Networking at CLE's

I'm attending a CLE tomorrow and hoping to network while I'm there. Friday I have another CLE, lunch with one of my references and an interview with yet another agency. I have to not be bitter.

I don't mean to give the appearance of not being bitter; I need to let go of any vestige of bitterness that I might harbor in my psyche. You can't hide bitterness, it comes out somehow in conversation, whether in tone of voice or sarcastic remark. Bitter people think they can temporarily mask bitterness but it's impossible. Losing bitterness is more difficult but it's better to do so. Yeah, I admit to a little bitterness right now, despite knowing I was working in a temporary position, but it's natural to feel that way, though it makes no sense intellectually.

In order to successfully network, I need to be someone the people I meet like, want to talk to again and would be willing to help if it's in their power. Tomorrow's CLE is for a firm's clients and I'm fortunate to be attending; it's free and they feed you. I'll have opportunities to chat with those around me, tell people why I'm interested in their industry and ask for meetings. It's more likely to happen without the bitterness.

Friday's CLE is open to the general public and there will be a lot of people in my position attending; there will also be people with jobs to network with. I'm meeting my new reference for lunch, which is good. I worked directly with her on some portions of my project and because she likes my work, she's happy to help with a reference.

It's always difficult to ask someone new about providing a reference, but this contact made it easy; I mentioned that the next project had been canceled and she put it down to more budget cuts and shifting corporate priorities, then asked if my agency had another project. All I had to do was tell her about the upcoming meeting with another agency and ask if she'd be willing to act as a reference. Slam dunk. Much easier in this situation as it was a corporate client and I had a lot of contact with certain people than if I had been on a large, impersonal document review.

I have gotten a reference from someone associated with a document review before, but only after that person had moved on from the hosting firm; I don't know that I would've asked otherwise. In any case, it was another situation in which I had personal contact, from a document collection trip, attended the same law school and am acquainted with a family member. So it is possible, but can be difficult.

That's one of the conundrums of working through agencies; some understand that it's impossible to get a reference from a big project and that all a previous agency will do is verify the dates you worked on their project. Others understand that they're not getting supervisor references and you may have references that are a bit outdated due to the nature of the project work.