Building Win-Win Relationships Via Networking - Long Live Coffee Meet Ups

I came across this thought-provoking read relevant for recent grads currently on the job hunt or for those looking to landing new internships for the spring/summer.

"The minute you take a resume first approach by looking at a job board or polishing a resume, you're handicapping yourself."

Finding job opportunities today have become more of an art form than building the perfect resume - timing of opportunities and an appropriate connection with a mentor are much more important than what your sheet of paper says you can do.

Successful job hunting is no longer simply about going in to hand over your most revised resume, but developing a connection with a mentor through in-person coffee meet ups at a more relaxed setting. At first these connections can be made through either social media or through mutual friends who have connected the two of you due to common work or side project interests. Either way, your initial impression to the employer is already off on the right foot as it is far more dynamic than bullet-points on a stapled package of paper.

"It's about building win-win relationships. Some will become contacts, some you'll really hit it off with, and after a couple years you'll look back and realize they're your mentors."

The article makes a great point about how understanding what the challenges a potential mentor or employer faces and subsequently what you can do to help with this challenge are two key, if not the most important, points one should emphasize when it comes to conversing about the possibility of building a working opportunity.

Rather than asking to be employed right out of the get-go, sometimes, you need to step back and think in the shoes of the other end, why would an expert in the field want to mentor you? What is there for the individual to gain out of this mentorship from a business perspective?

It's about finding people with similar interests, and building a network and community within those interests... The result is that every young person who gets an opportunity has skill sets and potential that these organizations and experts can tap in to."

When it comes to running a business, an employer requires the alignment of numerous individuals who can each provide a different skill set. For this very reason, do not be afraid to tell your story and experiences to the employer to see if a mentorship opportunity can come into fruition.

Do you really think your life's story and true life's experiences can be told simply from reading the two-page resume you handed in?

Don't short change yourself... Obviously, not. 

Thus, what could be a better way to separate yourself from the rest than to try a more proactive approach in connecting yourself with a professional in the industry over a relaxing cup of coffee?

Try it - the outcome may just end up surprising you.