Step 1: Make a copy of the NRG Networking Tracker. This tracker works best if you return to it again and again and use it as your home base. Note that full functionality of this tool requires that you use Gmail and have a Google account. 

Step 2: Pull up your LinkedIn account.

That's all you need! We'll go through the next steps below.

Set a goal for your networking meetings and stick to it. Fill out this info in the 'Goals' tab of the Networking Tracker.

Some hot tips for setting your goals:

• When you are looking for your next role, aim to have 4 - 8 conversations per week. In other words, you might list your monthly goal in the Tracker as 24.

• You won’t be able to land a conversation with everyone you reach out to, so aim to message 15-20 people/week (about 60-80/month) to meet your conversation goal.

• Setting your goal for the # of Cold Emails Sent Per Month (emails you send to strangers): Take your conversations goal and double it. Expect about a 50% response rate. For example, if you want to meet with 8 people this month who are strangers, anticipate emailing at least 16 people. Your goal for this category will likely be lower than your goal for the # of Warm emails sent because strangers are usually harder to identify. 

• Setting your goal for the # of Warm Emails Sent Per Month (emails sent to people you know); Anticipate about an 80% response rate. For example, if you want to meet with 22 people you know, aim to send around 28 emails to people you know.

• # of Meetings Scheduled Per Month: we recommend between 24-30 meetings scheduled/month

• # of Meetings Held Per Month: This can be the same goal as the # of meetings scheduled per month. Aim to attend them all and if someone has to cancel, then you can send more cold and warm emails to try to meet with someone else. 

Step 1: Write down everyone you already have a relationship with on the Networking Tracker in the 'Networking Contacts' tab.

Step 2: Write down organizations doing great work. This might include specific people, but may not at first. That's OK.

Some Notes: Asking for help is hard, but people want to help more than you realize. If you are struggling to send an email asking for a connection or meeting, check out this article that explains that people really do want to help. 

Also, you already have a network! Here are some examples:

• Current co-workers

• Past co-workers

• Friends

• Neighbors

• Parents of your kids’ friends

• Your connections on social media, especially LinkedIn

• Anyone you’ve met through volunteer work or through pursuing hobbies (remember that kickball team you were on last year?)

• Your alumni institutions, including connecting with alumni of your institution on LinkedIn

Set a goal for LinkedIn connections in the 'Goals' tab of your Networking Tracker.

We usually recommend having at least 500 LinkedIn Connections, but if you are just starting out, maybe you set a lower goal. Look at your networks and then connect with people who you want to know. 

Tips:

• Look at the connections of current and former colleagues to see if there are people you should already be connected with that you have missed. 

• Import your contacts. 

• Connect with all people you work with in your organization.

• Connect with people who are on the same coalitions you are on.

• Connect with vendors and contractors you’ve worked with in the past.

When reaching out to a stranger on LinkedIn to make the connection, here’s some sample text:

Hi! I see that we are both connected with [person]. I worked with [person] at [organization]. I’m impressed with the work [include specifics] your team is doing at [organization] and I’d love to stay connected. I’m looking for my next role and one of my priorities is to be a part of a team making [include specifics] impact. I hope we can stay in touch.

I’ve been a teacher the last 10 years, but I’m looking to do more political work. I’m hoping to connect here on LinkedIn as I’m a big fan of [organization] and I see we have some mutual connections.  

I’m working on expanding my network and you seem like someone I would love to know. I’m reaching out because you do [specific example, may be their role at their organization, work their organization is doing or both].

Note: Just saying that you want to expand your network is a great approach! There are some people who say yes to everyone on LinkedIn so don’t overthink it.

Use the Networking Tracker to move forward with your outreach. The instructions on the tracker walk you through the following steps:

• Send initial outreach email

• Record the response

• Hold networking meetings

• Follow up in 6 weeks

• Follow up in 12 weeks

Overall, don't forget about follow up! The first meeting is not the end goal; it’s the beginning. Let’s say you get a big meeting with someone who you have admired for years. You get to know each other a bit and make a genuine connection. What’s next? The main point to remember is that this is the beginning of your relationship. Make sure you are keeping track of everyone you want to continue getting to know. 

After a meeting:

• Send a LinkedIn request and thank you note

• 6 weeks later send a follow-up

• 12 weeks after the initial meeting, send another note

How to get the most out of your networking:

• Stay in touch. The people who do this well send a thank you note right after the meeting. They also send a Linkedin request. Then, six-ish weeks after the first one-on-one meeting, they send another follow-up note. Twelve weeks after the initial meeting, they check-in again. 

• It’s not just about introducing yourself, it’s about staying on their radar. When you send notes six weeks and twelve weeks later, ask positive and generative questions. Don’t ask what jobs you should apply for. Don’t make broad requests (e.g., “I enjoyed meeting you. I would love your assistance. My resume is attached). That puts pressure on your contact to do your work for you.  Instead, ask: “Do you know anyone at X group or organization?” and “Do you have any ideas for questions I should ask in my follow-up interview?” These are questions that invite people into your search in a collaborative way.

• Don’t get in your head about who you are meeting with.Yes, it’s great to meet with the head of a foundation, but it’s also okay to meet with your former intern who is now doing a social media contract job. The meetings help you to refine your story and let people know that you’re looking.

• You can learn more about what experiences and skills to highlight on your resume as well as in interviews. You may even hear a comment about something on your LinkedIn profile that you didn’t realize was there. This allows you to make changes to help you tell your story about where you’ve been and where you want to go next.

• Keep Going! When Naomi did her big job search, it took her 87 networking meetings before she landed her dream offer. She kept track and knew that the more people she met, the closer she was getting to the role she wanted.

Ways to expand your list:

• One thing you should always bring up in your networking conversations: who should I be talking to? 

• Look at LinkedIn and see if anyone in your network is connected to someone at that organization on your list. Then, use the text in this toolkit to set up a conversation with those people in your network.

• If you can’t schedule a meeting with that person in your network, then ask them to introduce you. We have a message template for that.

Note: If you use the tracker tool, these will auto-populate. But, feel welcome to use the templates below at your own pace:

• Initial Outreach Templates

• Follow Up Outreach Templates

• Holiday card/email/message

• Send them a problem you have and request their feedback (i.e., maybe you are hiring someone as a direct report and want to know if they know anyone. Or, maybe you are thinking about going to a conference and want to know if they’ve been and if they found it helpful)

• If you are in their city, offer to meet them IRL for coffee

• Send them an article that made you think of them

• Send them an update if anything in your professional (or personal depending on the contact) life occurs like a new promotion

• Choose another holiday during the year that you love and send cards then as well. Naomi loves Groundhog Day and uses that as an opportunity to reach out to her network.

• Tell everyone you met when you land a role! They want to know how things turned out so don’t forget this step!

• A podcast where Naomi talks about how networking was the key to her career

• Has your network heard from you lately?

• 3 networking tips

• Focus on networking when your search slows down

• How to use LinkedIn to get your next job

• Tips to keep your network from going stale

• How to strengthen your network at the end of the year

• Reset your job search milestones

• Everyone loves holiday cards!

• Set yourself up for September