Can we meet?

Dear First Gen,
​
Joy Weber (a featured first gen) shared a piece of advice for first gens that want to meet people outside of their network: Consider reaching out to people via LinkedIn, even if you’ve never been introduced to them before. This is a great idea!

You may have met someone at an event that you have finally found the courage to attend, or overheard someone else talking about this individual. In either situation, this person piqued your curiosity and you want to learn more about them, but you do not have a way to contact them. When it comes to individuals you don’t know, reach out to them for an in-person informational meeting. If the person has a busy calendar and you are unable to coordinate a meeting time, then you can opt for a phone conversation. When that’s the case, LinkedIn is a good place to start! A friend called @LinkedIn, "Facebook for Professionals".

Log in to your account (or create an account), and then perform a search of the person’s name to find out if you have mutual contacts. If you don’t, that’s OK—you may still be able to network with that individual. It is scary and you may not know where to begin but let me suggest two approaches.

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Mutual Contact Initiates

• Email Introduction by a Mutual Contact: Your mutual contact can give a nice introduction to you and propose a meeting to talk about your goals or interests.
  
• Follow-up: Send a separate email, or reply to the original, thanking your contact for the introduction.
  
• Expand on the Introduction: Give your new contact a little more information about yourself—your background, your goals, and why you wanted to meet them.
  
• Request for Informational Meeting: Write a few sentences about your intentions for meeting and provide a few dates and times you could meet, but also let them know you are open to other times if the ones provided are inconvenient.
  
• Informational Meeting: Make sure to have a few key questions ready to ask the person. What path did you take to arrive at your contact position? Did you receive assistance in building your network? What would you suggest I do now to get to X? Do you know of any offices or programs looking for assistance where I can get the firsthand experience and build my resume for X ultimate position?
  
  

You Initiate

• Start with a Good Subject: There are a couple approaches to this. The more conservative is something along the lines of “Greetings,” or “Pleasure to Meet You.” Or you can try more of an attention-grabber like, “Young Professional Seeking Your Insight,” or “Interested in Meeting You to Learn Your Career Path.”
  
• Introduce Yourself: Mention a common factor such as school, leadership roles, geography, or hobbies. You want to build a rapport. Let them know how you learned about them.
  
• Share the Reason for Contact: Tell them you are interested in learning more about their path to a certain position at work, a nonprofit, or an appointment.
  
• Request for Informational Meeting: Write a few sentences about your intentions for meeting and provide a few dates and times you could meet, but also let them know you are open to other times if the ones provided are inconvenient.
  
• Informational Meeting: Make sure to have a few key questions ready to ask the person. What path did you take to arrive at your contact position? Did you receive assistance in building your network? What would you suggest I do now to get to X? Do you know of any offices or programs looking for assistance where I can get the firsthand experience and build my resume for X ultimate position?
  

 
Of course, it's an advantage if you already have a connection in common. But that doesn't mean you are out of the game if you have to spark the conversation yourself. Your proactive attitude of setting up an informational interview will be your best chance at getting the person to agree to meet you. Good luck!

Fellow Riser,

Irnande

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