This Networking Stuff is HARD

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Piggybacking off my resume thread (the resume is off for final review, so keep your fingers crossed) I have been networking. As an introvert, this is EXHAUSTING.

When they say introverts get their batteries recharged with alone time they’re not kidding. My knitting, a good show to binge watch, and I’m set. This going out and talking to people stuff is quite challenging for me.

Per JB99, I have been spamming recruiters on LinkedIn with rather good results, meaning they connect with me.

Friday I met an old friend from grad school to pick her brain about her industry to see if it’s something I wanted to get into. She gave me the names of several recruiters and the phone number of a friend, who is in another industry. I’m playing phone tag with her…I’ll call her back tomorrow. I’m fried.

Today, I met a friend from Toastmasters for an afternoon tea at a Catholic church. Another lady at our table, a retired nurse, has a daughter who has a friend who is a recruiter. Bang, another connection on LinkedIn.

Then, this evening, I met with a friend of my Toastmasters friend for drinks. She talked about her business and the 501c3 she is running and she’s looking for a part time employee or consultant to help her get organized. I’m meeting with her and her business partner in January, and in the meantime I’m going to research the software she’s installing.

I have to mentally gear myself up for stuff like this. Tomorrow I have another webinar and I plan to make time to write and knit.

2

Nothing much to add but my sympathies. I’m more of an ambivert than a true introvert because I like socializing and meeting new people, but I HATE HATE meeting people in the context of “networking events.” Forced small talk is brutal, and I don’t have great facial recognition or hearing, so trying to remember names and faces in a sea of loud conversations is a special type of torture.

I went through a very rough job search recently that involved forcing myself to too many of those schmoozefests, and I will admit it was ultimately worth it. I didn’t get my job directly through an event like that, but it WAS recommended to me through a social channel and the networking I’d done put me in a much more prepared place.

3

That’s what they say…most people get their jobs through networking now. I guess the ATS screens out a lot of applicants, so getting ahold of a real person helps.