by Monique Kelley, author of “Redefining Networking: How to Lead with Your Unique Value“

One question that I receive often, whether from family members, communications industry peers, or complete strangers who reach out to me, is, “How did you get that job?”

Typically, it’s followed by a request to help the person score the same position.

To understand how I got these opportunities, whether it’s becoming a full‐time Associate Professor of the Practice at the top university for the communications industry, BU’s College of Communication, with no advanced degree, working for top Fortune 50 and global pharmaceutical companies through my own communications consultancy, or becoming a founding member for a women’s C‐suite and executive closed‐community called CHIEF, without being in the C‐suite, one must first understand that these positions were not secured through luck.

While I had no intention of holding any of these positions until the opportunities presented themselves, they were the culmination of my main business and life strategy: leading with the unique value I can provide to others, not what others can do for me.

This doesn’t happen overnight, and it often happens organically.

When you contribute to others and clearly communicate the value that you can provide to your network, you will receive in return.

Maybe not immediately, but if you play the long game, you will succeed.

In other words, hard work and being intentional about one’s career and membership affiliations are important, but just as important is consistently showing up for other people in your circles — building a track record of contributing value.

It wasn’t until I was seeking my fourth job post‐college, which turned out to be the global marketing communications firm Weber Shandwick, that this concept became clear to me.

After graduating from BU’s College of Communication, I was seeking any role in media relations or general communications. Despite going on several informational and actual interviews as well as traveling by bus to meet several practitioners who worked outside of Boston (a big deal for me back then), there were little to no openings at the companies where I was looking.

My friend and fellow BU Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) Executive Board member Corey Kinger graduated a year before me and was working in midtown Manhattan at boutique, private investor relations firm, Brainerd Communicators. She reached out to me a few weeks after graduation, letting me know that Brainerd had an entry‐level position available on its media relations team. I took the train from Boston to New York City and interviewed with president and owner Diana Brainerd. Not too long after that interview, I had received the job offer. I immediately took it, which I’ll always remember, considering my 22nd birthday was only two days after my first day of work.

Nearly a year after working at Brainerd, I decided to try my luck at a larger, publicly owned global public relations agency, MS&L. It’s still the only job opportunity post‐college that I scored without an employee referral. But while I got a job without being referred, about a year later, I paid forward Corey’s kindness and referred my friend and BU PRSSA member Doris Li to join the agency for her first role post‐graduation.

Doris left the agency after a year and a half, and as luck would have it, she ended up working for another agency, Cohn & Wolfe (now called Burson following the merger with Burson‐Marsteller and Hill & Knowlton). She referred me for a position there — a title promotion and salary increase — about two years later.

I worked at that agency for a couple of years before my position was impacted. My coworkers, who previously worked at the com‐ pany and left for another agency, Weber Shandwick, put in a good word for me with Barbara Box, the U.S. president of the agency’s Healthcare Department. I showed up for the interview, thinking it would be like any other one. It was only a few minutes into the conversation with Barb when I realized that this interview was different.

Barb shared with me that she knew of my strong reputation for life science communications from the previous two agencies and that she also liked that I found business development thrilling. It was the first time that I felt that I was in the driver’s seat during an inter‐ view. This notion of contributing to a company and getting more in return than just a paycheck and experience was born. I was able to choose what excited me about my career. I ended up accepting a leadership role on one of Weber Shandwick’s high‐profile client accounts — a title promotion and salary increase from the previous position with Cohn & Wolfe.

Since then, I have been committed to win‐win partnerships in business. Nothing has been a clearer example of this in my career than when I became a professor as well as owning my corporate communications consulting business.

I started getting involved in academia five years prior to my full‐time appointment, regularly serving as a guest lecturer and speaker for other professors’ classes and events (e.g., PRSSA North‐ east District Conference, which BU regularly sponsors).This enabled me to contribute my knowledge and advice to the next generation of communications professionals while securing great interns and pipeline talent for Weber Shandwick.

After a couple of years of showing up for the BU community, I was invited by the PR department chair to become a part‐time lecturer (i.e., adjunct professor) for the very same course that I took as an undergraduate at BU nearly two decades prior. And when the opportunity came up to go full time and take the reins from my professor Steve Quigley to serve as the faculty advisor of BU’s PRSSA, I resigned from my corporate job and took it.

As my professor, PRSSA faculty advisor, and COM’s PR internship coordinator, Steve Quigley was instrumental in helping me secure internships in the field while I was an undergraduate student. His name is synonymous with the phrase “pay it forward” and with BU’s PRSSA.

The interview process for the full‐time role included a preliminary virtual meeting with the search committee for that position. When I joined the meeting, I was pleasantly surprised to see that four of the five committee members I already knew — one was my former professor, one referred me for the job, and the other two I had guest lectured for. I made it to the next round, which included a one‐on‐one interview with the then department chair, Dr. Donald Wright, who already had hired me as an adjunct and was familiar with my work through course evaluations completed by my students. It was another one of those moments where I felt I was interviewing the interviewer. To be a “known,” leveraging the relationships you have with people who can refer you, is the ultimate position to be in.

*excerpted from “Redefining Networking: How to Lead with Your Unique Value” by Monique Kelley

Monique Kelley is a trusted, purpose-driven professor (Boston University), consultant and author who serves in a fractional (interim) capacity for Fortune 50 and global biopharmaceutical companies seeking a strategic corporate communications or product marketing communications head who advances business objectives and alleviates their headaches. She is also a Founding Member for women C-suite and executive community CHIEF.

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