Last week I wrote about using project management industry insiders to help you gain insights into what hiring managers are looking for right now, in this tough economy.  But how do you get time with an insider and how should you act once you’re in front of them?

For a start, nobody really needs you to buy them coffee or lunch in order to 'deserve' their time, attention, and advice. Networking meetings cloaked in social guises are expensive, time consuming, distracting, and, let's face it, fattening. Not to mention, maybe just a little humiliating:  no one who is working wants to have someone else - who is looking for a job - spend money to feed them.  Besides, project managers generally love talking about their work, and many will be more than happy to take a small chunk of time out of their day to spread the work about a profession that they enjoy.
I asked Duncan Mathison and Martha I. Finney, authors of Unlock the Hidden Job Market, for the essential ingredients of an ideal networking meeting.  They recommended that it should be:

Flexible:

You are available to make an appointment any time of the day; whatever is convenient for the people you want to meet with.

Convenient:

It must be convenient for them, not you.  Ideally, they shouldn't even have to get up from their desk to meet you.

Efficient:

You're there for exactly one hour (or shorter: whatever length of time you have agreed). You start on time and you finish on time.  Be like a project manager and stick to the schedule!

With easy access to important information:

When your networking partners are sitting at their desk, they're going to have all the important names and phone numbers of additional project management people you should meet within reach.

Respected:

This is a time when no one takes phone calls and other interruptions. Make sure your phone is off, or at least on silent.  Emails shouldn't be checked.

Focused: 

You're not there to discuss what's on a menu or compare opinions about news, weather, sports. This is a business meeting.  And when you meet at your networking partners' office, it's easier to stay focused on business.

All project managers are busy, even those who sincerely want to help you on your job search path. Their time is much more valuable than the gift of a lunch or the price of a cup of coffee. Make your meeting as simple and straightforward as you can. Have an agenda and prepare questions in advance. You'll be saving time. You'll be saving money. You'll be saving calories. And you'll be helping them help you.