Transferring yourself into a new industry while job hunting can be a daunting task and may leave you confused and perplexed. The business world is quite different from the academia and without proper guidance and training you can face a lot of difficulty navigating industries. Some networking tips are surely helpful to guide you to do the right thing. You must ensure to avoid these few things while starting or growing a career in the business world:
- Networking with the wrong people: PhDs usually tend to meet PhDs. That is their most common networking strategy. But this kind of networking rarely leads to any kind of job opportunities arising. All that you get to hear are the experiences of the people and not any new job options. You must meet with people in the business wold and people of different industries and interest areas. The more diverse category of people you meet, better would be your scope of landing into getting job offers.
- Blowing up your title and attitude: Some people after completing their PhD want to act bigger and refuse to consider themselves at the same pedestal with the others who are non-doctorates as they think that their accomplishment makes them worthy of much more. You must be realistic when you meet with people. Boasting and exaggerating about your skill set may not be of much help and may perhaps bring down your credibility when you are not able to live up to the expectations you have created.
- Awaiting contact from others: networking and being known in the business world is all about taking initiatives and contacting people on your own. If you keep waiting all the time for people to contact you then it may never happen. Remember that no one is going to chase you with a job on the platter. The ball will always remain in your court.
- Underestimating your potential: This is in contrast to the above mistake. It is right that you must not blow up your title and attitude, but at the same time you must not tone yourself down below your due potential. You end up doing that sometimes, when you show how desperate you are for getting a job or you accept the salary package without any much negotiation. You have to maintain your grace, and create an impression that you are not distressed without a job.
