{"id":8174,"date":"2017-07-18T06:45:45","date_gmt":"2017-07-18T05:45:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/?p=8174"},"modified":"2019-02-20T16:05:25","modified_gmt":"2019-02-20T15:05:25","slug":"manage-your-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/de\/manage-your-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Manage your network"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf people like you they\u2019ll listen to you, but if they trust you they\u2019ll do business with you<\/em>.\u201d (Zig Ziglar)<\/p>\n

As postgraduate students you will probably be aware of the significance of networking. I\u00b4ve already touched upon this topic in my previous post, but as it\u00b4s a highly complex process and many students avoid shaking hands and collecting business cards, I want to give some tips which you can put into practice during your Master\u00b4s<\/strong><\/a> studies.<\/p>\n

Stop by the FS Career Services office
\n<\/strong>Get tips on career opportunities with companies in Frankfurt, Germany or abroad by one of our FS<\/strong> Career Services<\/strong><\/a> counselors. Let them show you how to apply and teach you best practices during the application process. This is a perfect first step and you\u00b4ll be well prepared for the next one.<\/p>\n

Attend networking events
\n<\/strong>Our Career Services organise regular recruiting events and workshops in cooperation with companies of all industries. During lecture periods you have many opportunities to attend guest lectures, workshops or visit company offices. Don\u00b4t miss our\u00a0Career Day<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0in October, a campus fair which is an absolute must for any student. See every event you attend at FS as a networking opportunity. Companies do not come to a university just for your entertainment.<\/p>\n

Do your research
\n<\/strong>But do not act like a stalker. Find out about the company and who will be attending the event. Very often you will meet FS Alumni, ask them about their experiences.\u00a0 Make sure you\u2019ve done your research, but don\u2019t be too keen. This is your opportunity to talk to people that you wouldn\u00b4t otherwise be able to talk to or find. Prepare some useful questions and find out if the person you are networking with can give you a helpful tip or even knows who you want to know.<\/p>\n

Do not forget to introduce yourself
\n<\/strong>Prepare a 30 second elevator pitch and describe yourself concisely and impressively. Don\u00b4t forget that less is more. Use powerful points in very few words. By the way, you should bring your FS business cards but never offer your business card unless people ask for it.<\/p>\n

Ask questions
\n<\/strong>At most FS events there is usually some kind of presentation. Use these moments to calm your nerves (if necessary) and to think of questions you would like to ask. Ask open-ended questions which begin with \u2018who\u2019, \u2018what\u2019, \u2018where\u2019, \u2018when\u2019, and \u2018how\u2019. Avoid questions that can be answered with a simple yes or no. Open-ended questions open up the discussion. A straight „I want an internship“ or \u201cDo you offer student jobs?\u201d is a killer.<\/p>\n

Connect with people on social media
\n<\/strong>After\u00a0you meet someone,\u00a0use\u00a0social media\u00a0to keep the\u00a0connection\u00a0alive, especially if\u00a0you\u00a0don’t live in the same city or country. Use LinkedIn and XING (\u201cGerman LinkedIn\u201d) because they are essential tools for promoting yourself. Even if you haven\u00b4t met a person yet you can still start a conversation online. Maybe you\u2019ll end up meeting this person for a coffee. Start with FS Alumni who work in a company that you would like to get to know as an intern. Having Frankfurt School or your Master\u00b4s <\/strong>programme in common is always a helpful conversation starter.<\/p>\n

Actively engage at FS
\n<\/strong>Get your face known and be visible. Build your reputation as a reliable and supportive person, and have a positive influence on those around you. What goes around comes around: Be interested in all people, help others and ask \u201cWhat can I do for you?\u201d Maintaining your integrity is crucial as nothing destroys networking like a lack of trust.<\/p>\n

Networking while volunteering
\n<\/strong>First of all, employers regard volunteering positively as it shows that you\u00b4re active, ready to get involved and develop skills like communication, teamwork and conflict management. Join an FS Student Initiative or volunteer in a relevant non-for-profit organization. Get to know the people there and build relationships.<\/p>\n

Are you too shy for this? Well, good news, networking is just the right thing for you as it pushes you to grow. You learn how to make conversations and lasting connections. Remember, it\u00b4s not about having the biggest collection of business cards or just showing up at an event and enjoy drinks. Take this low-cost marketing chance which the Frankfurt School community is offering you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cIf people like you they\u2019ll listen to you, but if they trust you they\u2019ll do business with you.\u201d (Zig Ziglar) As postgraduate students you will probably be aware of the significance of networking. I\u00b4ve already touched upon this topic in my previous post, but as it\u00b4s a highly complex process and many students avoid shaking […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":17014,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[25,55,56,53,39],"tags":[102,85,124,125,362,100,101,77],"class_list":["post-8174","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-services","category-mim","category-mof","category-master","category-study","tag-career-day","tag-finance","tag-frankfurt","tag-frankfurt-am-main","tag-networking","tag-newsletter-de","tag-newsletter-en","tag-team-building"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8174","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8174"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8174\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18349,"href":"https:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8174\/revisions\/18349"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17014"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8174"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8174"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.frankfurt-school.de\/de\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8174"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}