Networking Rules - Business Networking - The Muse

Networking Rules - Business Networking - The MuseNetworking Rules - Business Networking Networking is a mind game. If youre anything like me, first you have an internal negotiation just to get yourself to the event. Then you have to psych yourself up and issue yourself the reminder that if you make five or six connections, the mission was a resounding success. It can be so easy to get stuck in your head when youre networking that when confronted with a room full of people you get distracted from the mission and forget all the networking tricks you had up your sleeve. The thing is, though, in order to make connections that matter, you really only need to remember three things.So instead of wandering around your next event like child lost in the woods, let us guide you in some thought hacks and mental tricks to help boost your confidence and ability to make professional connections that could have a profound impact on your career.1. Network CleanResearch out of Northwestern University suggested that participants in a study who were asked to think of a time they behaved with the intention of building a professional relationship were more likely to feel dirty about networking. Their counterparts, who were asked to think about the act of making personal connections, seemed to feel better about the interaction. Networking mentor Marsha Shandur suggests thinking about networking as making industry friends. She says, You want to look at everything from a friendship-y point of view. Treat the people you meet, well, like people. The networking context can be so forced, we can forget were all people outside the room with lives and professions that are important to us. So find out whats really important to the person youre talking to by asking questions and being curious. Be willing to admit you never heard of something, and ask them to expound. Theres no shame in saying, Tell me more about that In fact, its a great way to keep a conversation going Then, the next time you meet someone at a networking event and create a connection youd like to nurture, make sure to send a personalized follow-up email. Reference things they said in your conversation. This makes them feel seen and heard. And maybe even do a little sleuthing to find out what theyre into so you can be a useful source of information.2. Own Your ValueThese relationships arent meant to be one-sided. Even if you have a lot to gain from an introduction, dont underestimate what you can bring to the table. Cynthia Greenawalt, an expert in building social capital and contributing author of Masters Of Networking, suggests asking yourself Whats the music Im playing as I walk into the interaction? before starting any networking conversation. If its not an empowering tune, its not going to work. Get in touch with whats great about you, she says, otherwise youre in the I hope you like me mode. If you show up owning your value, youre more likely to develop a strong, mutually beneficial relationship rat her than seeming like an excited fan. Find your value by asking yourself what you bring to the table thats relevant in this interaction. Identify the need youre fulfilling in the eyes of the people with whom youre interacting. And, finally, look to what makes you different than other people in your space. This could be anything from your personal or professional past to a passion that helps you connect with people. Make this your networking mantra I am someone worth knowing.3. Farm StrategicallyGreenawalt also suggests identifying what kind of fruit could come from the tree youre cultivating. Dont network blindly or randomly. This is strategic networking, which Harvard Business Review says is the most important for growth. Strategic networking goes beyond just chatting with anyone who will talk you up at a networking event and instead pushes you to identify people who can help you see the big picture, figure out where your unique skill set or viewpoint fits in, and work to connect w ith them. This kind of networking might mean asking for introductions to big-wigs in your industry. But, it will be important to think to yourself Am I into this person? as the relationship evolves. If the answer is no, get out before the things gets icky or you end up wasting a ton of time. If you prolong the relationship, the person might start to feel used. (Youre not that into them yet youre using them for their contacts and industry knowledge.) The fruit you end up harvesting will be kind of rotten. If the answer is yes, channel your energy into continuing to nourish and build the relationship- and spend your time there rather than attending tons of random events.So, tell me, which tip are you going to implement to nurture your network? Tweet at me AmandaBerlin.Photo of three networkers courtesy of Shutterstock.

Workers with H-1B visas have had their salaries increased

Workers with H-1B visas have had their salaries increasedWorkers with H-1B visas have had their salaries increasedBeing a foreign worker in the U.S. on an H-1B visa has gotten more lucrative.Thats according to newU.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services data. If you overcome the hoops of immigration to work in the U.S. on this visa, you could earn an average salary of$80,000, a salary thats up from about $69,000 10 years ago.According to Pew Research Centers analysis of the government data, theres been a spike in the demand for highly skilled foreign workers on behauptung visas There were 399,349 H-1B visa applications in 2016, up from 246,126 in 2009.H-1B visas are given to foreign workers with highly specialized knowledge and a bachelors degree or higher in the specific specialty, or its equivalent. The employers that were filing the most applications came from information technology outsourcing companies, withCognizant Tech Solutions, an IT consulting company getting 21,459 appli cations approved in 2016, the most out of any company.Facebook pays the most to employees who hold H-1B visasBut demand doesnt necessarily correlate with pay.The companies that were applying for the most H-1B visas werent giving these workers the highest salaries. The highest-paid H-1B visa workers came from tech giants, who werent submitting as many applications but were paying the workers that got approved higher salaries than the companies filing for more visas.Of the top 30 companies that were filing for H-1B visas, Facebook pays these workers the most, with an average salary of $140,758. Apple and Google were the paying the second- and third-highest averagesalaries at$138,563 and$131,882, respectively.This is the first time the U.S. has publicly disclosed this data. In previous years, the information was obtained through Freedom of Information Acts.A 2017 paper found that H-1B visas led to $431 million net gains for U.S. workers in 2010. The future of the program is unclear und er President Donald Trump. In April, the President signed a Buy American and Hire American executive order that mandated federal authorities to suggest reforms to the program as soon as practicable.

Technology continues to disrupt in disappointing jobs report

Technology continues to disrupt in disappointing jobs reportTechnology continues to disrupt in disappointing jobs reportThe U.S. Department of Labor has released its monthly jobs report, which indicates how employers are behaving.The upshot yes, there are jobs available, but some major industries are suffering and a continuing rise in part-time work, the quality of jobs isnt very high.What the latest jobs report tells us about whos working in AmericaFirst, the overall view job creation is not as strong as economists had hoped, which means the economy isnt as strong as it should be.How do we know that? Because fewer new jobs are being created. When the economy is strong, and companies feel confident, they create mora jobs. Thats not the case now, or for the past two months.For instance, although many economists expected 185,000 jobs to be added in May, only 138,000 jobs were added. In more bad news, the Labor Department said it had overestimated its initial March and April job growth estimatesand was off by 66,000 jobs for the two months.Which industries are up, and which are downSecond, some major industries are suffering. Retailers lost 6,100 jobs in May, continuing the trend of brick-and-mortar stores being in freefallbecause more Americans are shopping online.Although there were promising job increases in healthcare and mining, that strength stands out because other industries are so weak.On Thursday, consultancy firm Challenger, Gray Christmas reportedthat grocery stores and the automotive industry were beingimpacted by job cuts. Michael Kors announcedThursday that it isclosing about 100-125 stores over the next two years to save costs.Whats causing the job destruction in retail? Right now, people prefer to shop online more than they did in the past. Even though online shopping is less than 10% of all shopping, its enough to hurt the stores and the people who work there.And its only going to get worse. When online technology can giveyou price transparency at the click of your fingers, it makesin-person salesobsolete.The consumer has an amazingly efficient and effective mechanism to discover what prices are and to make a virtually snap judgment about what theyre willing to pay for such things and that has shifted the balance of power to consumers away from retailers and producers, Mark Hamrick, senior economic analyst at Banktarif.com, said. Theres still going to be brands like Apple and Teslathat continue to be capable of commanding premium prices but its harder and harder.People are dropping out of the workforce, but where are they going?Hamrick said that overall, the May jobs report was a big disappointment and that the job numbers showed that the recent past hasnt beenas strong as we thought it was.On the plus side, the unemployment rate stayed steady at 4.3%, the lowest its been since 2001.This all sounds good on the surface - until you see that the labor force participation rate fell too. Labor force participation is a measure of how many people are working when the number drops, it means theyre dropping out of the work force. Thats whats happening now. More people are not looking for work and are not rejoining the job market. The labor force participation rate declined by 0.2% to 62.7% in May as about 429,000 people dropped out of the labor force.Its a firm trend labor force participation has been dropping since 2000, as this chart from Business Insider shows.There are no clear answers about exactly why and which Americans are disappearing this month, and if this is out of the ordinary. The obvious suspects are Baby Boomers, who are of retirement age, but women and young workers are also dropping out of the payrolls.Theres nothing thats going to compel baby boomers to stop retiringeven if theyre underfunded for retirementAnd for the most part, high school students are continuing to stay in school and go to college, Hamrick explained. Between those factors and the fact that females are not contributors to the labor force participation likethey were in years past, those are all demographic reasons that arent changed by a days or months or years worth of headlines on employment.This make sense. More Americans are going to college than ever before and are not joining the job market until later. Moreover, the U.S. not having mandatory paid family leavedisproportionately hurts women when it comes to employment.Some economic analysts also believe that labor force participation rates slumpis due to the job market being at full capacity everyone who wants a job currently can find one. Thats an optimistic view, but one thats hard to prove.So, jobs are there but are they may not be good enough for people to want them.If we want to compel more people to join the job market, we could entice them with more job training and higher wages, but growth inaveragehourly earnings remains sluggish. Wages increased by just four cents last month to $26.22 an hour.