Andrea Nierenberg is the President of The Nierenberg Group and a self-described “Queen of Networking.” She is the author of such acclaimed books as Savvy Networking: 118 Fast & Effective Tips for Business Success, Nonstop Networking: How to Improve Your Life, Luck, and Career, and Million Dollar Networking: The Sure Way To Find, Keep And Grow Your Business.
On September 20th, we were fortunate to have the opportunity to interview Andrea Nierenberg. She offers Baruch students insight on networking.
Q. What do you recommend for someone who plans to network in the near future?
A. First of all, I see networking as everyday life relationship building. It’s not an activity that you have to go to. Most of the time, networking is serendipitous- anywhere, anytime, anyplace. It’s about building relationships and being aware of interpersonal skills.
The other important thing is always carry with you a business card, even if you are a student. I advise everyone to have a business card made up that at least has your name, phone number, proper email address and the area of study because what would happen if somebody says: “May I have your card?” Do not give them out like confetti, but if somebody says, “May I have your card?”, you will be prepared. Also make sure to have a nice pen with you and paper to write notes in case you have a conversation and want to follow up later. Be ready, be prepared, always!
Q. Do you think it’s important for students to take the initiative and reach out to the professionals?
A. I think it is, but it’s not only about, “Can you get me a job?” or “Can you help me?” If I’m looking for a job or looking for a business, what I want to do first is see what I can learn about this person, do my homework, and then reach out to them in their preferred method of communication. Sometimes we don’t know what that is, so maybe we’ll email; it’s probably the safest. You have to be prepared and also keep in mind that you can be a help too. People ask me: “Well, I’m a student, how can I be of help?” And I say: “You know what; this generation is the most educated. You have so much knowledge, you are on the cutting edge of technologies, and you have so much to offer to other more seasoned people that are out there.”
Q. What sort of college courses would you recommend for someone who is striving to become an effective leader in their career?
A. I would suggest taking a well-rounded curriculum of all types of courses because that’s one of the greatest things – to be well-rounded. Also, take business courses, electives, art, international studies…
But specifically take courses that you can say, “I learned something from that class.” There is so much out there, take advantage of it!
Q. In your opinion, is there such a thing as excessive networking in the online world? For example, are too many people only networking online and missing opportunities to have face-to-face interaction?
A. People spend so much time trying to connect online and the whole goal should be to really connect off-line. It’s great to have many relationships online and I know that it’s impossible to keep in touch face to face with everyone. However, you cannot just hide behind the screen all the time. And I think it’s very important to balance. I also think that it’s very important to realize that online systems can be used as tools. So, yes I do think that sometimes people hide behind the screen.
On the other hand I think that what we have today – Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and beyond [are] phenomenal because they give you that much more marketing opportunity. I come from the direct marketing industry, in the olden days, and those were the days when you mailed catalogs, lists and things like that, you had to put those things in the mail, now it’s all online. The power of viral connections, it’s like one tells another and another tells another…
Q. Speaking of LinkedIn – do you think it’s good to have a lot of contacts on the site?
A. It’s all about quality vs. quantity. I always want to make sure that I know who the people in my network are; that I know something about them, that I feel secure if they recommended me or I recommended them.
Q. If you could network with anyone right now, who would it be? Why?
A. Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook… I would like to talk to him and learn more after watching the Social Network. I would also have liked to speak to Steve Jobs and I would like to speak to the founders of Google. I just read a statistic that every day over a billion Facebook messages are sent and every minute 24 hours of material is uploaded on YouTube. I think the internet is the sky. There is no limit.