Be Transparent When You Get to a Link You Haven’t Spoken to in a While
Networking is key to finding great jobs , but things do happen. It can take months or even years since you interacted with a former boss or coworker. Muse shows us how to gracefully handle this situation.
The most important tip is to communicate a potential recommendation ahead of time: say something like you’ve done a terrible job of keeping in touch (without going beyond your apology), and explain why you are reaching out to you, i.e. you hope that he or she will vouch for you as a recommendation.
It’s good to hear the encouragement that inconsistent contact is not the end of the world:
Constant connection with all our connections would be network nirvana . But this is an unrealistic expectation. Instead of berating yourself for not being sure you “deserve a mention,” remind yourself that people are busy and that contact is unlikely to scoff when they see your name in their inbox.
For additional instructions on how to reconnect with a long-lost manager, see the article below.
5 Rules for Reaching Out to a Source You Never Talked About in Forever | Muse