-
Know Thyself: Launch a Business Doing What You Love
June 18, 2010
-
“Julie and Julia” and your career -Part One
June 17, 2010
-
Know Thyself: and Then Forget What You Know
June 15, 2010
-
Know Thyself: Feeling Gracious? Or is It Something Else?
June 11, 2010
-
Know Thyself: Emotional Intelligence and Your Viability as a Job Candidate.
June 8, 2010
-
Know Thyself: Put Your Best You Forward.
June 4, 2010
- June 2010
- May 2010
- April 2010
- March 2010
- February 2010
- January 2010
- September 2009
- August 2009
- July 2009
- June 2009
- May 2009
- April 2009
Networking Tips from a Strategic Job Hopper
January 27, 2009 | Author: Jessica Howard | Filed under: The Networking Habit
Silvana Avinami is not afraid of change. She has spent the last 10 years working her way working through 12 different jobs — in six industries, across three continents. She’s a self-described “job hopper” and “career owner”.
Her blog bio says that after receiving a paltry raise early in her career, she decided that “it was up to me to make things happen and create choices for myself.” Part of her motivation came from growing up in an entrepreneurial family in Barranquilla, Colombia.
By moving from opportunity to opportunity, Avinami says she was able to increase her income substantially - in the last five years, she increased her pay over 30 percent in three instances. Now living in Australia, Avinami writes full time, working on blogs and a book.
Networking has played a role in her job hopping. She maintains bridges with former employers, and is deliberate about staying in touch. Though, as she explains in the interview, not Machiavellian. This habitual networking is consistent with UpMo’s profile of elite networkers. It’s also suprising to learn that she considers herself a loner, not the stereotypical networking type.
Just goes to show that anyone can do it …
UpMo: Can you give an example of how networking has translated into a tangible result for you? Has networking been part of your job-hopping strategy? Was there a point or experience in your life that motivated you to start actively networking?
Silvana Avinami: Although overused, the idea that success is not a function of what you know but of who you know has played an important role in my career.
For example, recently the owner of a Latin American company asked me to help him restructure his national sales team. Although I’ve been engaged in similar projects, and I’m fluent in Spanish, I’ve never performed this type of work in that region. Even so, he offered me the opportunity because, for the past several years, I’ve made it a point to stay loosely in touch with him. Importantly, I’ve kept him in the loop of my career’s progression, experience and main achievements. Based on what he knows about my track record, he trusts that I can get the job done – even if I experience a learning curve. Consequently, if I decide to, I am now able to “cash in” on all our phone and email exchanges from the past few years.
The question is: Have I known all along that staying in touch with him would eventually lead to an opportunity? Not really. Then why did I stay in touch? Although my contact with him and many other influential and key people in the world of work is deliberate, it is not opportunist or Machiavellian. I stay in touch with a wide range of people more because I enjoy our contact than because I’m expecting to gain something tangible.
In other words, being genuine, being myself, with the people I meet has been key for the success of my networking efforts. Throughout the years I’ve found that opportunities arise from the people who trust me. And I’ve found that one of the best ways to gain trust from people is to be myself. Simply put, most of us are able to see straight through when someone is being fake or opportunist. When that’s the case, it’s unlikely that we’ll give them our trust.
UpMo: What, in your mind, are the characteristics of an “elite networker”? When you think of people that you consider “elite networkers”, what do they do that most of us don’t?
Silvana Avinami: Effective networkers know that for networking to work, people must trust you – not just know you. With that in mind, people who succeed at networking know that one of the best ways to obtain people’s trust is to first connect with them and then be genuine.
That said, it is with those people who I genuinely want to interact who have made the greatest impact on my career. Sometimes it’s been easy to connect with people. Like in the case of the owner of the company I mentioned earlier. We share a love for all things tennis. That was an easy connection since I’ve been playing tennis since I was seven. With the Managing Director of another company I exchange books about leadership. That also came easy to me since I’m naturally drawn to that subject matter. And with the CEO of another venture we talk about women in business and share articles. That’s another of my personal interests.
The times when a common ground with a person has not been as apparent, I’ve gotten more creative. Even so, more often than not I’ve found that if I look close enough, I always have something in common with a person. For example with the commercial director of a multi-national who was raised in a totally different environment than I was, we talk about her son and my younger brother who are the same age. With a business development consultant from China we share Chinese recipes and drink tea. With an Australian brand manager we tend to meet at an Italian coffee shoppe where we both enjoy their coffee.
Simply put, if we all look close enough, we’ll find that there’s always something we’ve experienced in life which allows us to connect with each other. Whether it’s something from our upbringing, education, travels, readings. Connecting with someone can be effortless. It’s more a function of welcoming their point of view and being willing to finding a connection, than about trying too hard.
When it comes to being a successful networker, having something in common with people is the glue of relationships.
UpMo.com: The idea of networking makes many people cringe. In fact, you wrote a post about networking for loners. What are your tips for making networking a habitual, and potentially fun, activity?
Silvana Avinami: As a self-confessed loner, my main incentive to meet new people is to learn something. Because I love learning and time after time I’ve found that people have a lot to teach, I’ve managed to pacify the loner inside of me. When looking to expand my network, instead of telling my loner self something like: “Here comes another person,” which makes the loner inside of me retreat, I think something like, “Here comes another lesson,” which makes the learner inside of me take the lead.
Consequently, my mind equates meeting new people with learning; something my mind loves and actively seeks.
At work functions I apply the 80/20 rule and I only spend time with people I find interesting. I know that if I bond with one or two people, chances are I’ll be able to get more out of our relationship than if I tap 20 people and move on. And I’ll enjoy myself along the way because I’ll be dealing with people I genuinely like and who I feel I can be myself around.
Other rules of thumb to help loners (like me) continue to expand their networks:
- Don’t wait until you need someone to approach them: I don’t like being used. That’s how I know that other people don’t like it either. To avoid getting to a point where I only contact people when I need them, I stay loosely connected – because I care to know how they are (remember, we bonded at some point). It’s just like practicing preventive medicine vs the curative kind. If I approach someone when I need them, it’s too late. They will sense that I’m using them. And although they may play along and get me what I want in the short-term, chances are that I’ve lost a long-term relationship – that is likely to be mutually beneficial.
- First give: I love to receive things from people – and it doesn’t have to be big for my energy levels to spike. A sincere compliment has a similar effect on me as a bunch of flowers – both trigger my serotonin response. And when someone gives me something – as small as a compliment – I feel good about being nice back to them. That’s why I know others also feel good about reciprocating after I’ve given them something. Making deposits in people’s emotional bank accounts has proven to be a good investment. If you’re thinking that it’s too Machiavellian to go around complimenting people left and right, re-read my secret number one.
- Ask, ask, ask: I admire people who persevere. And I will go out of my way for people who believe so much in what they’re doing that they’re willing to do anything to see their cause through. When someone I barely know asks me for something, I find it gutsy, not annoying. More so, I feel honored that someone with such great qualities considers that I can help them. That’s why I believe that anyone worth asking will not mind my own asking.
UpMo.com: One of the interesting points brought up in our study on networking was that although high-earning professionals consider networking to be an essential skill, it’s not an activity that’s fostered by universities or by corporate culture. Do you have any thoughts on whether there should be more formal ways to learn networking?
Silvana Avinami: Although “networking 101″ could empower some to take action, a ‘just do it’ mentality is by far the most empowering approach for someone looking to improve their networking skills. Personally, I’ve learned through trying different approaches. And my efforts have not always been successful. I’ve had my share of trial and error. Whenever I haven’t achieved the expected outcomes, it has been key for me to realize that it is a matter of being adequate not perfect – and of being open to the lessons that each experience brings.
By no means am I suggesting that people should put themselves on the line on their own. A well-structured mentoring program, where a mentoree can count on the support of someone they find worthy of imitation, in my mind is likely to produce great results. The main idea is to create an environment that is conducive to taking action and to learning from experiences.
UpMo: Many people are concerned about losing their jobs, or have already lost their jobs. You have had 12 jobs in 10 years, so it’s hard to imagine that a layoff would even faze you. Based on your experience, what career advice would you give people facing job loss?
Silvana Avinami: Take ownership. Be proactive. Drop the victim mentality. A job loss should not be taken as a personal attack on someone’s skills or competence. In an economic downturn, being made redundant is more often than not outside of an employee’s control. What is in everyone’s control is how we respond to losing our job. Do we sit around, playing the blame game, waiting for another employer to solve it all for us? Or do we open up to the lessons and opportunities that change brings to our lives?
The most empowering thing a person who faces a job loss can do is to take time to become very clear on what they want from their work lives. In other words, take time to dream big, to set goals and make a plan. Then it’s key that they use their goals and dreams as a guide. It’s when people do not know what they want or how they will achieve their goals that they risk being dragged by those who do know where they’re going – and are working to achieve their own goals and dreams.
It’s also vital that people do not paralyze. In other words, do not look to prevent chaos. Instead people should invest their energy and time on finding ways to thrive in the midst of the chaos. Get creative and look to seize opportunities that the overly cautious are likely to miss.
Finally, it’s crucial to remain surrounded by people who can see opportunities in these times. Avoid – at all costs – anyone who insists on asking ‘what happened?’ Seek those who are asking ‘what can I do?’ and are taking action.
Related Resources:
UpMo Study: Tracking the Habits of Elite Networkers
When Your Network Speaks, Does Opportunity Listen?
feel free to leave a comment
Comment Guidelines: Basic XHTML is allowed (a href, strong, em, code). All line breaks and paragraphs are automatically generated. Off-topic or inappropriate comments will be edited or deleted. Email addresses will never be published. Keep it PG-13 people!
XHTML: You can use these tags: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
All fields marked with " * " are required.
7 people have left comments
[...] has an interesting blog post today about Silvana Avinami a professional taking control of her own career by building on the [...]
Very inspiring. One of the things I worry about is the number of jobs. I love Silvana’s approach - “it was up to me to make things happen and create choices for myself.”
I tend to get a lot of negative feedback on the number of positions I’ve held. Silvana’s story has helped me understand that the feedback generally comes from people that are miserable and have been in the same position for 10-20 years. And they HATE it.
[...] and communicated on Facebook, followed each other on Twitter, I forwarded the interview at UpMo to a couple of my coachees as an example why networking is important. And I started reading her [...]
Silvana has done good but this article shows one charactor of the NETWORKING and Networking is beyond this “Helping others without personal goals”
I have also reached at similiar stage..I have done Networking to use my time to help the people and to know the world.
[...] gravitates towards the latest sporting news, know that there are many other effective ways to connect – without trespassing no-go zones. (My personal ones are: gossiping, politics, sex and [...]
[...] a self-proclaimed strategic job hopper, I’m an advocate of tools that empower people to manage their careers strategically. For [...]
[...] has an interesting blog post today about Silvana Avinami a professional taking control of her own career by building on the [...]