Looking for Networking Tips for Introverts? Me Too. | brokeGIRLrich
I am fairly introverted. I think a lot of folks who are drawn to blogging are. And as I consider my departure for my current job, I’ve kind of been amazed at my network and spent a little bit of time pondering the art of networking too.
Networking freaks me the heck out. For instance, I’ve been a member of the Stage Manager’s Association, for, oh I don’t know, ten years? Maybe longer. Recently, I saw a post of Facebook that they’re having a holiday party in NYC on a night I could attend. I thought, “what a great idea! I’m going to leave BAC soon and it would be great to get to know some other stage managers in the area.” At the same time, I also fought the urge to vomit at the thought of having to go and actually interact with these humans I don’t know.
This is crazy because a few years ago, I volunteered at the Broadway Stage Manager’s Symposium to run a table about personal finance and my promote my blog and my table was next to the SMA table and they are delightful folks who I had plenty of fun conversations with while we were killing time between people visiting our tables.
If there’s enough beer, I can probably do this.
It’s wildly intimidating to go to “networking events” though, isn’t it? I mean, I kind of loved that they picked a bar because maybe I’m not the only stage manager out there who is super intimidated by the idea of this meet up- you know what’s even crazier about being intimidated by this? I’M A STAGE MANAGER. We’re leaders. We’re communicators.
The notion of this holiday meet up is terrifying.
So I did what any good social anxiety riddled stage manager would do – I texted my closest stage management BFF and was like “are you a member of SMA? Come to this thing with me.”
It’s cause I know the power of networking. My network is kind of awesome. The only place I’ve made it really public knowledge that I’m leaving my job is this blog and enough friends read it that I had four different people reach out within 24 hours of my post about leaving going live and offer to put me in touch with the people hiring stage managers and production managers in the companies their connected to.
And they’re not even good friends! I mean – they’re previous coworkers I’d always love to grab a drink with when our paths cross, but not exactly people I stay in touch with regularly.
I had a tour fall through a few years ago and threw it out on Facebook that I was suddenly looking for work and I was shocked by the number of people that reached out to help. When I thought it through though, I realized, I’d happily do the same for an awful lot of people I’ve worked with in the past – even if I haven’t spoken with them much in years.
It seems like one of the strongest networking skills is just to do your job well and try to leave places on good terms. It definitely has the longest lasting effect.
However, since that won’t work on everyone you might want to network with, I think another great approach for introverts is volunteering to help with events – like the Broadway Stage Manager’s Symposium or SMA meet-ups.
In the meantime, I’m going to try to work up the nerve to go to this bar full of strangers and talk about stage managing.
Hi Mel,
I definitely agree with you that if you do your job well and leave your previous employer on good terms, it will give you the longest lasting effect. People who have worked with you know about your work ethic and will be your best advocates. In terms of networking, it can be quite intimidating even for extroverts because you’ll be meeting people for the first time and have no clue about their personalities. My best advice is to get to the event early so there is only a small group of people which makes it much easier to start a conversation. Then as you gain confidence, build your way towards the larger groups and try to move around to chat with different people. Good Luck!