Diversify your educational events, don't put them all in one basket

While in Korea, I had the option to either enroll in a language class or work towards a black belt.  I really wanted to learn Korean so . . . I enrolled in the martial arts class.

While the obvious choice was to join the University program, it would have meant spending time with people who had a compulsion to communicate and, what we all know of international students, a pretty good grasp of the English language.  Strangers from different shores would want to bond.  Bonding is emotional; emotions are immediate; ergo, while most of the lessons would be in Korean, all of the gossip would be in English.

So, instead, I chose to study grammar from a book and the martial arts class forced the conversation practice.  The lessons were all about not ending up in the hospital so the motivation to understand and communicate were immediate and profound.  When the instructor explained how to execute a move without breaking open our skulls, there was one hundred percent attention to grammar and vocabulary.  When it was our turns to execute the move and, if some of the details were fuzzy, there was no occasion to be shy about asking questions.

Diversification is also important when choosing continuing education events.  It may seem logical to attend career fairs if you are looking for a job or to attend technology mixers if you want work in technology.  However, at a certain point, you have to stop preparing and take your education out into the streets and see how it drives.  Like grammar, knowledge is no good unless you use it.

There’s no better way to use information than to test it across disciplines.  Knowledge gained from, for example, a cloud computing event would be tested by a mobile technology event and both might be challenged by that “Updates on the Economy” event.

Another benefit to diversification is that networking outside your field generates better leads.

It might seem logical that software engineers stick to Engineering Meet Ups to find work.  Why shouldn’t they?  Senior professionals do want to help but if a job walks through the door, it stays in-house.

Building a strong network means leaving the niche.  An entrepreneurs’ event might be a better bet for an engineer.  If there are only a few engineers in a crowded room of CEOs, they will be noticed.

Or maybe not.  There are no guarantees.  At the very least, however, they might have learned something.  That’s the beauty of these professional education events: they serve the dual purpose of education and networking in a more collegial environment, which is the benefit outlined in the first of this series.

This concludes the five pointers for attending professional education events.  These days, a job search or client development is not about sending 1,000 letters and no one considers the task to begin and end in even four weeks.  Four months, maybe.  So plan well.  Be organized, friendly and invest yourself into the process.  If you are looking for a job or developing clients, you'll have better success when you look and act fulfilled and hopefully, these events will help you along.

Soyeun Choi

Twitter: @SoyeunDChoi

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Volunteer to enhance your reputation and network

Volunteer?  Volunteer?? You just wanted to find a job or get more clients, not commit to more work!  Imagine yourself at the office and there is a knock at the door (or a tap on the low wall of your cubicle divider).  You open the door (or look up) and the person promptly asks you for a job; or, if you are not presently hiring, whether you know someone who is.  The person waits.

Even if you really wanted to help this person, two questions immediately come to mind: a) “Who are you?” and b) “How should I know?”  Even if you were a famous, wealthy, well connected executive, these are the questions in your mind.

If, however, that person rolled up his sleeves and worked alongside you on a couple of projects, he'd have given you a sample of his work ethic, energy level and, even better, helped make your life easier.  Volunteering lets everyone know who you are and how he/she can help you.

There is only one step required to execute this plan: tell someone.  But, before you do, prepare yourself.  You might be enthusiastic (desperate) for inclusion in the group but if you want to be at your best, you have to make sure everyone gets along.  Here are some tips:

Survey the organization and ask yourself:

Do you like the subjects?  Do you want to learn more?
Do you like the organizers?  Do you emulate them?

Research the organization:

Chances are, even if you have attended a cluster of events, you would need to learn basic information like the group's history, mission statement or even past events.  Figure out where in their grand scheme you might fit.

Then make the leap and tell an organizer about your interest.  By the way, when you do, keep it simple.  You are not there to solve problems, whatever you happen to perceive them to be.  Why?  Because at this point, you won’t have the experience to know whether they even consider low turnout/bad food/boring speaker to BE a problem.  If you want to make improvements, keep it to yourself and roll out your grand plan later after you’re better educated and have earned trust.

Volunteer Options, from least to most involved:

Register guests at the event
Write for publications
Planning (logistics)
Generate event ideas
Planning (Organize an event)

Join the board/a committee

Volunteering is a commitment so make sure you only sign up for projects you can actually handle.  Start small and take on more responsibilities as you go.  If you picked the organization that's right for you, it will feel like a  smart investment of your time and you'll feel proud to represent them even in a small way.

The End?

Well . . . if things do not work out, go back to being an enthusiastic attendee but tell someone you are withdrawing.  Do not waste time feeling guilty or generating some sob story but clearly communicate your lack of availability.  Why?  You want to be remembered as the volunteer who made a contribution. The focus should be on tasks you completed.  Fading away or simply not returning calls sends the wrong message: you are a flake or a weakling who burned out over the smallest of tasks.

Volunteering may be "optional" but preserving your reputation is not.

Then take what you've learned and apply it to another opportunity.  Keep exploring!

Soyeun D. Choi
Twitter: @SoyeunDChoi

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Remember the purpose of networking

Professionals know that networking is important to their success. I have been thinking about how and why we network.

Humans are amazingly, almost psychotically, adaptive animals. It should be strange that we throw ourselves out of airplanes but there are entire industries shoving us out of planes, off bridges and down into waterfalls. How much easier it is acclimating to professional meetings! Maybe too easy: once intimidating, these events now mainly hold promise of wine and friendly reunions.

Of course, everyone should feel at ease to be themselves. We have strengths and we should practice presenting our best sides in public because, after all, they are our own home-grown best sides.

But develop too casual an attitude and you might start mistaking these events as social gatherings. Cliques develop, individuals grow clingy or, worst of all, over familiarity leads to behavior that crosses professional boundaries. If your inbox is not as active as you’d like and nothing educational has penetrated your skull in a while, stop and take stock.

Meet People: That Is The Point Of Networking

First of all, as fabulous as your friends are, if you spend time exclusively with them, you neglect others. Your network cannot grow without meeting new people. All the cool kids know that.

Friendly Does Not Equal Friends

Second, familiar faces are not automatically friends. Friendship is a mysterious alchemy but one that certainly requires mutual investments of time outside the event. No matter how friendly a person is, do not corner him with your involved story. Err on the side of polite consideration. If destined to be friends, you can burden him with your long stories later.

Behave Professionally While Networking

Lastly, you are not in your living room. Just as if you were in the office, you are being compared to colleagues and work places. Even if you attend with friends, behave professionally until you leave. If someone overhears your racy joke, inappropriate remark or criticism, it will be remembered. In fact, your friend might count it against you because of the embarrassment of putting her in the position where she cannot correct you publicly but cannot escape you. Do not publicly broadcast character flaws.

You might (defensively) say, “That’s part of my charm!” No. Just as we have a genuine best side to showcase, we have areas that need work. Managing the slow death of negative qualities is hard, unpleasant, personal work. You need to contain it. Events are not the place for either getting drunk or discussing your drinking problem. Whether or not a particular mischievous joke is funny is irrelevant when it is inappropriate. Everyone deals with issues. No one wants to bring yours into the office.

How To Refocus While Networking

In order to refocus, assess your feelings, adjust attendance . . . and go take a hike! Most people lose focus because of burn out. Schedule some social time with friends/family (outside these events!) and avoid growing jaded and bored. Skydive, snorkel or surf and remember why your profession is important to you and to society. Remember how fortunate you are to attend these events, meet new people and keep that positive attitude with you.

Soyeun Choi

Twitter: @SoyeunDChoi

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The first in a five part series of tips on how to attend continiung education events

Over the past ten years, I have had the opportunity to organize continuing education events for the Palo Alto Area Bar Association.  These seminars focus on a wide range of topics, from “Immigration Issues for Startups” to “Tax Aspects of Doing Business in India” and, since our speakers are the cutting edge in their respective fields of expertise and our audience seemingly all had time to pick up a PhD on the topic, I consider myself lucky to be allowed admission.  Luckily, as President, they allow me in—plus, I promised to work the registration table.

No matter what the topic, I’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to learn something new.  It’s useful even if outside my practice area because I need to know what I don’t know.  Sometimes though, just as one must not look directly into the brilliance of the sun, I have had to (often) rest my brain.  In these moments, my organizer-hat appears and observes the event’s mechanics.

It is from this organizer/participant hybrid perspective that this post developed.   We show up to learn but need to maximize the value of the time spent at these events.  Hopefully, this list of five pointers will help you think more proactively when you schedule your next continuing education event.

First:  Remember the Dual Purpose of These Events

To be sure, these events are educational but organizers also encourage networking among participants.  Otherwise, we would publish books instead of going through the hassle of figuring out how many sandwiches to order for lunch.

The format is similar to college classes, focused on a topic or speaker, conducted lecture style, with handouts.  Created for the benefit of members, the general public is welcome to attend.  The function seems obvious:  You attend, you learn, you leave.

WRONG.

For those of you self described “intellectual” types who only want the education, please realize you are outside of that hermetically sealed pod called your office.   If you invested the time and energy to pry yourself away from your desk, you may as well meet other people.  Yes: network.

No matter how much you adhere to book learning, it is undeniably more rewarding to discuss books with other interested readers.  Attending topical events is one of the easiest ways to meet other industry players:  you have a common subject to discuss and no requirements to be an expert yourself.

On the other end of the spectrum are those who practically shed business cards and dismiss the educational aspect.  Some good advice: Please at least choose a topic that piques your interest.

This seems laughably straightforward until we consider the golf metaphor.  Everyone in business feels the pressure to play golf.  It’s “good for business” but not all of us enjoy golf.  Not even avid golfers like golf, depending on the day.  Similarly, if your main goal is to network, you think all events are the same for your purposes.

WRONG.

There are some topics that will be your “golf” topic—something that is “good for business” but odious to you.  By all means, experiment, but if you identify an area that is toxic, skip those.  Learn at home or online.  Otherwise, you will be miserable.  Worse, you will not keep up and will resent those who have a genuine interest.  And they will resent you because no one attended an event on “Doing Business in China” just to hear you talk about you.

Remember, the advantage to attending these educational events is that they are relaxed, efficient ways to learn more about your profession and meet other people.  If you routinely leave without either, there is a serious flaw in your approach.

Hopefully, the next two tips will help!

Soyeun D. Choi
Twitter: @SoyeunDChoi

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