5.2: Networking

Networking

You’re establishing your brand, now share it. Learning to network is an essential business skill and decidedly NOT just for job searching. Instead, networking is about forming long-lasting relationships of trust and service.

To some degree, you already network. You have networked with some of your friends for years: helping them out, sharing ideas, and making memories. Deliberate professional networking pays big dividends. The vast majority of jobs are secured through networks, and personal networks channel the flow of projects, clients, resources, and contracts worldwide.

Choose Engagement

Top networkers are out and about and talking to people. In college, think of attending class as a networking event and try sitting next to the students who make interesting comments. When you are at a social event noshing on refreshments, make a goal of introducing yourself to two new people. Join a club. Get your friends to bring along some new people when you go out for a meal. See who looks interesting and start talking.

Pay Attention & Ask Questions

Everyone is an expert at something, and everyone has a story. Find points of connection (and points of difference) to keep the conversation lively. Widen your connections by including people from other fields and make quality introductions. Example: “Mike, I’d like to introduce you to Sarah, who is graduating with a degree in accounting this semester. Sarah and I go way back, and I think she’s someone you should get to know.”

Cultivate your Connections

When you meet interesting people, offer a handshake (if appropriate) and your name. Connect soon afterward on LinkedIn. Keep notes on your contact about where you met, some details you learned, and how you might help each other out in the future. Then make a habit of reaching out to your connections to keep them growing. Think of your network as a garden. Keep the soil rich with new ideas and experiences, plant new friendships, discourage aggressive weeds, fertilize regularly by staying in touch...then enjoy the harvest.

Schedule Networking

Set aside a regular half-hour every month to send a quick email or message to people you’ve been impressed by. Give sincere compliments, ask questions, or find out what they’re working on.

Assistant Power

Seek out the influencers. They’re not always in the corner office. Pay attention to people who seem to understand power structures and procedures, those who know decision-makers and know how resources are allocated. An executive’s assistant may be a more valuable contact than a busy executive.

Networking for a Job

Tell your network what you’re looking for. Your network is simply everyone you know. Don’t be annoying, but share the fact that you’re looking for work. Be brief and specific about what you are looking for and what you offer. Many job opportunities are never posted because they are offered to someone acquainted with a current employee. The larger your network, the better your chances of finding a non-posted job. Research has repeatedly shown that people find jobs through “friends of friends”— distant network contacts aware of opportunities unknown to their closest friends.

Mentoring

Mentoring is the relationship in which a more experienced or higher-status professional (mentor) serves as an advisor to impart knowledge and wisdom to a less experienced or lower-status individual (mentee). Ramaswami et al. (2010) defined a mentor as an individual with a higher position who takes an active interest in one’s career. DeFrank-Cole and Tan (2021) find mentorship essential for leadership development in the interpersonal domain of the Four Domains of Leadership and Gender. Additionally, Eagly and Carli (2018) note that mentorship is a way for women to navigate the barriers of the metaphorical labyrinth to leadership.

While mentorship is generally thought of as a way for a mentee to reach greater success, there are many ways of finding value through mentorship. Literature tends to focus on positive functions such as interpersonal support, career development support, and role modeling or evaluated outcomes such as career progression and compensation. Finding a mentor can help you in any of these areas, and you may seek multiple mentors to help guide you in various aspects of your career and life. Perhaps you’ll even find a mentor through networking!

Attribution:

Content for this section was adapted (with additions) from

Management Communication Copyright © 2017 by Lisa Thomas, Julie Haupt, and Andy Spackman is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution -ShareAlike and made possible by  Management Communications Group, Marriott School Of Business, Brigham Young University.

References:

DeFrank-Cole, L., & Tan, S. J. (2021). Women and leadership. SAGE Publications, Inc. 

Eagly, A. H., & Carli, L. L. (2018). Women and the labyrinth of leadership. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2007/09/women-and-the-labyrinth-of-leadership  

Ramaswami, A., Dreher, G. F., Bretz, R., & Wiethoff, C. (2010). Gender, mentoring and career success: The importance of organisational context. Personnel Psychology, 63, 385–405. 

Robinett, J. (n.d.). Develop your networking skills now for future success. Judy Robinett. https://www.judyrobinett.com/develop-your-networking-skills.php