Question is more geared towards the consultants, but welcome any advice. I'm in the process of networking for a new role.
My process has been cold email, intro phone call, and normally attempting to arrange a coffee chat. Trouble is that Friday is the only day I can meet due to travel, I'm open to Sat/Sun coffee but most people want to meet during the workweek. Has anyone had any success strictly networking on a consultant schedule?
I travel up to 100% throughout the year, across 15-20 countries (Americas & EMEA) and also have only Friday to Sunday open. IMO being a consultant is actually better for networking, not worse: - find alternative professional networking sources that may sound crazy but are interesting IRL; example: I found a finance group in a different language/culture/location on Meetup. Showed up and hit it off with the people I met, kept in touch and have now another group of people to talk shop, meet up and ask for referrals. Good overlap with hobbies as well. - Consultants fly all the time and airplanes are packed with other traveling professionals in consulting, finance or other business areas. I always kindly introduce myself to the passengers sitting next to me and gauge carefully whether the other side wants to talk or connect. Over the years this also became a pretty large group of contacts and I keep seeing the same people on various flights! - Networking can happen informally in bars, lounges and they can be after work, regardless of location or country. Even if the day was long I try to make an effort and show up regardless. Try finding the "hot spots" for each profession and/or location. While loud bars, clubs or lounges are not always the best place to find/talk to people, every city has "the spot" where IBD employees, traders, hedge fund analysts, (..) typically hang out. If you don't know where these places are, try going through review platforms (google, yelp,..) or pick the most decent place next to the stock exchange, in Canary Wharf, near key office locations, (..) or, even better, near the place where you'd want to work - google the office location of your next employer and just see where the nearest bar is where people go.
- I ask my clients in various countries/locations to introduce me to their networking sessions - they never had a problem taking me along. This can be either dinner, drinks, a sports event, running group, etc - anything works for me! People are actually very interested in catching up with like-minded internationals, especially when they don't have to go out of their way to meet them.
ps: you could also meet a new contact for lunch during the work week. I know many consultants have a working lunch but that isn't necessarily expected every day of the week.
To above's point, airplane/airport bar networking is so underappreciated. Can come up with countless examples when this has paid me dividends over time.
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