Hi all,
I’m hoping some of you might be able to give me some guidance - especially if you’ve been on the receiving end.
I graduated a year ago (almost to the day, scary), and over the course of the year, but especially from May-Sept. 2007, I got in touch with a number of contacts, either fellow alums, friends of my parents, etc. I met with some of them, and for the most part, the meetings went really well. Some even offered to pass my resume around at other mags and media companies.
Long story short, nothing really came of any of this (though as far as I know everything is on good terms) and then in Sept. I had a medical emergency that sidelined me for awhile.
I still don’t have a full-time job in the industry, and I have been debating for awhile what the best way to re-approach some of these contacts is to see if I can get any advantage out of knowing these people. What is the most tactful and successful way to say ‘Hey, remember me? Any chance you’ll come through on the help you promised?’
I’m well aware that many contacts fall flat, but I feel like I have to give some of these another shot. I’m kind of fearful that I might just annoy them and hurt a relationship that could be helpful later. What have some of you run into? Eds, do you hate when you’re on the other end of this? Any anecdotes would be really appreciated.
Matt
Hey Matt, First off, just
Hey Matt,
First off, just making sure you thanked your contacts after you met with them. You did … right?
Okay then!
It’s easy to reconnect! Send an e-mail like:
Dear Editor,
Hi there! We met last year when I was exploring potential jobs in editorial. Right now, I’m currently doing X, but am looking into potential opportunities in editorial. Was just flipping through YOUR MAGAZINE—it looks amazing this month! I love the article on chinchillas and I cannot believe Tori Spelling was on the cover—so fun and clever (OBVI, this is made up. Just sayin’) I love that the mag seems to be doing so much TK coverage (just get specific). I really do love TK magazine and I’d love to eventually work for a publication like that—your advice was so helpful last year (I don’t know what I would have done at my first mag interview if I hadn’t heard your experiences!) and I was wondering if it might be possible if I could buy you coffee and pick your brain some more on how to get an EA job? I’m sure the workload is insane as always but please let me know if you have any times you’re free.
That was a quickie and obvi, sounded disingenuous, but here are some points I look for
1. FLATTERY gets you everywhere :-) Seriously, tell me that you like the mag and my work there—that shows 1) you’ve read it, 2) you’re interesting and I’d probably want to speak to you since you “get” what I’m doing, and 3) I’d probably like working with you and want to do you a favor.
2. Tell them how they were helpful in the past meeting—thank them for sending your resume on. Let them know if you got an invu out of it, even if you didn’t get the job. When I meet with people, I want to know they’re taking stuff in.
3. Offer to buy ME coffee! You know what, I’ll end up paying for it, anyway, but I think you should always offer. “Let’s meet up for coffee sometime,” is something a colleague says to a colleague, not a potential mentee to a mentor. and be available!! Let them fit you into YOUR schedule, not vice versa.
Good luck!
oh, and fyi I’m an
oh, and fyi I’m an assistant ed
Thanks so much!
Thanks so much, dramavixen. This was just the kind of example/shove in the right direction I needed. I really appreciate you taking the time to go as far as to write something up. Thanks again - and I’ll let you know if I run across any articles on chinchillas, since I now know you like them so much :)
Matt