Never let up on building networks

Losing her corporate relocation position after 11 years was a life-changing shock for Esther Hollander Felsen.

A year and a half later, however, she is completing her master's degree, helping to lead a group for women in career transition and working part time to help others find temporary employment.

Hollander Felsen credits her successful transition in large part to networking -- connecting with others to exchange job leads, share resources and offer support as the slow economy continues to claim jobs.

A natural networker herself, Hollander Felsen has honed her personal and online networking skills and reached out to others through WomenVenture. The St. Paul-based non-profit, which opened a Minneapolis office this year, helps women and men start and expand companies, develop or change careers and manage their finances.

"It's been a journey of networking in many venues, but WomenVenture has been my rock," Hollander Felsen said. "You never know what the next connection's going to be, so you're always in that networking mode."

Networking will be a focus of WomenVenture's 14th annual Professional Development Conference Nov. 13 at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The conference -- and many WomenVenture classes -- are also open to men.

The conference's Brand You! development track will offer workshops on using social networking to help small businesses grow and on building leadership skills by serving on the board of directors of a nonprofit organization. WomenVenture expects 1,200 people or more to attend the daylong conference. Unlike conferences with out-of-town presenters, WomenVenture has local classes and business consultants to follow up with, said Mary Blegen, an executive vice president at U.S. Bank and the chair of WomenVenture's board.

"We view our conference as the opening of the door to potential WomenVenture services down the road," Blegen said. "You can explore a lot of different avenues with us."

Hollander Felsen did just that, learning so much through WomenVenture and other research that she now serves as a volunteer co-facilitator of WomenVenture's Career and Employment Transition Group for Women, where participants network and brainstorm new career ideas.

Serving on boards

Blegen, of U.S. Bank, will lead the conference workshop on boards. She has plenty of experience. Besides serving as WomenVenture's chair, she also is a Special Olympics board member and a member of the Minnesota Women's Economic Roundtable.

Besides the satisfaction of working to benefit the community, nonprofit board service also is a great way to build your network. For those who have lost their jobs in this down economy, board service or volunteering with a nonprofit are good ways to keep your skills current and to feel productive, Blegen said.

"It opens up a whole other arena that might not open up in your own personal life or your business life," Blegen said.

The session will explore reasons to consider serving on a board, whether doing so now makes sense and, if so, where to look at serving. It also will cover questions to pose to a nonprofit you're considering, including the time and financial commitments involved. One way to get an idea whether board service is right for you is to volunteer for committee work with a nonprofit, Blengen said.

"If you're a middle-level manager and you're aspiring to move up the ranks into a senior executive job, your company may say we want you to develop in a more holistic way in leading other folks. Boards offer great opportunity to do that. To run a committee on a board for a nonprofit really is a nice development avenue for people to bring back to their daytime job."

LinkedIn

WomenVenture is developing a hands-on class on LinkedIn, the professional networking website, in response to client requests. The class should be available starting this month, according to Christine Huff, career and work services manager at WomenVenture.

A current class, Publicity 101, surveys LinkedIn and such other sites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, MySpace and Flickr.

"It's important to use them because they're all free marketing tools," Huff said. Companies or entrepreneurs, for example, can connect with customers by setting up fan pages on Facebook or using microblogging site Twitter to provide updates on products and services.

"Twitter is a great way to constantly get people information about your business, such as if you're running a special or sale," Huff said. "It's a quick and easy way to get a little information to people, and then you're on their radar a lot."

Huff said networking is a "huge piece of finding a job these days, and it's important to use any kind of networking techniques you can to maintain your job search," Huff said. Using LinkedIn to research a company or an interviewer before an interview can also boost your confidence, Huff said.

For those 50 and older, using LinkedIn also can help dispel the stereotype that older workers aren't technologically savvy, Huff said. Users also should observe an important point of social networking etiquette, Huff said.

"Make sure you're giving as well as receiving information," Huff said. "If you're only asking for information or using other people's information but then not providing anything for others to use, or helping people out by forwarding their information on, that looks bad for you as a user."

Todd Nelson is a freelance writer in Woodbury. His e-mail address is todd_nelson@mac.com.