What does 'will help in anyway I can' exactly mean?

Hey fellow monkeys, I have been doing a lot cold emailing/calling lately. Some people (mostly alumni) are nice enough to say 'will help in anyway they can'. And sometimes I wonder does that mean its appropriate to ask for a job referral during first phone call? Or its still a super-doper bad thing to ask for job info during first phone call. Also Can I answer their 'so tell me, what exactly can I do to help?' with a funny 'well an interview opportunity will be helpful'. Thanks!

4 Comments
 

From personal experience, when I was reaching out to alumni as a sophomore, one replied to me asking what I needed help with. This was at a point when I was beginning to get nervous about landing even a single interview for a summer internship.

I decided to be more up front in my reply to the alum, and expressed my need for help connecting to individuals who could help me get my foot in the door. He went ahead and ended up blasting my name and resume out to some of his colleagues and connections, which yielded one or two interview processes for me.

I think it depends on how comfortable you feel sharing your situation with someone, but sometimes being honest (not necessarily aggressive and demanding) is better than beating around the bush.

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My opinion after going through recruiting: when they ask what they can help with, be direct. If you know they have a spot open, say you noticed that and would like to get a little more context on the recruiting process. I'd leave out the joke though lol.

I think most people don't think much about it when they say "will help in any way I can" and usually do it because they are trying to be nice, but I'd take them up on that. Each relationship you build will be different so there isn't one cookie cutter answer but tread the water how you see fit and be direct. I noticed a lot of people are too scared to ask after a phone call "is there anyone you'd recommend I reach out to?", but you should be doing that. Its how your networking becomes effective and results compound. At worst, they say "let me think on that and I'll get back to you". Either they'll get back or they won't but you can't be afraid to ask. I'd say 90% of the people I asked always gave me someone and many times were nice enough to even make an intro. Hope this helps

 

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