Networking

Network Warrior
$44.99
Total gap filler. Take theory learned in CCNA add real life and you have this book. If you work with Cisco gear and need a go-to refresher this is it. Great on the job every day book for network admins and engineers, also recommend for anyone who is thinking about CCNP. My new favorite networking book.

Make Your Contacts Count: Networking Know-how for Business And Career Success
$14.95
I just finished reading this book last week. It came highly recommended and was actually the subject of a four week book club I participated in. So that's the background.

I would venture to say that most people suffer from various degrees of discomfort when faced with networking events and networking in general. I certainly did. Well, cheer up! This book has come to your rescue.

The authors take you through the entire networking process step-by-step and at a level of detail/strategy I had never thought about. They approach networking as a win-win exchange of "gives" and "gets." They provide helpful tips on how to start and sustain meaningful conversations with total strangers. They guide you through creating an "agenda" for your networking so that you are confident entering a room and so that you leave a networking event satisfied that it was time well spent. They provide a common sense framework for classifying your contacts. And they even provide some specific advice on networking with focused goals (gather sales leads, job hunting, etc.) in mind.

I learned a lot from this book and it will remain on my business book shelf for ready reference over the coming years.

The Networking Survival Guide: Get the Success You Want By Tapping Into the People You Know
$16.95
Diane cuts straight to the most important obstacles some people have to networking:

"It feels shmoozy and disingenuous."
"I feel like I would be using people or taking advantage of them"
"I never know what to say."
"I feel like I'd be intruding on them"

Diane's book cuts straight to those objections, explains why they are only sometimes true, and outlines a very specific path for how to be a genuine, helpful, positive networker that adds value to everyone they meet. She shows that networking isn't for sleezeballs - it's for people who want to help others, people who have more to give to life than just a 9-to-5, and who want to build more meaningful relationships, principally by:

-thinking of networking as a 2 way street, not a "what can you do for me" proposition
-recognizing that most people welcome comfortable conversation with a new person at a trade show, conference, airport...they enjoy making meaningful connections just like you do
-proposing that if you give freely of yourself (help others with your network) that they will return the favor tenfold.

The result is a guilt free, life-giving, and sweetly connected network of relationships where everyone wins. I really liked this book and its practical, entertaining suggestions to get you over the hump and into the conversation. Should be a staple business book and a standard read for MBAs. Well worth the purchase price.

Networking: A Beginner's Guide, Fourth Edition
$41.99
I recommend this book to anybody who needs to learn basics of network administration with little starting knowledge. Some of the actual hardware discussion is about 4 years old, but the concepts are still current. The witting style is easy to understand, and the book was worthwhile.