I don’t normally repost parts of old blogs or new emails, but I think this is important enough to do so.  The American Meteorological Society’s 92nd Annual Meeting is in New Orleans January 22-26.  While I , sadly, will not be able to attend, I encourage all attendees to do one of the most important things any professional can do: meet new people!  Networking is highly useful in a job hunt, whether you are looking for yourself or a friend.  It is especially helpful for future and recent graduates who have had limited opportunities to meet others in the field beyond their former classmates.

To that end, the AMS is hosting its 2nd Annual Reception for Young Professionals at this year’s AMS Annual Meeting.  Here is the information quoted from yesterday’s email:

What: 2nd Annual Young Professionals Reception sponsored by SAIC Date:
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Time: 9pm – 11pm
Location: Hilton Riverside Hotel, Grand Salon A

There will be a business card competition to encourage networking at
the event, so please remember to bring your business cards. It doesn’t
matter if you printed them at home or they are professionally printed!

Now for the repeating of an old post.  It was one of our first after launching whatever-weather, and I still believe the message is a valuable one. I did make some minor edits just to update the info a bit.

The Art of Networking

January 29, 2010

There’s an old saying that it’s not what you know, but whom you know.  In the business of meteorology, I think it is really about both.  You have to know the weather, but knowing the right people helps in a big way when job hunting.  So how do you get to know the right people?  By networking, of course!

There are a few things to consider when thinking about the art of networking.  First, no matter what a person’s position in life is right now, it will likely change in the future.  In other words, the person you meet today might be a second-year meteorology student struggling to comprehend atmospheric thermodynamics, but a few years from now, that person could be a hiring manager for a major company.  Introduce yourself to the students and professionals alike in this field.  No one knows what the future holds.

If possible, never miss an opportunity to network in person.  Those opportunities come in the form of conferences both big and small.  I have made some great connections at the National American Meteorological Society’s conferences.  With thousands in attendance, it would be difficult not to.  I have made almost as many good connections at the Minnesota Skywarn Workshop.  Wherever you happen to be, in order to really meet people, you have to put yourself out there.  Introduce yourself.  At conferences and workshops especially, you know you have something in common with the other participants.  It should be easy to start a conversation.  Seriously.  Even non-meteorologists start conversations by talking about the weather, right?

If you can’t afford to hit the many conferences and workshops around the country, focus on a more local type of gathering.  A good example is the local chapter of the AMS.  Not only do you meet people with similar interests, but you get to share ideas and information in a more intimate setting.  The knowledge I have gained from those meetings has helped me along my path in this business.

Beyond face-to-face meetings, there is a plethora of ways to network on the Internet including LinkedIn, twitter, and facebook among others.  LinkedIn lets you post your own professional profile, connect with others in the same business, and join groups of like-minded people.

Twitter is a bit more simple and complicated at the same time.  It may take longer to weed through the huge number of users to find those with similar interests, but they are out there.  When you find them, you will suddenly find many more like them by using “features” like #FollowFriday.  The use of twitter could be an entire blog in itself, really.  By the way, you can find us on twitter, too!

How you use Facebook depends entirely on your own preference.  For example, I use it to keep up with people that I truly know and have chatted with face-to-face with a few rare exceptions.  For me Facebook is more personal and I can really be myself on my own page without worrying too much about what my friends think.  After all they are my friends.  For others, Facebook is another way to really expand their professional networks.  Whatever-Weather has a group page and a “fan” page on Facebook.  Please join us there.  You might just meet new people that way, too.

The goal of networking goes beyond just making new acquaintances.  In the process, you have the opportunity to learn new things, too.  For example, you may be a life-long broadcast meteorologist and you meet a NASA space weather scientist.  Think of all of the possible subjects you can discuss and information you can share!  You could tell her about life in front of a green screen and being recognized in the grocery store.  She could tell you how sunspots effect the earth’s global temperatures.  Then you both walk away better on yet another level for having spoken with each other.

In summary, there are multiple ways to network, and I have only covered a few here.  However you choose to do it, networking always starts with one thing: an introduction. “Hi, my name is Nicolle. I co-own Whatever-Weather.com.  What do you do?”