Avoid The Seven Deadly Sins Of Networking

Many of us consider networking a necessary evil of maintaining a healthy, robust career, but it doesn’t have to be. In reality, it’s more often than not bad networking that puts people off networking altogether.

Photo by dogbomb.

At Yahoo’s Manage Your Life weblog, Marci Alboher rounds up what she calls the seven deadly sins of networking, discussing what makes each sin so bad and providing a clear path to avoiding each. For example:

Making introductions on behalf of people you can’t vouch for. We all want to help people find new opportunities, but it can be damaging to your relationships and reputation to recommend people when you can’t vouch for them. LinkedIn, which has automated the process of making introductions through mutual contacts, has made this problem more prevalent.

Solution: Next time a friend asks you to make an introduction on behalf of someone you don’t know, instead of blindly recommending the person, ask your friend if he or she can provide a rave review. If the answer is yes, then you can tell your contact that while you don’t have firsthand knowledge, someone you respect has given the person a strong review. If the answer is no, then your friend will certainly understand if you decline to make the introduction.

Head over to the full post for a closer look at the sins you should be sure to avoid, and when you get back, we’re curious: Which networking sins have you found yourself guilty of? Tell us all about it in the comments.

7 deadly sins of networking, and how to avoid them [Managing Your Life]