My neighbor's networking story

I asked my neighbor how she got her current job (she is a lawyer).

She was working elsewhere and was curious about hotel/hospitality law.

She met an attorney at a law firm her employer did business with and who was in that field and asked to meet up with him for coffee.

He told her he was too busy and to call him again in six months.

So she did and they met for coffee.

He said the economy is terrible and his firm wasn't hiring anyone, including folks with way more experience than her.

She said ok.

Six months later she was traveling to an industry conference and asked if he was going.

He was.

They met up.

He told her "I finally convinced my company that we have so much work to do that and that I need needed to hire someone. They said won't that be expensive? He said nope, I know someone who is cheap!"

That someone was my neighbor and he hired her.

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Some networking lessons from this story:

• Don't let small rejections stand in your way
• Be persistent and follow up
• Be patient; expect long timelines for things to work out

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