How You Can Network With Even Trivial Things: A Case Study of Oluwole

Hello Suraj,

My name is Oluwole (surname withheld) and I saw your write up in the Punch newspaper. I found it really interesting how you could relate the Nigerian youth and entrepreneurship.

From a personal study, I noted that Nigerians are very enterprising people but also risk averse. An average Nigerian wouldn’t take the plunge to start their own venture simply because of the fear of the unknown; the fear of the future. But we could however look to the millennial generation such as your friend to surpass the odds and achieve their dreams.

I admire the efforts of your friend and wanted to see if you would pass me along as a candidate for an internship.

I just graduated as a student of Business Administration from the University of Lagos. I have a keen interest in finance and finance related fields. I felt your friend’s outfit would create a platform for me to gain invaluable experience as well as offer and obtain tangible skills.

I will like to know if your friend will be interested in an intern. I am available on request. Thanks for reading.

Cheers,

Oluwole

I got that email this evening from a reader who had chanced into my article AGE AND THE NIGERIAN ENTREPRENEUR which was published in the Punch newspaper on Sunday (it was earlier published on JarusHub and part of the essays in my book, THE ROAD TO VICTORIA ISLAND).

The email is ordinarily not extraordinary but what interests me is the networking opportunity identified by the sender.  I think there are some networking lessons inherent in it. Let’s walk through what he did:

1. He saw the article in the newspaper, with my email address published in it
2. He saw the opportunity in it – “this writer has a friend that owns a company; hey, why not let me try my luck with him?“
3. He started the email by commending me for the article -(Psychology 101 – There is nobody that doesn’t like being commended).
4. He did not request for a permanent job – which could be a non-starter; rather, he requested for a more easily considerable role – internship – despite being a graduate, even though you and I know his intent is getting the job in the company in the final analysis (Wisdom 101).

The first impression I had of the guy was that he knew what he was doing and I forwarded his request to my friend immediately. I have not gotten his feedback but I hope Niyi will have a slot for him in his burgeoning investment management outfit. Even if eventually there is no space for him, he has tried and with such creative mindset, I don’t see him staying long at home.

I – and other writers here – have always emphasized the role of networking in our articles, and like I always say, you don’t need to know one Senator or Minister to benefit from networking. You just have to be creative. I have personally benefitted from such daring moves: I read an article by a former presidential candidate in a newspaper where his email address was put included. I could have dismissed my chance, that how would a presidential candidate, a highly placed public figure, respond to an interview request by a common blogger (I’m not a common blogger anyway). I could have even speculated that such personality will not put his regular/direct email address in a published article. Or that he wont respond to email from an unknown person. I wasn’t deterred, and crafted a nice email to him asking for interview on his career (beyond politics). He forwarded it to his media team, all the way from Saudi Arabia where he was doing the Muslim lesser hajj (Umrah) and got his media team respond to me. The interview eventually took place. There is always no harm in trying.

I have used this formula to network with so many people or get one benefit or the other.

Networking is key in every endeavor in life, whether you’re looking for job or running your own business, and networking can take any form. Just see how this gentleman connected with me to contact my own friend for him.

Read other JarusHub articles on networking:

Both the Size and Quality of Your Network Matter

How to Build a Beneficial Network and a Formidable Clout: Sharing my Personal Experience

The Role of Networking in Job Hunting

Grab a copy of my ebook, The Road to Victoria Island, for more thoughts on career.