Networking

At its most basic, networking is a means to become more competitive in the marketplace. For example, adding a connection to your professional network increases the probability that you know someone who can open a few doors for you, provide a job opportunity or expose you to new ideas. When you establish firm connections, you benefit in a variety of ways, such as gaining more immediate access to new clients or new business opportunities.

Make Career Contacts

Career advancement is a result of who you know as well as what you know. Consequently, each gathering of people may include a potential work contact, someone who can help you enhance your skills or expand your career options. At the very least, you may meet someone to help you get plugged into professional events in your industry or geographical region. To make the most of networking opportunities, focus on how your contacts might help you achieve your career goals. Use that knowledge to develop your networking strategy, which may include reaching out to new contacts, leveraging current contacts by asking for referrals, or creating social capital by helping a contact schedule a speaker for a conference.

Gain Knowledge

Each network connection you make provides a learning opportunity. When you talk to someone you become receptive to new and different ideas and perspectives. Each networking occasion may allow you to experience new things, expand your knowledge and increase what you can offer to your existing network connections. Before you ask for information or help, however, build social capital with the people in your network, notes Ivan Misner in "5 Ways to Use Your Network to Grow Your Business." This means offering to support their professional objectives before you

ask them to support your own. Equally important is that you direct your request for advice to a contact with relevant expertise and that you abstain from asking for advice for which your contact would normally charge a fee.

Demonstrate Your Expertise

There's an expectation that professionals should be aware of current issues in their industry, geographical area and profession. Consequently, networking opportunities that allow you to demonstrate your expertise in these areas can lead to results-oriented networking, says Selena Rezvani in the Forbes article, "4 Must-Dos for Networking Situations." Whether you email a contact an article or introduce him to a potentially important connection, the relevance of the article or connection to your contact's needs confirms your knowledge and competence in a particular area. In turn, a contact who is confident in your expertise is more likely to support the results you seek, such as an introduction to someone who can enhance your career options.

Identify Opportunities

If you've helped your network connections land new clients, obtain needed introductions or made other efforts on their behalf, you've done the work to establish relationships with them. You've also stored up some positive collateral. At this point, it's less likely that asking for a favor might jeopardize your relationship with the contact. In this case, it might be time to seek the help you need to achieve a professional objective, such as identifying new job opportunities. In response, your contact might support your efforts by sending you information regarding the relocation of a corporate headquarters to your area. Before you ask for help, however, just make sure you've done your part to establish a relationship.

Back

Initial Networking

Princeton University Career Services

https://careerservices.princeton.edu/undergraduate-students/making-connections/networking-techniques

There are proven ways to effectively make professional connections, both online and in person. The good thing about the in-person part? It gets you comfortable with one-on-one communication, which will come in handy when it comes time to interview. To help you navigate, we have collected helpful information on how to connect.

Initial Outreach to New Contacts

When approaching new contacts, it is important to be respectful of their time.

Start with email.

Since most professionals are quite busy, email is the preferred mode for initial contact in most cases.

Be clear.

Always indicate how you obtained the individual’s information. Mention your interest in learning about their profession or organization. In your subject, include how you were referred. In the body, ask if they have time to speak to you by email, phone or in person.

Lend context.

Provide a brief overview of your background so that a new contact can best tailor their advice. Do not attach your resume unless you are asked for it.

Manage phone contact.

If phone contact is necessary, be prepared to leave a short voicemail. Even if you are seeking a job or internship, emphasize a desire for advice.

Arrange an in-person meeting.

See if you can meet at the contact's place of employment, so you can do on-the-ground research.

Diversify your outreach approach.

From one-on-one informational interviews to large events, there are many ways to grow your network. Using one or more of these techniques can power you with insight. It may feel strange initially — or maybe you're a natural — but the more you network, the easier it gets.

Ways to Build Your Professional Network

https://insights.dice.com/2017/06/13/painless-ways-build-professional-network

Pros understand the benefits of building a robust professional network. Networking takes a lot of effort, and not everyone is comfortable approaching strangers at conferences and networking events. Fortunately, there are some workarounds that actually work. Here are some easy ways to build your professional network:

Start in Your Own Backyard

Are you connected to the person in the next cubicle? Do you know who else he knows? How about recruiters, or those vendors or external clients you work with? They could all become valuable additions to your network .

Reconnect with Former Colleagues

Reconnecting with former teammates, classmates, trainers and professors is an easy way to build your network. After all, these are people who know your abilities and may be willing to recommend you to members of their network.

If you’ve lost touch, take a minute to run through their social-networking profile, or search for them online. Reach out via email first to congratulate them on a new job, winning a hackathon or another achievement, or ask if they have kept up with a mutual friend. Once you’ve re-engaged, then by all means extend an invitation to connect, endorse their skills, and stay in touch.

Make It Easy for People to Find You

To make it easier for people to find you, join online groups or communities of like-minded professionals. Weigh in on discussions and topics that interest you every now and then. Ask and answer questions, review problems, and share opinions and links to interesting articles and posts. Over time, people will start to recognize you, find you online, and ask to connect.

Concentrating on your career sweet spot or a side project that you’re passionate about can likewise boost your networking prowess.

Follow Others

If you want more followers, follow others. Follow tech industry thought leaders, executives or colleagues you’d like to add to your network on social media—and occasionally share some of their posts or tweets with your network. Better still, if someone talks about a current activity, offer to help. Networking is about mutual support. If you offer to help with a presentation, webinar or project, some of the tech pros you follow will probably reciprocate the attention.

Do Your Homework

When you do venture out to conferences, user groups or meetups, research the people you want to connect with ahead of time. Follow them on social media; when you bump into them, you can strike up a conversation about their latest project or article.

Always lead with something about the other person, so it doesn’t feel like you’re trying to initiate a conversation with a stranger.

After the event, re-connect online with those contacts you met in person. Mention

your conversation and how you’re looking forward to following them.

If you feel especially shy about attending networking events, go with a friend—

especially someone more senior than yourself. That can give you the support and

confidence you need to interact with new people. A senior person may be more

comfortable about initiating conversations and introducing you.

If you feel especially shy about attending networking events, go with a friend—

especially someone more senior than yourself. That can give you the support and

confidence you need to interact with new people. A senior person may be more

comfortable about initiating conversations and introducing you.

Expand Your Network

Expand your Career Network by by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

https://www.livecareer.com/quintessential/expanding-career-network

Listening to job-hunting gurus, and career coaches results in the same call to action to connect with your network of contacts and enlist their help in uncovering job leads.

The problem for many job-seekers, though, is not so much in understanding the importance of networking, but in the execution of networking. More specifically, job-seekers wonder, where do all these networking contacts come from — and how can I get people to be part of my network? The key point to remember is that networking is relationship-building. Your network consists of people you’ve met (either in person or online) — and you build your network by going out and meeting more people.

Networking advice usually results in - to ‘connect with your current contacts and enlist their help in uncovering job leads’. Networking is relationship-building. Your task consists of going out and meeting more people.

The question becomes, how do I add people to my network? Here are several ways.

Your current network

Ask them. There is no easier exists way to expand your network than to simply ask your current friends, family, and associates for the contact information of others whom they think would be beneficial for you to know. Be ready to record the critical information, full name, phone, e-mail.The “friend-of-a-friend” connection is quite strong and usually very successful. “Who else should I be talking to?” is a good question to use when asking for referrals.

Professional / trade organizations

No better method exists for finding people who share the same professional interests and goals than joining one or more industry organizations. Once you’re a member, you’ll usually get access to the membership list, which can open up many new

prospective network contacts. Most organizations also run regional or national meetings and conferences, which leads to the next technique for building your network of contacts.

Social and professional networking

Once you’re a member of Facebook, LinkedIn, or a similar networking site, you’ll immediately be provided with strategies for adding friends or connections, such as reconnecting with people who attended the same schools. Electronic connections are not nearly as strong as personal connections, but that should not stop you from at least trying this technique. You can use your virtual connections to grease the wheels toward face-to-face meetings. (Remember to develop and keep a professional profile on these sites.)

Join or start job club

In some ways, a job club is the ultimate networking experience because the people you meet there all have shared experiences and the desire for a new job. Run the right way, a job club is a very positive and rewarding experience, a chance to help yourself and others.

Informational interviews

There is no better strategy for entry-level job-seekers and career-changers to find and add people to your professional network than to conduct several (or many) informational interviews. As the name implies, it’s an interview you initiate with someone in your profession/industry whose brain you can pick about how s/he got their start, moved up the ladder, and so forth.

Networking for Introverts

Michael Haltman

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/20140806130858-17194403-tips-networking-for-introverts

You have probably heard you should spend some portion of your time networking. This includes even when you have job. True. So now is the time to start.

You will most likely find yourself at an event of some kind or mingling before the event starts. This is a natural opportunity to network. If you’re unemployed or a recent college graduate, networking happens in any room where there are other people.

Some people are naturals at the art of networking while for others networking can be a stressful experience. Here are eight tips which will provide some help in relieving that stress.

Temper expectations

: Don’t set unrealistic expectations for how many connections they need to make. Networking isn't a numbers game, and it's more about quality than quantity.

Plan ahead:

It is important to prepare for events or gatherings with research that will prepare yu to ask questions and carry on a good conversation.

Set a departure time:

Decide when you'll leave an event ahead of time. Makes the situation less intimidating. Don’t get too comfortable in the environment and stay too long.

Use mutual contacts:

If there is a specific person you want to meet, find a common connection, who can introduce you. Rather than approaching someone out of the blue, a mutual acquaintance helps forge a stronger relationship.

Use your listening skills:

Be a good listener. Most people don’t listen with the intent to understand. Rather, they listen with the intent to reply.

Get personal:

Conversations should be a two-way street. Asking multiple questions without sharing information about yourself feels like an interrogation. Share just enough personal information so others will remember you when the event is over.

Practice:

Challenge yourself with no-risk or low-risk situations. Mingle at an event where you might not know anyone and practice your networking skills.

Take baby steps:

Not all networking needs to take place at a specific "networking" event. Take advantage of everyday situations, casually socialize with colleagues around the office or invite a different co-worker to lunch each week.

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