The Networking Engineer: The Fine Art of Interrogation

Welcome back network gurus! I hope the contact search has been going well. If you’re still stuck with JobMine, hang tight—networking is your first escape before graduation so pay attention!
Once you have arranged a meeting with your new contact, you need to draw up a list of good questions to ask. I emphasize the word “good” here because there it is not worth your time (not to mention your contact’s) to ask questions to which the answers could just as easily have been Googled. Remember you only have 20 to 30 minutes—maximize them.
Start off by doing some research on the field and, more specifically, on the company your contact works for. Make sure you know what division or section of the company your contact is a part of, and try to get at least a general understanding of what their section does. One of your first questions should be something along the lines of “What do you do as (state position here)? What aspects of your job do you like/dislike?” This is important because it gives you a more personal connection with your contact. Most people are happy to talk about themselves and their experience, so take advantage of it!
Write down what they say. This is key, especially as you accumulate more contacts. A few months or even years from now, you’ll want to know who from which company said what.
The second “personal” question deals with the person’s career path. This is your chance to show you’ve done some research about the person (LinkedIn profiles are useful for this!) Take the following example: “How did you get started at Company X after finishing your Masters degree at Y University?” Again, this is designed to get them talking.
Another absolute must is a question about the economic status of the field. “What kind of opportunities are there now? Do you anticipate there being more/less opportunities in the future? What do you wish you had known before getting into this field?” This is a great way to get an honest answer about what you might want to get into. Though sometimes the answer may be hard to take, at least you’ll find out without wasting tons of time looking for opportunities that may not be there.
Once you’ve gone through these key questions, the balance of the interview time is really up to you. There are a few additional items that you should address before your 20-30 minutes expires. The first is making sure you thank the person for their time. A quick thank you e-mail a day or two later is also good for this. Add the person on LinkedIn if you can as well—I will cover the use of LinkedIn next issue so stay tuned!
The last and most important item is, of course, to get any new contacts you can from the one you are speaking with. Perhaps the person you were just speaking to knows or doesn’t think that there are opportunities in their company (you’ve already asked them this, right?) but maybe they know someone who may. And there you have it: your next contact.