“As a job seeker, your value often lies within your access to people and information. It’s crucial to utilize the contacts you have but also constantly work toward creating new ones.”
-Brittany Harrer-Dolin, Co-Founder of the Pocketbook Agency
Networking can feel like a chore, but it’s an incredibly important skill to master as a professional. Making connections with others and growing your list of contacts can make you feel more secure in your industry and help you grow your career by finding new jobs and opportunities. While the COVID-19 pandemic has put some limitations on networking, there are still ways to stay connected to others, utilize your contacts, and expand your network. Here are some ways to ensure a successful networking experience.
Make Genuine Connections.
While the idea of networking may seem like an opportunity to get something from your contacts––whether a job reference, an interview, or other contacts––it’s more important to focus on making genuine connections. Only reaching out to contacts to ask for favors seems fake and can hurt your chances of being considered one of their close contacts. When networking, it’s incredibly important to show that you actually care about people. While your connections may lead to something down the road, fostering a genuine friendship is the first place to start.PBA Recruitment Specialist Elle Hall says, “you don’t always have to focus on the big wigs of your industry, networking across gets you genuine connections and helps develop history with your colleagues to strengthen your opportunity as you grow.” When networking, learn about peoples’ interests, hobbies, or family. Develop some connection to talk about that’s not related to professional development. Get to know these people because you want to, not just because you want what they could potentially give you.
Take Advantage of Every Opportunity.
Networking never stops, and you can turn nearly any situation into a networking opportunity. If you’re taking the correct approach to networking, you will find opportunities and contacts even if networking is not your primary task in the moment. You never know who you’re going to meet. Always taking advantage of opportunities to get to know others can lead to new opportunities and connections. Even simply making a new friend without having any ulterior professional goals at the moment can be considered networking!
“Networking happens in every single thing you do in your life,” says Elle Hall. “If you can enter into any scenario with the intention of walking away with one new friend, that is networking.” Take advantage of each opportunity to introduce yourself to new people and start conversations. If it leads to an opportunity right there and then, great––but if not, you might be able to utilize this connection in the future. If you put in the effort to make networking a priority in any scenario, you’ll get something in return. “You get what you give. If you give it your all, you are going to get it all in return,” Elle Hall says. “Help people along the way and you will get your help.”
Check-in & Foster Your Existing Contacts.
Part of keeping your network strong and reliable is not only making genuine connections with others but keeping those connections strong. Networking is a continuous process that doesn’t stop as soon as you’ve gotten someone’s phone number. Nurturing the relationships that you’ve already created will keep your connections strong and can make you stand out when opportunities arise.
Make sure you stay in contact with the connections you’ve created. Reach out periodically and have a friendly check-in with your contacts, even if you’re not looking for anything. Set up a coffee date or lunch, call or email them, or reach out over social media. Genuinely ask how the people in your network are doing. Ask about their personal lives, families, or work life––this is the first step in getting out of your comfort zone, which will make you feel more secure when you ask these contacts for something in the future.
Ask for What You Want.
If you have an ask or are looking for a certain opportunity, ask your contacts for what you want. Don’t be afraid to ask for favors; if you’ve made genuine connections with these people and would do the same for them, chances are they will be willing to help you. Phrase these conversations by saying that you need help and describing what you’re looking for. If you’re searching for something, ask multiple people for what you want. Chances are that at least one of those people will be able to help you or find someone who can.
Quality over Quantity.
While it may seem desirable to get as many contacts in your network as possible, they won’t go far unless you’ve made genuine connections with each one. Focus on a few strong connections at a time and nurture these relationships. Having a few key genuine relationships with individuals who care about you and your relationship is better than having a thousand contacts that you aren’t closely tied to.
Utilize Social Media & LinkedIn.
Especially during a pandemic, staying connected virtually is one of the most important things you can do for your professional development. Use social media to reach out to contacts and stay up to date on their lives for those genuine interactions.
LinkedIn is one of the best modern day networking tools. Make sure your LinkedIn profile stays as up to date as possible, and that you’re always logging new connections. LinkedIn makes reaching out to your contacts incredibly easy, and even has networking groups that you can join. Especially in a pandemic, these networking groups can help you branch out and make new connections.
Do Research in Your Industry.
Although networking happens all the time, most people focus on networking for work and future career growth. Depending on what industry you’re in, there may be different things to consider when networking. If you’re looking to learn more about a certain industry, use tools like LinkedIn to reach out to others in that field. Ask to have a conversation with them to discuss their career and how they see the current market of said industry.
If you’re looking to gain more experience or success, research those who have been successful in your industry before you. Reach out to others in your industry, note their experiences and talk to them about how they’ve found their success. If you notice trends in your research for how people were able to further their careers in a certain field, you’ll know which connections are important to prioritize and can plan for future networking and growth.
Utilize Zoom & Other Video Conferencing Sites.
In the time of COVID, utilizing video conferencing services is incredibly important. In times when it may be unsafe to meet up with your contacts in person, using Zoom or other video chatting services is the next best thing to having a meaningful face-to-face interaction.
Schedule a Zoom conference with one or more contacts in place of a physical meetup. Now that many industries have adapted to remote work, video conferencing is especially easy and accessible. Having these video chat meetings will allow you to still see each other and connect on a deeper level than just an email or phone call and will allow you to have more meaningful interactions.
Stay Organized.
Once you have a few contacts in your network, make sure to stay organized with all of their information. Keeping a networking spreadsheet will help you become a master networker. On this spreadsheet, make sure to have all of the key information about your contacts––names, companies, positions, industries, how you met them, last time you saw them. It’s important to update this every time you reach out to your contacts––recalling previous conversations and asking about them can make you really stand out when you follow up with them.
Use COVID as an Opportunity to Reach Out.
Although the COVID-19 has limited opportunities to meet new people in person and make connections, it has also begun to change what is and isn’t acceptable. Sometimes it can be hard to figure out when to reach out to your contacts, especially if you haven’t spoken to them in a long time. Making new genuine connections with people can feel especially difficult when there are limited opportunities to meet new people in person.
Reach out to your contacts to check up on their health and safety and to wish them well during this time. Ask about how they are faring in their industry, or how their company is holding up. Because the pandemic has left so many people feeling this way, it has become a lot more acceptable to blindly reach out to people in your industry. To make new contacts during this time, use online resources like LinkedIn and social media to research people in your industry and set up a time to talk with them, even if you’ve never met them before. The move to more digital interactions. makes it much easier and more acceptable to blindly reach out to people to make new connections.