Learning otherwise through working for Arts Work Experience had left me with a number of questions, and to help answer them, I was given the opportunity to chat with the incredibly friendly and enthusiastic Charlotte Wray, who works as a Recruitment Coordinator out of the University of Alberta’s Career Centre. Networking is what Charlotte does; she coordinates with a vast array of personal and professional connections to help employers recruit U of A students, and when I asked her about what virtual networking really means, she had a lot to tell me.
First, she worked hard to redefine the definition of networking I had in my head: “Networking is all about forming relationships,” she told me. “It doesn’t have to be that stereotypical image of you talking to someone who’s 40 years old and has got ten or more years of experience. They don’t have to be older than you, or better than you. They could be your peer or even your friend.”
As you know, that image of the older, stiff businessperson is one that has dominated my imagination of what networking looks like, so I had to admit I was a bit surprised that networking was more than making awkward conversation with industry professionals at a conference. For Charlotte, networking is just building relationships, and that includes when it’s virtual. Her job requires two very important virtual aspects:
“Informally, I am constantly ‘networking’ with people,” she says. “Even with just emails, I’m continuously building relationships. When employers approach me looking to get in touch with students or to ask questions, I’m there to connect them with the people they’re looking for. Even if it’s not my department, it’s an opportunity for me to tell them about the work that we do.”
The second way that Charlotte networks is through LinkedIn.
“Students are going to have to learn how to build really robust LinkedIn profiles. Building online profiles and learning how to do that effectively is going to become more and more important.”
At the time of this interview, I didn’t yet have a LinkedIn profile. As someone still in University and who had never worked a job in their desired field, I felt like I didn’t really have anything to offer.
“I felt exactly the same way when I was still in school,” Charlotte told me. “I was like, what’s the point? There’s nothing to promote. But the reality is that social media has changed the way we look for work and network. Odds are that when you apply to positions the HR staff or whoever’s hiring is looking online for you. You have to hope that it’s your LinkedIn that shows up and not your weekend shenanigans on Instagram!”
“Plus, LinkedIn can be really handy, because while a resume should only have relevant experiences, your LinkedIn profile has everything. From previous jobs you’ve had to certificates you’ve passed, it’s an experience you can list there. If you think of it as an extension of your resume, it becomes a lot less intimidating.”
LinkedIn’s method of staying relevant is pretty similar to most social media platforms; at the basic level, all you have to do is keep liking and sharing any interesting articles that appear on your feed that are relevant to your career interests. This way, your name will keep popping up on employer’s feeds, helping you to stay relevant in the minds of potential employers.
However, LinkedIn’s method of passive searching definitely isn’t the only way to network. Another method that Charlotte suggested involves a more active search process, but one that brings with it more direct experience: career information interviews.
For those of you who may not know, an information interview is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: organizing a meeting with an expert in order to learn more information about what they do. Talking directly with someone about their career journey can be very informative when it comes to influencing your own. Though this method of active networking is a bit more intimidating than LinkedIn’s passive networking style, being able to learn from someone with experience in a role you are considering for yourself can be very beneficial as you figure out what you want in a career. Their lived experience working in the position you may hope to achieve can help you to make the choices you need to make in order to get there.
While an information interview can be something as casual as a virtual “coffee chat”, it’s still good to come prepared. Armed with research into the person you’re interviewing, their position title, and the company they work at, you will be able to come up with more questions and have more constructive conversations with the person you’re interviewing rather than if you just wing it.
Though the global pandemic has restricted the way we communicate, Charlotte says it’s not all bad. “I think people are far more open to networking right now,” she told me. “I think it’s because we’re all sitting in front of our emails, and that most people are coming to a point, after working remotely all these months, where we’re really tired of all these very formal conversations we’re having while we’re sitting in our own homes.”
This really resonated with me, as I have personally experienced just how fatiguing having multiple video chats per day can be. Being on camera adds an extra layer of formality and that can be exhausting. It’s made me miss just having regular conversations with random people; I even miss small talk.
“It’s totally fine to be exhausted with having those sorts of conversations, because having an authentic
conversation with someone requires more energy." says Charlotte. "It’s like being on a first date. You need to maintain eye contact through a screen, you need to listen for the small details, and you need to maintain the appropriate amount of enthusiasm in your voice. That’s why I would highly recommend that students who want to network really tailor who they’re talking to.
“Instead of sending 20 emails to 20 different employers, find five people who you would absolutely love to know more about. If you’re sending out mass emails for coffee to like, 400 people, what does it matter? You’re not going to have enough energy to do it anyways, let alone do it well.”
Overcompensating like that is something I could definitely see myself doing. Since it’s an understatement to say that job security isn’t the best right now, casting a wide net in order to catch an employer’s attention might seem to be the best solution.
I asked her then if she had any tips for online etiquette, as I want to be able to make the best impression possible. After all, being remembered is great if it’s for the right reasons!
“It’s just really important to know how you’re going to address someone. Never just say “Dear Director” or “Dear Hiring Manager.” It shows that you don’t do your research, and it’s just basic etiquette. You also need to be very concise with what you’re asking - I’ve gotten emails in the past that gave me so much detail, and then at the end of it I still don’t know what they’re asking. Do they want to just chat or are they looking for a job? Learning to be concise makes it your elevator or sales pitch.
It’s more than likely that the person you’re emailing has hundreds of other emails to read. If you’re not
To me this whole process still sounded kind of, well, scary! It’s hard to put yourself out there so readily for anyone to critique, especially when so much relies on the outcome. Even though I know that I need to be more assertive in order to get what I want for my future, my brain still tends to think things like “Am I bothering this person by reaching out?”
“You’re not alone,” Charlotte reassured me. “That’s impostor syndrome, something that I think a lot of millennial's and gen z’s experience.
“The tricky part is that we might get bogged down by the one negative reaction we receive by trying to network. Maybe we send out those five emails and one person says “please never contact me again.” Don’t let that cloud your judgement about what the other four people are going to say. Have confidence in the fact that you just asking to talk to someone is the bare minimum of what their job is. You asking to talk to someone is never too much.
“Networking isn’t as hard as we make it seem, but we don’t want to impose so bad we don’t even want to ask for a favor. But the world we live in is predicated on both privilege and nepotism, and asking to network with someone is wedging yourself in between that privilege and that nepotism. In a
As Charlotte says, “The main thing is that you have to be proactive. There’s so many people right now who are choosing to be a bit more passive because it’s overwhelming. If you can learn to push past that feeling, you’re one step ahead already.”
