Haroun - 101 Crucial Lessons They Dont Teach You in Business School: Forbes calls this book 1 of 6 books that all entrepreneurs must read right now along with the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

Crucial Networking Tips to Make You More Successful

Lesson #1: Steve Jobs' Winning Strategy: How to Get Anything You Want

Many of us use iPhones and iPads and other Apple products because of one simple business and life strategy that Steve Jobs practiced from a very young age:

Ask and you shall receive. This short YouTube video will change your life (alternatively go to YouTube and search for Steve Jobs Ask): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkTf0LmDqKI

Steve Jobs never had issues reaching out and asking for help from strangers. You will be amazed how many people want to help you if you just ask! Fortunately, not many people do this.

When Steve Jobs was only 12 years old he called Bill Hewlett from Hewlett Packard. The young Steve Jobs asked Bill Hewlett if he could give Steve spare parts for a device that he was creating. Hewlett laughed and not only gave him the spare parts, but gave Steve Jobs a job!

Many of us are too shy or we think that it is outside of our comfort zone to ask for help, especially from strangers. Culturally it feels uncomfortable for many people to ask for help or ask strangers for something. You need to do this often.

So in this day and age of social media, how do we successfully ask for help? Its much easier than you think. If you are not already a LinkedIn subscriber, please sign up for the premium version. Do an advanced search and find people with something in common with you. If you are from Bombay but live in the United States and live in New York, enter Bombay in LinkedIn and then the zip code that you live in. Then send an inMail message in LinkedIn with a very short message as follows:

John,

Hope all is well. I am also from Bombay and I also live in New York. Please let me know if you have time for a coffee in the next few weeks.

Thanks a lot,
Chris

Yes it is that easy! People want to help, especially the farther away you get from the place you grew up in. You can also reach people by leveraging your school as follows:

Matt,

Hope all is well. I also went to McGill University and I also live in New York. Please let me know if you have time for a coffee in the next few weeks.

Thanks a lot,
Chris

Trust me this works! My success rate on getting meetings with strangers using LinkedIn has always been very high. Why? Because I ask often and most people dont.

This works exceptionally well. Please try it! It works because very few people do it. Too many people today use email which is why it is not an effective tool to set up meetings.

InMails work. Please try it. I promise you that you will be amazed at the outcome! People want to help you! Simply ask and you shall receive.

Lesson #2: How to Get a Job and Why Sending in a Resume Can Be a Waste of Time...there is a Better Way.

Be a contrarian and think different when it comes to getting a job. Everybody sends their resume to companies. Dont do this as the odds of getting an interview are extraordinarily low.

How do I get a job then? Well it all comes down to the relationships that you already have or will have soon. What does that mean? Its simple as all you need to do is set up informational meetings with as many people as you can at the companies you want to work at.

You are probably asking yourself this question: That doesnt make any sense. Why would someone want to meet with me anyway and how do I get these meetings? It is simple. Use LinkedIn. We are covering using LinkedIn several times in this book as it is crucial that you leverage this social media gold mine (because most people dont).

In the business school classes that I teach, I start off every first lecture with a simple question as follows: If I told you that if you did at least 20 informational meetings with strangers at companies that you wanted to work at then you will get the job of your dreams. If this is the case, how many of you would set up these informational meetings? Every single student lifts their hand in agreement. Then at the end of the 15 session course that I teach, I ask how many did 20+ informational meetings. Only 1 or 2 hands go up. Those that did the 20+ informational meetings all get jobs without exception.

So are you telling me Chris that if I set up 20 or more informational meetings that I will get a job? Thats right. Try it and youll amaze yourself.

Ok so once I get these meetings what should I do or say? Just be yourself. If the person you are meeting with is from your home town talk about your home town. If this person went to the same school as you did, simply talk about the school. Relationships are more important than product knowledge so the first half of the meeting should be an informal discussion about what you have in common with this person (i.e., the school you went to, where you are from etc.). Then during the second half of the meeting you should transition to a discussion of your career goals. Towards the end of the meeting you need to ask if the company is hiring. If not, ask when they will be and follow up at that point.

This strategy works but you need to meet with many people in order to see the results.

Lesson #3: Business is About People and Not What You Know

Its an old clich that its not what you know but who you know. If you need to get anything done in your company then you need to develop extraordinary relationships with coworkers in your department and other departments.