THE FOURTH STEP is to practice introductions of yourself that you will use in meeting your networking contacts. Depending on the situation, you may want to use the sound bite, an idea by Brian Krueger in his book, the College Grad Hunter, or a longer introduction called the commercial. The sound bite is an abbreviated introduction of yourself and it is used in situations such as Career Fairs or receptions where you do not have very much time to talk. It is also a good lead-in for telephone conversations with contacts you do not know. In situations in which you have more time to talk about yourself, the commercial is a longer version of the sound bite, typically thirty to sixty seconds, and it works well during a meeting with one of your networking contacts. The commercial can also follow your sound bite as your contact asks you to elaborate on your background.
- The sound bite consists of an introduction of yourself by name and university, what your major is, and what is the purpose of your networking. For example, "Hi, my name is Ashley Keith. I'm a psychology major at Good Ol' University and I'm interested in learning more about the human resources field."
- A commercial for Ashley Keith could go something like this: "I became interested in the human resources field last summer when I interned at The Greater Houston YMCA and I got to know the Human Resources Director there. I had always planned on following the traditional route to graduate school but her job really fascinated me. She worked in all aspects of employee relations and hiring and had a sincere interest in helping people. I liked the variety of her job and the fact that she was a very positive influence in the YMCA. When I returned to school this fall, I decided to add a business class and I also joined the Human Resources Management Association. I have enjoyed my business class and it's a good complement to my psychology classes. Next semester I will begin taking courses as a management major and I hope to obtain an internship in human resources next summer."
