Hello Reader,
Every time she opened LinkedIn to message a hiring manager, the same thought stopped her: “I have nothing to offer them, I only want something.”
She had it exactly the wrong way around. She is a woman I worked with who was genuinely afraid of networking.
Reaching out to senior people, approaching companies, putting herself forward for roles. And the fear underneath it was always the same.
- “They are up here, I am down here.”
- “I am bothering them.”
- “I am asking for a favour.”
- “I have nothing to give in return.”
The advice I gave her was to rethink what she actually brings.
Because she is kind. She is competent. She is experienced. She has a positive intention behind the work she wants to do, and she has done great work before. And she carries all of that into the conversation with her.
And once you are clear on that, the picture changes. When you reach out to a hiring manager, you are helping them fill a role they may need filled.
You are presenting yourself, efficiently, as a qualified solution to a problem they have, or a problem they do not yet know they have. You are actually saving them time.
So the favour also runs the other way.
She told me that after this, she finally knew how to connect with people more easily.
What would you write on your own list of 40 things that you bring?
You can do it! 🙋♀️💪
Mareike
