The day after graduation, a Columbia MBA student comes to my office. He hadn’t taken my course, but he knew that I did personal strategy in it. He asks: Could he get my advice on finding a job?
Sure.
So he comes in. His name is David. We talk.
David had gone to a few recruiting events for big banks. But he didn’t pursue any leads. None of the jobs appealed to him. So I ask him two questions: geography and field. Does it matter where the job is located?
“Funny you should ask,” he says. “I love Brazil, and I speak some Portuguese. I would love to work in Brazil.”
Next, what field does he want to work in? “Like everyone else in my class — private equity,” he says.
I explain the first step of Idea Networking, and tell him that he needs to come up with an idea in the form of a question that matches this passion. After a few moments, his eyes light up. “Here’s the question: Is there private equity in Brazil? And how does it work?”
These “idea questions” are very different from another traditional networking technique: the informational interview. That’s where you ask to speak to someone in a company not about a specific job, but about working there more generally. For an informational interview, David might ask, “Do private equity firms in Brazil hire Americans? How are the salary and benefits?” You can see that this kind of question is not at all interesting to the person you ask. And it shows you’re not really interested in the ideas — you’re just looking for a job.
So David has some good “idea” questions. To get started, you need only one person to reach out to. Contact that person by email, phone, or in person. Introduce yourself but do not say you’re looking for a job. Then ask: Would they mind if you ask for their thoughts on a question you have about the field? If the question is interesting enough, they almost always say yes. They’re flattered you recognize their expertise, and they think you’re smart for asking them.
You discuss the question with this person as long as they seem interested. At the end, say, “I know you’re very busy, so I don’t want to take up more of your time. Is there anyone you suggest I talk to more about this?” You want three names, but take whatever number you get; it’s almost always at least one.
With each new person you talk to, your question grows more sophisticated, or becomes several questions that you pursue with different people. In fact, once you reach about a dozen people, you are probably more up to date than they are about that specific question. You can say, “That’s interesting. I wonder if you know that (person’s name) is working on (related topic).”
If someone asks why you’re interested in your topic, do not say, “Because I want a job in that field.” They’ll think you tricked them; you’re not really interested in your question. It was just a way to get a job interview. Instead, tell them why you find the subject interesting — give specific reasons —and mention that you might want to work in that area at some point, depending on what you discover. You’re pursuing the idea, not a job, although you recognize it might eventually lead to a job.
At some point, someone will say, “You seem to know quite a lot about this. I think X is looking for someone…”
After I explained all this to David, he got started with his good questions in hand. Six weeks later he phoned me. The twenty-sixth person he contacted offered him a job at a major international bank to do private equity research in Brazil. David took the job, and the moment he arrived in Brazil he started Idea Networking again.
Excerpted from The Seventh Sense by William Duggan. Copyright (c) 2015 William Duggan. Used by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.