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career intelligence
[HEADNOTE]
Becoming a better networker
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Networking is a life skill that most people don't do well. A great review of the basics and benefits of networking is detailed in the March 2002 issue of Management magazine ("Networking to advance your career," by Julie Demers). But it's worth elaborating on what networking is about, and examining the dos and don'ts in the process.
Most people understand the general concept of networking but fail to do a good job of it because they don't understand what networking accomplishes. Networking accomplishes three things: it helps you understand your own story and success; it helps you encapsulate this informarion in a few choice words; and most of all, it demonstrates how you can help other people succeed, which often furthers your own career.
The first step to being a good networker is to know your strengths, abilities and unique experiences. Employers want to know how your experiences will improve the company's well being. Most people are poor networkers because they fail to understand themselves, so they can't communicate how they can improve a company's bottom line.
To prevent this from happening, once you know your own strengths you need to develop a high impact elevator speech. An elevator speech is a quick summary of...