Mixing Business and Pleasure How to Networking at your Next Holiday Party - CareerAlley

Mixing Business and Pleasure How to Networking at your Next Holiday Party - CareerAlley We may receive compensation when you click on links to products from our partners. More business decisions occur over lunch and dinner than at any other time, yet no MBA courses are given on the subject. Peter Drucker The holidays are here. But instead of simply enjoying the fine selection of crab puff appetizers and glasses of champagne at all of the fun holiday parties youre invited to this year, you should be using this chance as a networking opportunity to improve your job search. When you go out to your next event, make sure to follow these networking tips below. Do Preliminary Research. If possible, you want to know who is attending the party early on. This way you get a heads-up of the individuals you should give most of your attention to. If youre really good friends with the host you might want to go ahead and ask them up front if any of the guests in attendance may be of any interest to you professionallyfor example, do they have a friend who is the manager of a particular company or the CEO? If you dont feel comfortable asking the host but you received an invitation to the event via Facebook for example, you could always do a little snooping on your own and check out the confirmed guest listcheck out their profiles and glance at their career info if available. Make a Good Impression. Experts say on average you have 119 seconds to make a first impressionthats either a good one or a bad one. Naturally youd rather it be the former not the latter. So smile, listen and be cordial. Use some flattery (dont overdo it though) and get the person to start opening up. Your goal is that you want to make friends with this person and build a relationship. Remember: the party is not a career fair. If you come off as stiff and start spitting out your qualifications right of the bat and make things awkward you could turn people off. Besides, people go to parties to get away from work. So dont make it all about business. That said, you need to weave-in your wants and goals seamlessly, which brings us to our next tip Look for Your Opening. You might have to start with small talk at first, but eventually the right time to hint that you may be looking for a job should come up and its important that you seize the moment. You may simply be asked what do you do? and this is your chance to say, [This] is what I went to school for and my career aspirations are to do [this], unfortunately Im not getting any luck in the employment sectorIf you structure the conversation right, someone might just offer you his or her business card and say that they can help you. Or at the very least be able to get you in contact with someone who could help. Keep in Contact. Lastly, even if the person wasnt able to help you out right away, its important that you touch-base with him or her from time-to-time. Sure they might not have an opening for you right away but an opportunity could arise and if you are fresh in their mind, chances are youll be offered a position first. So send an occasional email, text, and phone call when the time seems right to check-in. As a courteous gesture, you should always ask if there is anything you can do for your new friend as well. While upcoming holiday parties are a great time to network that doesnt mean you cant have some fun and enjoy yourself, just try to utilize your time wisely so you can mix business and pleasure. By-line:Mariana Ashley is a freelance writer who particularly enjoys writing about online colleges. She loves receiving reader feedback, which can be directed to [emailprotected] This is a Guest post. If you would like to submit a guest post to CareerAlley, please follow these guest post guidelines. Good luck in your search.