Once you've done a couple of experiments, you might find that you are in a place where you think I'm really enjoying this and I want to continue this work in the next stage of my life. It is so much easier to transition into work from an experiment from then from starting from scratch. So you're already partway there, you've got your foot in the door, you're already starting to develop relationships with people in that area. And you're already taking action. The more you take action, the more people will be willing to help you as well. You know, nobody wants to help somebody who's just sitting on their sofa doing nothing.
People want to get behind, put their energy behind somebody who's putting their energy out. Now like attracts like and you put the energy out there, you'll attract more of it. So make sure that you continuing to take action now. A lot of people think the word networking is kind of a slimy word. They cringe when they hear it. They're like, I don't want to do that.
And you've probably had a poor experience about networking in the past. Like maybe you're at an industry event, somebody walked up to you and introduced themselves and pretty much sold you all about them selves without asking anything about you or giving you anything with while like slap a business card in your hand and they take off you feel like you've just been slimed. Of course, you do not want to do that to people That's horrible. Don't think of networking is that if you want to get rid of the word networking altogether, then do so think about it as building relationships. You know, making friends you know, flying over people, if you're building relationships. You think about it more as a two way street.
So you want to put out something that is of value to them. them. And you also want to let them know what you're looking for. Now, they may or may not be able to help you. Regardless, you're building that relationship, your goal is not to work that that person till they give you a job, it's to build a relationship. And it takes months.
So start early, building relationships, you know, it doesn't happen overnight. It hasn't in any other area of your life. It's not going to here either. So give yourself lots of time to build that relationship. And don't think you're going to go in and have a big sales pitch and win them just like that. Not that never happens.
But that's the slimy stuff that you're trying to stay away from. And it is not likely to happen that way. Anyway, so just think about building a relationship just like meeting a new friend. LinkedIn is a fantastic resource for building relationships. If you're thinking about a certain company that you might want to work with, you can search people who work at that company and start building relationships with them. Maybe you find somebody who posts a lot and writes articles, so you can start commenting on their articles and see if you can find some similar interests and start messaging them, connect with them, message them.
So build relationships. LinkedIn is a fabulous way to do it. If you can't do it in person, however, in person is always best. It's the old fashioned method. And you know, it still works the best to this day. So if there's somebody that you feel comfortable enough to ask to go for coffee, then fantastic.
See them in person, just say you want to catch up and set a date. People really want to help you out. It's part of human nature. If they're a good person, they're going to want to help. So if you know what you want, then let them know what you're going through. Let them know what you're trying to figure out.
And at the same time, make sure you're giving something back so maybe you can thank them with an article about something that you Are talked about that day or maybe if you're old friends, you can help them catch up with the people they've lost touch with. Absolutely pay for the coffee for sure. Even though you may be the ones struggling for cash, you're taking them out. So make sure that you're grateful you're thankful building relationships with people and reconnecting with people you may have lost touch with, it's really going to be a key part of you getting into your next role. You may have spent some time updating your resume writing cover letters, uploading it to an online site, job hunting site. I'm not going to tell you that that's not valid anymore.
But it's pretty antiquated. It used to work, it still works maybe 5% of the time, but really it is who you know, that counts. So you have to start putting yourself out there. I know it's going to feel like you're a little bit falling ball in that space. But really, it's who you know, that counts or get to know that People who are going to help you and reconnect with those people who are going to help you. We all have the ability to build relationships.