Networking Survival

What I like about this column on networking by Liz Ryan is its focus on the dark side: All those people out there who want to "network" and "get to know you" so they can ask you for something, without any real intention of returning the favor. Networking, Ryan thinks, has gotten a bad rap because as more people have taken to it, its dynamics have changed. It's less about getting to know people and more about building a list of sales leads.

It doesn't have to be that way, she points out, and her article is all about how to fend off those people you'll invariably meet who think of networking as expanding their stable of favor-doers.

Two examples:

If You Get What You Want, Say Thanks

When you call on your network—or just one member of it—for help, and you get it, say "thank you." Countless helpful business leaders have spent countless hours poring over the résumés of countless job-seekers who've asked for a bit of guidance and gotten it—only to disappear into the fog, never thanking the advice-giver or acknowledging his or her contribution to the cause. A heartfelt thank-you e-mail works wonders. If you skip that step, you're asking for bad career karma for years on end and burning a bridge you can ill afford to set ablaze.

Don't Dis a Favor

One of my favorite disgusting-networking stories concerns a young lady who asked me for help with her HR résumé. The résumé was a mess, and it took me two hours to rewrite it, stem to stern. I sent back the revised version, and she wrote me, saying: "I had no idea you'd take my résumé apart and rewrite it. It'll take me a long time to type this up again. In the meantime, can you please send my old résumé to all your contacts?" Sure, no problem. Is it O.K. if I include a note saying: "I rewrote this person's résumé for her since, as you can see, this version reeks, but she's too busy to type it up. In the meantime, can you please hire her?" That should get a lot of interviews.

Read it and be armed.

10 Tips for Networkers [BusinessWeek]