Submitted by jay2k on
in
Forums
A friend of mine and I were out to lunch one day and I told him about a local company I was interested in, that I would love to join the company. My friend said, "Hey I know an IT Manager at Company X, I play soccer with him. I would be happy to introduce you two."
My friend then sent his soccer mate an e-mail to see if he would be open to networking, and his soccer mate returned the following e-mail.
There's a bit going on over here reorganizing and outsourcing . All the announcements are happening in xxxx so I'll know more then. With that said I'll keep my ears open to anything matching that role...our business folks have been hiring a lot of IT resources lately so there may be an opportunity there also.
I'll keep you posted; in the meantime do you want your friend to drop me a line directly?
My friend then sent an e-mail officially introducing us, via e-mail. Now I'm trying to determine how to respond.
What is the proper response?
Do I go into detail about my experience and send my resume? That seems a little presumptuous.
It would be difficult for us to meet with lunch because we work on opposite sides of the city.
How would you properly introduce yourself via e-mail to ensure a good introduction?
Meet for coffee
I hope your story has progressed somewhat since you submitted this post...
In any case, I have been networking for a new role recently, and my suggestion for a new contact like this would be to tell him a little about yourself and offer to meet over coffee at a location near his company's office. That discussion should probably avoid the topic of new roles, but rather about gathering information and building a relationship. If it goes well, you can ask for another introduction in another department you are targeting, or ask if you can follow-up in a few weeks to see where things are. In any case, I would focus on the relationship - the opportunities will follow.
Good luck.
Mike S.