Are you a new grad or a junior professional looking to build or broaden your professional network?
Here’s a good suggestion: Interview experienced people in your industry.
Identify people who have achieved something interesting and meaningful, but aren’t widely known yet.
Reach out to them, using warm intros wherever you can, rather than cold calls. At first, you’ll probably be rejected or ignored 99% of the time. That’s expected. Keep going. Look at what Harry Stebbings did – he sent 53 cold emails to Marc Benioff before he was able to set up an interview.
Once you do the interview, make it count. Channel your inner Walter Isaacson. And offer something valuable in return: create a standout social media post for them. Your goal isn’t to build your own social media content, but theirs, pro bono. Many people want great social media posts but don’t have the time.
Here’s the thing: You’re time rich and wisdom poor; they’re wisdom rich and time poor. Use your time to help capture their wisdom.
This isn’t just a great learning opportunity for you, it’s also a powerful way to network. Interviewing someone is arguably one of the best ways to form a connection.
After this, don’t let the relationship end; it’s a common mistake. Instead, make an effort to stay in touch. Maybe you could send them future interviews, newsletter-style.
Over time, these interviews will become easier, as you’ll have more content to showcase.
Interviewing someone is one way to grow richer, both in wisdom and connections.