Getting The Most Out Of Exploratory Meetings

By PAMELA ROBINSON

I interviewed a woman today who wanted some advice. She didn't understand why she has been on the job market still looking for employment for the last 6 months. She actually has a professional & solid business background, having worked for one of the studios in post-production & visual effects for the last 7 years. She proceeded to read me a list of all the people & companies she has met with, and actually it was very impressive & a long list! However, all of these meetings & interviews really had lead nowhere, and she was still out of work, beginning to question & doubt herself. She said that she felt that all of the meetings went very well, but that there were just no openings.

I told her that I do not recommend taking meetings just to say hello & leave your resume behind. I do believe that most people, when there is no particular situation available to discuss, will conveniently forget about you & file or toss the resume when you walk out the door. I told her I felt that if you do take an exploratory meeting, or a "meet & greet", that you need to decide what you want to take away from that meeting. Here's my thought... If indeed this is an exploratory meeting and there is no job open, then use this time productively for yourself. You need to prepare questions for the executive with whom you are meeting. Find out the names of other key execs in the company that could have potential openings & who may be hiring. Ask him or her what they think is the next big thing at this company... the next area of growth. Ask who they recommend that you talk with in order to advance your career. Be sure that you are clear on what you want to do. DON'T EXPECT THAT THE EXECUTIVE WILL KNOW WHERE TO PLACE YOU. You must be clear about the career track in which you are interested. If you have more than one area of strength, then ask which execs are in charge of each area of interest for you. USE THIS TIME to get all the info you need to work your way around this company. Remember that the studios in particular are now only a small piece of the media conglomerates. So study the company, know all the divisions, google the execs and use that interviewing/meeting time wisely. You can then leverage that information and start to build your own data base of people with whom to network & stay in touch... so when that opportunity does arise, you will know about it.