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Bain & Company Hello all, I need your help. I am a manager at a tier 2/3 strategy firm with a very non traditional background . I don’t have a MBA, but have a MS and have 15 years of industry experience across manufacturing, energy, and industrials. My core competencies include transformation and digitalization. I want to level up and join MBB. Would appreciate some networking and referrals. I am a high performer and have accolades to prove it. McKinsey & Company Boston Consulting Group Bain & Company
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I'm the same way and actively trying to get over it. Few things that have helped me (only in online networking):
1. Have a template for cold messages and a template for questions that you will ask when you meet them. You can use chatgpt for this. Use this template by just editing the name of the person and send it out. I initially struggled a lot sending out cold messages on LI but I forced myself to send some 30-50 messages and once I got 2-3 replies I was motivated to do more of it
2. When meeting for the first time - Talk about how they ended up in their current position, motivations to join the current company, etc.
3. Ask a mentor or close friend to send messages to their network on your behalf. This helps you skip the awkwardness of sending a message to a random stranger online
4. Everyone understands the motive behind networking so think of it as them helping you in return for you helping them in future. In my mind, when I frame networking as not just me taking things but believing that I also have something to offer, it got easier.
I still struggle to ask for help as an introvert but sometimes I just force myself to do it as there's nothing to lose.