What is networking and why is it important?
What is networking?
The dictionary definition of networking is; the action or process of interacting with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts. Source: Oxford English Dictionary
A more simplified explanation is: connecting with people who may become helpful or significant in your life, especially for professional and personal development. Networking can be as simple as a conversation and can provide an opportunity for all involved to learn from the experience of another person and to build contacts who you can reach out to later for various reasons.
What are the benefits of networking?
To understand the benefits of networking, it is important to understand that opportunities come from people. If you are looking to get into an industry, the more people from that industry who you know, the more likely that you are to find a relevant opportunity. One experience could be a gateway to a brighter future.
Can networking help you to build any skills?
Some of the attributes you can gain from networking include social and communication skills. Being able to talk to people of different; backgrounds, social classes, and seniority levels, is an important part of the world whether that is in a work or a personal setting. Networking helps you to converse with others, listen and recall information and build your confidence.
Better job prospects: By networking you will meet people who have, or who are willing to make opportunities available to you. It is important to collect names, business cards, numbers and emails where possible so you can get in contact again to follow up on any offers of mentoring, special programmes, or even work.
Who should I network with?
The short answer: anyone. You never know how useful a contact could turn out to be, and if you’re talking for the first time, it may be difficult to know who is in which industry, therefore, taking a more widespread approach can be useful for things like building ‘soft skills’ including; interpersonal skills and verbal and non-verbal communication. Also, every person has other contacts, so you may speak to an engineer who knows an architect who could help you in your architecture career, for example.
Where can I network?
Career fairs, events, during work experience, social gatherings, on LinkedIn and more. Honestly, you can network almost anywhere, as long as you are polite and respectful you will find that there are many opportunities to speak to people who have a lot of knowledge which they can pass on to you. You can network online or in person and so the possible contacts are vast.
How can I network effectively?
To network effectively first remember that you are one human connecting with another. It can be very hard to speak to new people and even harder to ask for, or even offer help, but when you remember that despite a person’s title or age, they are just as human as you are, then it can be a bit easier. Make eye contact, adjust your volume to match the situation, smile and discuss common interests and most importantly express what you are passionate about as this can make you a more interesting conversationalist.
Below are some useful networking tips
https://www.forbes.com/sites/theyec/2014/07/28/how-to-network-the-right-way-eight-tips/
Conclusions
Networking is an invaluable tool that you can use to build contacts both professionally and personally. Every new contact has some value and it is not always about what they can do for you, but also what you can do for them. Don’t forget that one day you could be looking for help or a push in the right direction and the next you are the one who will be helping others.