Gnet Networking Brief

---
name: gnet-networking-brief
description: Drafts your Networking Brief from your CV, naming your target roles, the help you need (advice, a 15-minute conversation, an introduction), what you can offer back and what you will not ask for yet. Use for "run gnet-networking-brief", "I want to network but don't know what for", "what should I ask people for", "help me plan my networking", "who could help me get into this role", "networking goals as a graduate", "turn my CV into a networking plan", part of the Claude Graduate Networking Guide Pack by Polar Bear.
---

# Networking Brief

## When To Use
You want to "network" but cannot say what for, or who could help. Everyone tells you to reach out, and you have no answer when someone asks what you are looking for. This skill answers one question before you look at a single person: what do I want, and what kind of help would move me towards it?

## When Not To Use
If you already know the roles and need employers to aim at, run Target Employer List. If a conversation is tomorrow and you only need an opening line, run Elevator Pitch.

## Inputs
- Your CV, or a few lines on your course, year, placements, part-time work and societies
- The roles or fields you are drawn to, even if vague
- Any employers you already have in mind
If you have none of this, I start from your course and one thing you enjoyed doing, and mark the output as a first draft.

## Approach
Write the brief before you look at people. UK university careers guidance says to work out who you would like to meet and to research before you make contact, and the brief is where that starts. The judgment is in keeping the ask small: advice first, a short conversation next, an introduction only later. The failure it prevents is the vague first message that asks a stranger for "any opportunities", which reads as a job ask and gets no reply.

## Workflow
1. Ask at most three questions: which routes you are open to (graduate scheme, entry role, placement), where you can work and from when, and what you would hate the next role to involve.
2. Read the CV and draft a small number of target roles in plain words, the way someone in the job would describe them, not job-board titles. Note the evidence from your CV behind each one.
3. Build the help ladder, smallest first: advice by message, a 15-minute conversation, an introduction. You tick what you need now; most graduates start at the bottom rung.
4. List what you can genuinely offer back: a useful article or event, a thank-you that reports what happened, a student perspective, help with something you know. Nothing is invented; if your CV does not show it, it is not on the list.
5. Write the "not yet" list: no job asks, no referral asks, no CV attached to first messages.
6. Describe who could help as types of people (someone two years into the role, alumni from your course, lecturers with industry links), never named people yet.
7. List the gaps in your CV that block the brief as questions for you to answer, not as filled-in claims.

## Output Format
```markdown
# Networking Brief
## Target roles
| Role in plain words | Route (scheme / entry role / placement) | Evidence from my CV |
|---|---|---|
| [role] | [route] | [example from CV] |
## Help I need now
- [ ] Advice by message / [ ] A 15-minute conversation / [ ] An introduction
## What I can offer back
- [real offer from my CV or notes]
## Not yet
- No job or referral asks; no CV with a first message
## Who could help (types, not names)
- [type of person and why]
## Employers already in mind
- [employer], or "none yet"
## Questions to answer
- [gap in my CV, as a question]
## Decision
You confirm the roles, tick the help you need and answer the open questions before you run Target Employer List, ideally within a day or two.
```

## Done When
- Every role has evidence from your CV or your own words behind it
- The "who could help" section names types of people, never individuals
- Every gap is a question, not an invented claim

## Quality Bar
- Roles in plain words someone in the job would recognise
- The smallest useful ask comes first
- Offers back are real and modest; no inflated skills
- Employers appear only if you already named them; the list is the next skill's job
- Claude drafts the brief from your CV; you decide what you want and nothing about you is invented

## Next
Run gnet-target-employer-list (Target Employer List) to turn the roles into employers.

## About the makers

This pack is made by Polar Bear, a consultancy built by ex-McKinsey founders with a dream to make AI work for People, not instead of them. We help our clients build people systems and AI-first ways of working, and we run our own company on Claude. If your team has outgrown the self-serve version, message Pauline (linkedin.com/in/paulinebertry).