How to Network for Business and Career Success
Love it or hate it networking is an essential part of many of our careers. Networking is not only good for business, but it can also be useful for if you find yourself looking for a new job too. On the flipside, if you are a hiring employer, there is potential to meet future employees at networking events. Furthermore, networking is great for brand awareness, both personally and for your business.
Networking for Career Success
Networking is a key part of any successful career. It provides the opportunity to meet potential employers and colleagues, develop new skills and learn from other people. It can also help to increase our visibility, build our reputation and strengthen our contacts. By getting to know more people in our chosen field, we can gain valuable insights into the industry, stay up to date with the latest trends and find out what is happening in our area of expertise. You might even gain some new business!
Networking for Building Relationships
Networking can also open up new opportunities and help us to establish relationships that can last a lifetime. It can help us to make new contacts and to build relationships with those already in our industry and those who can help us in our careers. For example, recruiters.
The value of networking shouldn’t be underestimated. By building relationships and meeting new people, we can open the door to new opportunities and help to further our career.
Personally we enjoy it – getting out there meeting other professionals and sharing ideas and feeling part of a community where you can recommend each other’s businesses.
Top Tips for Networking
Not everyone is keen and it can be quite difficult at first. So, we thought we’d share some top tips for making the most of networking events:
Networking Tip 1: Do your research – Check out the event agenda, list of attendees and any other information available about the event. Check out LinkedIn and who has attended past events. This will help you identify the people you want to talk to, so you make the most of your time.
Networking Tip 2: Prepare – Prepare some topics in advance so you have something to talk about. Have a few questions in mind that you can ask to help start conversations.
Conversation Starters for Networking
Some good questions to use as conversation starters at networking events include:
- What do you do?
- How did you get into that industry?
- What’s the most rewarding part of your job?
- What are you working on right now?
- What’s the most valuable lesson you’ve learned so far?
- What do you know now that you wish you’d known when you started?
- What do you enjoy most about networking events?
- What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever been given?
Networking Tip 3: Have a good introduction – Introduce yourself and what you do. We’re not looking for war and peace but a brief overview of what you do and how you can help. Share a little bit about who you are as a person so people can get to know you. For example, any interesting hobbies? Take business cards if you have them.
Networking Tip 4: Ask questions – Don’t be afraid to ask for advice and insight from experienced professionals. This is a great way to learn and build relationships.
Networking Tip 5: Follow up – Make sure you stay in touch with the contacts you’ve made. Connect with them on LinkedIn and send them a message to thank them for their time. Then, be sure to stay in touch and keep the conversation going. Also, take some photos and create a post on LinkedIn about the networking event, what you learnt and enjoyed. Tag the organisers and people you met in the post. It will help promote the event, create further engagement with the attendees and boost your online presence. To read more on boosting your professional online profile and presence, read our blog here.
We hope you have found this article helpful. Let us know your thoughts on networking and comment below with your tips for networking.
