode of communication you’ve used with this person in the past, but what do you think? I know a phone call obviously gets their attention quicker. Ben Forstag: I think you’re right. I think a phone call is more likely to upset someone or put someone on the spot and a job seeker really has very little to gain from upsetting a professional reference or a contact. If they don’t want to speak to you for whatever reason, that’s unfortunate, but you should move on and if you’ve emailed them 3 times, I think that’s sufficient effort to reach out to them. Cecilia Bianco: I agree. Overall, follow up 3 times and no more than that, then let it go, but don’t take it personally because you never know why someone is not responding. Don’t feel bad about yourself and go out and meet new people and get help in another way. Mac Prichard: That’s great advice. Thank you, Cecilia, and thank you for that question. If you have a question for Cecilia, you can email her. Her email address is Cecilia@macslist.org. These segments by Ben and Cecilia are sponsored by the Mac’s List Guides, publisher of our new book, “Land Your Dream Job in Portland and Beyond.” The Mac’s List Guides give you the tools you need to get the job you want. We show you how to crack the hidden job market, stand out in a competitive field and how you can manage your career. In each of the book’s 8 chapters, experts share job hunting secrets like how to hear about positions that are never posted and what you can do to interview and negotiate like a pro. You can download the 1st chapter of the book for free, just visit macslist.org/macslistguides. Now it’s time to talk to our expert. Let’s turn to our guest this week. It’s Nathan Perez who is the co-author of the acclaimed job searching networking books, “The 20-minute Networking Meeting,” Executive and Graduate Editions. Nathan is an executive recruitment professional and he’s responsible for finding qualified candidates for search engagements and he also speaks and holds workshops nationally on the topics of job search, networking and relationship building for business. Nathan, thank you for joining us. Nathan Perez: Thank you, too. Mac Prichard: Okay. In preparing for our conversation today, I did my homework and I have to say I’m in awe because in looking at your LinkedIn profile, I see that you are one of the 10 most-connected people on the planet on LinkedIn. How did you make that happen? Nathan Perez: Part of the nature of my work is to make sure that I have an expanded network. My role in executive search is actually the 1st step of an executive search process. When companies come to us to hire, they hire us to find new executive leadership for their company. My job responsibility is to devise a strategy as to where and how to find qualified candidates. LinkedIn is one of my tools, one of my primary tools and it’s in my best interest to have a wide network because LinkedIn works on the premise of 3 degrees of separation. That means the more people that I know, the further reach I have globally. It was a matter of reaching out. Once I started reaching out, networks started to expand. People began to find me through the same network. The people that I was connecting to, right, that 1st degree, eventually got to 2nd degree and that’s your extended network. That extended network started to come to me, as well and then the numbers started to double. Mac Prichard: Let’s talk about networking. It’s a word that people who are looking for work always hear, “You’ve got to network, you’ve got to network” and one of the pieces of advice that we give job seekers and I know you do, as well, is reach out to others for networking or informational interviews. Nathan Perez: Right. Mac Prichard: Let’s just drill down on the basics here. What is a networking meeting or an informational interview, Nathan? Nathan Perez: A networking meeting or even an informational interview, sometimes there’s a fine line, but there’s a distinct difference. A networking meeting is all about sitting down with an individual to obtain information. I think lots of times, just the word networking itself brings with it a negative connotation and people liken it to name dropping or that glad-handing, greasy activity, this thing that no one really wants to do so they avoid it. Really, what it is, is just the exchange of information. Mac Prichard: One of the most provocative things that you say, I think, is that you can have a 20-minute meeting with someone and walk away with information and contacts and tips that will help people with their job search. Tell us, how do you do that? Let’s back up. How do you arrange a meeting like that, what do you ask for and what do you do when you walk in the door? Nathan Perez: Often times, as far as networking requests go, time is the deciding factor as to whether or not someone is going to accept the networking request. Even if let’s say, up front you were hoping to request a networking meeting via email, even by phone, because time is the deciding factor, making it brief and succinct is what’s key. As far as the information contained within 20 minutes, what you’re really doing is truncating a process that already exists. For example, if you and I were to sit down for a few minutes and I were just to ask you this one question, “Do you think I should go find another job?” There’s going to be a whole host of questions that come back to me. What do you mean, Nathan? Do you mean should you go find one now, should you go find one later, in your same line of work, a whole different industry change, whatever it may be. What you’re doing is you’re taking all of that information and you’re packaging it into something that’s much smaller and you’re presenting it up front. You’re, therefore, giving that person, your networking contact, context as to what your background is, where you are right at this moment and then you ask a set of questions that are thought provoking. This is homework that you do, these questions that you ultimately ask your contact to further your knowledge. You’re tapping into their expertise and their knowledge to further your own to inform your own job search. Mac Prichard: Like you, I get a lot of requests for people who want networking meetings and I’m always impressed by the people who can come in and do 3 things in 20-30 minutes. For me, a successful meeting is one where someone introduces themselves and shares their story. That’s the first thing they get done. The second is to your point, they ask questions, not big broad questions, but strategic ones about their career goals or their opportunities in the industry and the third thing I see people do really well is ask for contacts. Nathan Perez: I had mentioned that time is a deciding factor. What one should avoid is misusing that time. Mind you, it’s misusing that other person’s time and your own, as well. Going in unprepared, not knowing who your networking contact is, in fact not knowing who their company, what their company does and what their company mission may be because knowing something about that person’s company should tell you quite a bit about that person, as well. Going in unprepared and going in without an agenda or structured use of time is probably the biggest mistake you can make. That’s often times and for anybody who’s listening and Mac, I’m sure you would agree with this; often times, when we accept a networking meeting and it goes longer than we anticipated or than we thought or longer than that person promised, it makes us a little more wary to do it again. If you think about time, if I were to maybe put into perspective of what time looks like, just 1 hour which a lot of folks believe should be the length of a networking meeting; 1 hour adds up very quickly. For instance, if you have small children or if you have younger siblings, you know that there’s not enough hours in a day to take care of small kids. If you were to think of it from a monetary standpoint; if you’re a consultant who charges 150 dollars an hour, for instance, and someone is asking you for a networking meeting and you say yes to that request, that’s a 150-dollar gift of time. If you think about what that looks like over 1 week, 2 weeks, over the course of a month, how many times do you give away a 150-dollar gift? I would say the biggest of them all is probably the misuse of time. Mac Prichard: Yeah, that’s a good point. I also want to second a point you made a moment ago about having a clear ask for the meeting. I, as you know, have worked in government and public policy and politics, and have done a lot of government relations work. There is an old lobbyist I knew in D.C. who said the definition of a failed meeting was one where there was no clear ask and then when people got up at the end of the appointment, there was no homework for the other party. I think again to your point, having that ask and being clear about what you want to get from the meeting is crucial. Nathan Perez: I would agree. Mac Prichard: When you see people who are just superstars at networking and informational interviews, what do they do that makes them stand out, Nathan? What kind of examples come to mind? I know you’ve talked to hundreds, I’m sure thousands of people over the years. Nathan Perez: Right. There’s a handful of things. I think one of the primaries is listening, really engaged in the conversation. Staying present is really key because we all know, we can sense and we can also see when someone is not engaged in the conversation. Listening is one of them. Also, staying engaged and staying present also allows you to keep track of time. We all know innately how much time has passed to some extent or another. Sure, maybe it’s within a few minutes, but we get that, combined with knowing what we want to go in and talk about and being able to present that in a way that’s very clear, concise and simple. The longer time that we take with a networking contact and the more information that we drop on that contact, the more difficult it is for that person to keep track of everything and to keep you in context. By being succinct and brief, we manage to put our own experiences or whatever it is that we want to talk about, that clear ask, into context and into perspective in just a small time frame. That allows for a really powerful and informing conversation. Mac Prichard: So have a clear ask, be succinct, do your homework, look at the web site, other resources before you walk in the door. What are some other tips you have for people that you’ve seen other job seekers and career professionals use to stand out? Nathan Perez: The people that have had the most successful networking meetings with me in particular are those who are informed, not of just my background, but their own. When they ask the questions, they’re asking at a deeper level than something that’s more obvious. For instance, I’m going to take the legal profession as an example. Right now, the landscape of the hiring side of the legal profession and the legal profession itself is changing. Smaller companies are being taken by bigger ones and what that means is that the people who are in the smaller ones either get pushed out or they get enveloped into this big thing, this sort of monstrous machine. If you are an aspiring legal aid or attorney and you were to learn about how this information is working, you can come into a networking meeting and ask very informed questions that gives you a further insight into the hiring practice or the industry itself. That in turn could do a handful of things, one of which is completely change the course of your job search or whatever your networking efforts may be. You may learn something that makes you think twice about what you’re doing, whether it’s for the better or whether it’s just a change in tracks. All that information is good. It’s people who come in really informed with the topic that they’re going to talk about. Mac Prichard: Often when I talk to people about their goals, sometimes people say to me, well, I don’t want to close out my options. I want to be open to everything. I think as we both know, the challenge there is that if you’re open to everything, it’s hard to pursue something and there are just too many doors that are open. As we talk, I know our listeners are thinking about the challenges of and doing networking meetings like this. Let me rattle off a couple that I often hear and I expect you do and get your advice about how to overcome them. What do you say, Nathan, to people who say gosh, I just don’t have any contacts? Nathan Perez: That’s something that I hear all the time. The fact of the matter is, is that we know a lot more people than what we think we do. We just perceive them as they belong in a different bucket. These are my friends, these are my family and these are my neighbors over here. If you take away those titles, they are people that you know. A personal and professional network is comprised of people that we know. If you ever meet someone through one of the people that you know, that person becomes an extended part of your network. I often say when I give presentations and sometimes I get pushback here, I say that it’s not just the people that you know or even the people that you meet through them. Every single person that you have ever met and I’ll explain this in a second; every single person that you have ever met is actually an extended part of your network. That might be dormant, but the moment that you reach out to someone who you’ve only met once and you ask them for help, you bring to life an extended part of your network, but again, not just that person, but any person that you might meet through them. If I were to put this in a really clear perspective, it’s imagine that you don’t know a single soul on Earth but that one person, but imagine that person knows 50 people. Immediately, you have multiplied your network by 51 people. If each one of those people know 50 people, you can see how quickly your network actually adds up to people that you do know and you can also see how quickly you can obtain any kind of information to achieve your networking goals that you can really imagine. Mac Prichard: What is the one thing that you should never do in a networking meeting, Nathan? Nathan Perez: You should never take, take, take. Networking is all about reciprocity. It’s back and forth. It is really not unlike, let’s say when you do a Google search and you send out the query, it sends it down the network. The answer comes back from the servers along the network and there you have it. There’s always give and take. Impressions are everything out there. Perceptions, if perception really matters, they’re real and what you want is to make sure you are giving the sense that you are someone who cares and who is willing to help in return. As I mentioned earlier, time is a gift and when we take it without giving back, that’s not something that’s really forgotten in the long run. Mac Prichard: Finally, what should you do after a networking meeting? What action should they take? Nathan Perez: Keep your network alive by following up. You always want to thank someone for their time. Even though you may have thanked them up front during the email when they accepted the request and even though you had the presence of mind to say thank you again when you were in person when you sat down with them, but after the meeting you want to follow up with them, thanking them again. More importantly, well just as importantly is what I should say, you should follow up with the person who introduced you to that person if in fact, you were introduced to that person through someone else. Mac Prichard: You have a new book coming out. Tell us about it. Nathan Perez: It’s going to be the professional edition. There’s the executive edition of the 20-Minute Networking Meeting and then earlier this year there was the publication of the graduate edition. Anybody who has returned to school or who is coming out of school and knows that they need to network for a job, that’s that book. This one is going to be the professional edition that is every one in between; if you’re not an executive, if you’re not a graduate, it is everyone in between. Over the years, I’ve had quite a few different jobs. That’s everything from a lifeguard to a professional, I have 20 years as a professional actor and writer and I worked on Wall Street at one point. This is going to address all of those people who are not in one of those other 2 categories. Mac Prichard: Nathan, where can people find you online and learn more about you, the books and the services you offer? Nathan Perez: At 20-minute Communications, which can be found at www.20mnm.com. Mac Prichard: Great. Thank you so much for joining us. It’s been a pleasure having you on the show. Nathan Perez: Thank you, too. Mac Prichard: We’re back with Ben and Cecilia. What did you two think of what Nathan had to share with us today? Cecilia Bianco: I thought he had some great tips and I think his most important tip was to be clear and succinct. I know I get some emails that are super long with detailed backgrounds of people just sharing what they’ve been doing and what they want from me. I’d rather just get a 20-minute hey I want to talk about this, can you meet for coffee sometime next week? I think his tips on that were really great. Mac Prichard: I’m a big fan of brevity and I always like the emails that say I’d like 20-30 minutes of your time to talk about A, B and C. I especially like the emails, I know I have to admit I’m a bit detailed about this, that say I could meet with you on these times on these dates, but let me know what might work for you. How about you, Ben? What did you think? Ben Forstag: I thought the most important thing he said was about the size of your network and that your network is bigger than “your professional network.” This really resonates with me because when I think about the network that I’ve leveraged the most in my job search and in my professional life, it’s actually not my professional contacts, it’s the contacts I made when I was working at a summer camp. Those people who I had a real close relationship with, they’re all around the country, all around the world now and they’re all involved in a variety of industries. I’ve been able to use those relationships in a bunch of different positive ways, both professionally and personally. Mac Prichard: I’d agree with that, as well. I recently was trying to identify how I might get in to see someone at a national nonprofit communications director and I discovered that one of my neighbors that actually worked at that organization and not only knew this communications director, but she had gone to high school with this person in Maryland. It was a completely unexpected connection because my neighbor and I knew each other through walking dogs and seeing each other at the block party, but we also had this other connection that didn’t come from LinkedIn or an informational interview. Ben Forstag: I think this brings up an interesting point which is when we start thinking about networks being this everyone you know component, it can sometimes feel daunting; you’re always on the clock or you’re always doing a job search. I think if you’re a novice at networking, it certainly would feel like that. I think the key is you have to make this informal networking and communication and relationship building something that’s just part of your life and something that you’re comfortable with so that it doesn’t feel like a job in and of itself; it’s just something that you do. Mac Prichard: Cecilia, I know you’ve learned a lot about networking in the 2 years you’ve been with Mac’s List. Do you have 1 or 2 pieces of advice for listeners who are just getting started? Cecilia Bianco: Yeah. I think what Ben just brought up is important because I know just right graduating out of college, it’s hard to feel like you need to build your professional network and you don’t really know where to start. It’s important to start with friends, family and rely on your university’s network. That’s one of the best tools you can use when you first graduate and after for seasoned professionals when you look back. Those alumni LinkedIn groups are great and really, they never die. I’m still looking at mine all the time and it’s really active. Looking to friends and family is a really easy way to start so I suggest to anyone who is new to networking, start there because you’ll be more comfortable and it makes it all a lot easier. Mac Prichard: Great advice. Thank you, Cecilia. Thank you, Ben. Thank you, our listeners, for joining us. We’ll be back next week with more tools and tips to help you find that dream job. In the meantime, find us at macslist.org and you can sign up for our free newsletter there with more than 100 new jobs every week. If you like what you hear on our show, you can help us by leaving a review, a comment and a rating at iTunes. Thanks.