Writer’s note: Apologies for being M.I.A. for so long but I’m back on a regular schedule now. If you don’t see regular postings from me (at least one post every other week), email me on here and be the first to catch me. I’ll do one free resume consultation.
I may be exaggerating when I say a plane is a networking Mecca but with my recent travels I had to communicate a great place to network, the airport. The first time I was flown to a company to interview I was in business casual attire and being the middle of the week I was surrounded by business men and women flying to meet clients, go to different branches or have lost track why they’re going to God knows where. The whole trip from Detroit to Charlotte, I spoke to a gentleman about business, his family, my goals, my hobbies; almost like an interview.
I asked for a business card when we began our descent and low and behold he was a Global Vice President for one of the largest companies in the world. I gave him my resume and he even emailed me to see how my interview went as well as telling me he told his wife if he had half the energy of me, they’d be millionaires. Two weeks later I received a call from his organization about an interview. I didn’t end up working for them but in two hours I networked with a V.P. who travels the world making decisions for a Fortune 10 company and got an interview. All because I looked like somewhat of a business traveler and had the nerve to strike up a conversation. On the way back from this interview, I sat next to a buyer of Italian goods and spoke to her the whole way back.
I hate to sit here and talk about myself and my experience the whole time but it’s the only way I learned in college, being shown examples and real-life situations. This happened and has continued to happen every time I fly. Even if traveling for vacation, I wear a button down shirt and dress pants just in case. According to www.flightaware.com in the past 24 hours there were 43,746 arrivals! And www.bts.gov has a 2003 report that Americans make more than 405 million long-distance business trips per year. So next time you’re in a plane ready to swallow Dramamine, remember it’s more important now than ever to differentiate yourself and network like crazy. Here’s the main points:
• When you travel, at least wear business casual clothes
• Keep a resume` or business cards with you, get their email. You don’t have to be employed to have cards
• Guts. Have you ever traveled in the daytime where it was completely quiet on a plane? No, because every business person is talking business with the person next to them. So do the same. It’s not an interview, you have nothing to lose
• Get their information. Ask about possible employment, and be casual when conversing
• Talk to the whole row!
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Ethan Oblonsky is a successful account executive for a Fortune 500 IT company and has been providing resume writing services and interview consulting for the past 3 years to a wide-range of clients.
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Helpful tips. I never really thought of networking seriously in a plane.
Life works in mysterious ways sometimes. You just never know where an opportunity will present itself. Often times in the most random of places. You have to look around you and read the signs.