By Danielle DiGiovanni
Diane Darling is Founder/CEO, Effective Networking, Inc., and author of The Networking Survival Guide and Networking for Career Success. Diane hosts networking events such as Water Cooler Football and Drinks Above Tiffanys to prove that everyone can learn to network, they just need to find their own style.
Diane received the Rising Star Award from the Center for Women & Enterprise and was profiled in the Boston Globe.
The Pub Club sat down with Diane to learn more about her networking strategies.
What do you enjoy most about your job?
Helping people learn what networking *really* is. They realize they're doing much more of it than they give themselves credit for and it's not as overwhelming.
What sparked the idea of Water Cooler Football?
People said to me they were left out of networking opportunities at people's homes and around the "water cooler" at the office. They couldn't understand the conversation so they asked if I could help give them a primer and that's how it started.
Do you have any advice for job seekers?
Make a list of people who have helped you so far in your career, getting into college, grad school, etc. Stay in touch with them. Be on LinkedIn and Facebook.
If possible, buy your name as a url (www.DianeDarling.com). You'll always have a place you can direct people to. Or at least customize your LinkedIn address, www.LinkedIn.com/in/DianeDarling. Be able to tell people the problem you solve and if possible what that costs/saves an organization.
How can people contact you?
My twitter username is DianeDarling.
