Career Rocket Episode #11: Jayant Khadilkar
Insight looking back on building his network:
“It’s interesting. Looking back, I have never thought I need to network.” - Jayant Khadilkar
The goal of Career Rocket is to make an impact on people’s careers by sharing wisdom from successful folks with high integrity. You can also listen to the recording of this post hosted in collaboration between DURMC and Empathetic Machines which dives deeper into the topics covered here.
We mix it up in this episode! We veered away from the standard format and focused on relationship building and networking because that skill set was brought up by several past guests as a critical one to build for one’s career.
Target audience for this episode: professionals interested in learning how to ‘network’ better to boost their career trajectory.
Today’s guest: Jayant Khadilkar. Moved to the States in the 80s and got a masters in Applied Mathematics and have spent much of his time in analytics, technology and insurance. He has started three companies himself and has been a part of multiple, successful startups.
How important has building your network been part of your success?
“One of the most important part of my success.” - Jayant. He shares his interesting journey of how these relationships have come around multiple times to start new paths.
“I can’t think of anything more important.” - William
How do you go about building deeper relationships rather than just the casual chit chat level?
Jayant considers himself an extreme introvert. How has he been able to build up a wealth of connections? “You have to be good at something. You need to build career capital that has value to be a part of how you build relationships.” Because he is introverted, he does not go about thinking about building his network. Instead, he focuses on being genuine and caring towards the people he interacts with.
What are some practical things you do to keep the relationship going?
Keep in mind of interactions you have with someone so later on when an event happens to trigger that interaction, you reach out to let them know you were thinking about them
There are a few planned things Jayant does.
Every new year, he sends personalized emails to 200-300 individuals. Not mass email. Just says hello and wishing them a happy new year and with no expectations to get a reply
For his coworkers, Jayant would send books as a gift
William shares his tip to carve out time after project or work hours to get to know people outside of work. Seems obvious but makes a difference.
In your contact list, in the notes section, write down that person’s interests, hobbies, family members, etc.
Hang around people who are great building relationships. It will rub off on you.
What criteria do you have for someone to get on your list to stay in touch?
Absolutely none.
If you want to hear the in-depth dialogue of this post, check out the full conversation on the podcast !
Check out our full list of Career Rocket guests here
Recent Featured Post: “My professional sphere is white, and I am not white!”