By Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter

Click here if the video does not play properly.

In this video, I offer five very easy ways to network if you are an introvert.

Job Search Strategies for Introverts

If you’re an introvert, it doesn’t mean networking requires that you stand in some room somewhere with a bad drink, trying to figure out how to break into a circle of people who are laughing and seem to know one another. So I want to give you five ways that you might try breaking through and doing some networking. I’m Jeff Altman, The Big Game Hunter. People hire me for no BS job search coaching and career advice globally because I make the process of finding work much easier.

Step number one, technique number one, I should say: reconnect with people from your past, your quote-unquote passive network. The easiest way to do it is by reaching out to people you already know—people from your past, people who live in your phone that you haven’t been in contact with for a long time. Maybe what you say to them is, “It feels like a hundred years since we were last in contact. I thought I would reach out to you, see how you were.” And what this does, it makes it pretty easy to reach out to people. It’s a text, it’s an email, it’s a phone call where you leave a message. It’s all good.

Technique number two: focus on quality rather than quantity. It’s not about how many people you reach out to, but that you find two or three people per week who hold roles that you admire and send them a personalized connection request. Mention an article that you saw them write or a video that you observed them in—something that allows you to have a justification for reaching out to them. Then message them about an informational conversation, because it isn’t about asking for a job; what it becomes about is learning from them. Have a prepared list of questions that will help you navigate the conversation more easily.

The third technique is to leverage niche online communities like on Slack or Discord or industry-specific forums, because these are places where you can tap into a smaller pool of people. Maybe they have a hiring channel, maybe there’s a jobs channel, but start engaging by asking questions so that in this way you can have a discussion with people. It’s that simple.

The last technique: attend micro-events or workshops. Skip the big conferences. Go to smaller ones, and maybe you’re there to learn a specific skill like a coding workshop, or a design sprint, or some aspect of AI. But what it does is provide you with a built-in conversation starter so you don’t have to rely on nonsensical small talk.

I have a lot more that can help you at JobSearch.Community. Come over to the site, go exploring. There is a lot there that’ll help you.

Related