Networking is Your Career Management Tool
It is all about making connections and helping others in the process! To be an effective networker, you must first overcome awkwardness or shyness. Then, you must be prepared and strategic in your approach.
Networking constantly reinvents itself as new ideas and ways to meet are engaged. There are endless ways to network, some impromptu and others planned. Venue opportunities range from in-person to virtual and internal to external. While some are structured and include a speaker, others are social, allowing everyone to engage independently. Each has its own set of expectations. Find your best fit!
Path #1: After-Hours Social Prospecting
Networking is all about prospecting. A prospector pans for gold until, one day, he finally discovers gold among all the small rocks and debris. This is how networking works. You are prospecting for your networking nuggets of gold. These nuggets can come from connecting people, receiving helpful information, or generating a business lead. It would be best to keep internal or external variables panning and occasionally change venues (streams) to make the process work.
While familiar in-person and online streams consistently fill your needs, be open to stumbling onto different venue opportunities. Where would we be today if the miners had given up and stopped panning after each disappointment and didn’t change streams? Keep panning! The prospecting process has many internal or external variables that allow you to find new opportunities.
Path #2: Master the Skill of Mingling
Mingling is made easy using a three-step process that helps you confidently mix and mingle at various functions. For example, can you comfortably walk into a room and confidently converse? Can you juggle a handshake, hors d’oeuvres, and beverage all in one smooth move? It’s the prerequisite to networking!
If mingle-phobia (or awkwardness) is your most significant barrier, a strategy is the best way to accomplish this. Take the awkwardness out of attending networking events by engaging in a model that achieves your goals. This chapter describes a three-step strategy: (1) approach, (2) engage, (3) depart. It is all about looking and feeling confident, making yourself known, and being memorable positively.
Path 3: Networking as a Career Management Tool
Thinking of networking as a career management tool will get you in the right mindset. Networking is like trying to cultivate a flower garden. You don’t just plant the seeds and hope for all of them to sprout and grow on their own. That’s what weeds do!
Instead, you create the conditions for their growth and enjoy watching them blossom. Then, you continue to nurture them. Just as there is no such thing as one generic flower, there is no such thing as one generic network or networker. You will advance your networking confidence and career by learning to focus your networking efforts, identify different personal networking styles, and handle those “pet peeve” moments.
Path #4: Pursue Online Options Intelligently
As you venture into the social media world, embracing the importance of your online reputation is paramount. Numerous online platform options can put you in the right circle of contacts. Select wisely!
Social media is all about communicating in the written word. Therefore, do not underestimate the power of first impression “grammar.” Social media is powerful because it can open the door to real-life encounters or accomplish things when distance is the barrier.
Learn everything about your social media options, then select the ones that make the most sense. Then, learn how to use them effectively and protect your reputation. Your social media profile is vital! It’s your online identity and gives the visitor an overview of your persona, experience, and background. Although Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter were the initial “go-to” platforms, many others have and continue to emerge.
Path #5: How to Start a Networking Group or Event
Can’t find what you are looking for? Then, create your unique networking group or event. Networking venues (in person or online) do not just happen. Dedicated and passionate people plan them.
The pros highlighted in this chapter save you valuable time by sharing the strategies they used when they first started. History is the best lesson! Then, readaptly follow today’s trends and create your networking web.
Begin with YOU!
Start by establishing a comfort zone with networking. Then, learn strategies for ensuring successful interactions at networking events. Finally, realize that it is not just about networking; it’s about connecting people and designing a networking model or strategy that achieves your goals.
The person you help will remember your efforts and eventually help you. This is how networking truly works! No matter how much time passes, you pull people forward when the opportunity presents itself. You never forget the people who helped you, and always keep them in mind for opportunities. It is about paying it forward.
The Art of Professional Connections: Success Strategies for Networking in Person and Online offers proven strategies to make your experience a win-win.
This book acknowledges many different personal networking styles and group interests. You will realize that one’s in-person and online presence should be in sync, that being a people connector is vital, and that you should protect your reputation in both arenas.
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You can add this edition to your professional development library by purchasing it from your favorite bookstore (in softcover and eBook formats).
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