Are Virtual Interviews as Effective and In Person Interviews? →

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If you are professional and only ask for a short 15 to 30-minute meeting with someone you are interested in learning from, many professionals will give you that time. With the pandemic changing how people meet, you may not get a face-to-face meeting, but you may find it easier to get a Zoom video conference meeting.

Please be prepared with questions and do the necessary research on the person you want to talk to and the subjects you're interested in. You may like to learn about the company’s culture, a particular type of job, or the entire industry.

Sometimes in these types of meetings, your questions may be referred to others in the company, especially if they are well-thought-out and good questions. Everyone you meet is an opportunity to build your network, so follow up and connect on LinkedIn.

The purpose of the meeting is to learn. You can learn about the particular kind of job the person you meet has, which can be the goal. You can learn about the industry the person works in, competitors, and other companies they work with. You can ask for advice on approaching a potential employer or if your contact knows people at the firm you want to apply with and suggest you talk to.

Potential contacts for an interview might be more willing to connect virtually because they know they can end the meeting quickly and control the process.

Virtual networking works, but the challenge may come later →

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Traditionally, networking was intended to allow us to stay in touch, not lose valuable contacts and friends, and build new relationships.

The Pandemic has forced us to find new ways to network other than face-to-face contacts. The new norm is virtual networking, and it is already clear that solid connections can be gained even faster, in some cases, using this approach. The isolation that people find themselves in is a highly effective motivator to get them to reach out to make contacts. The duplicate vital contacts that used to be so hard to fit in a short meeting seem more willing to have a new face to talk to online. Zoom and FaceTime seemed to have opened some doors. It is stressful to live without human contacts, so we often push ourselves to connect in whatever way we can, primarily virtual.

Now that we are forced to find a virtual way of networking and, in many cases, surprised by the new relationships we have seen, the challenge will be to nurture these contacts and not lose them going forward.