By Noelle Capobianco
Networking is all about who you know, not what you know, therefore you do not want to be wasting your time with the wrong people. By investing your time with the right people it will enable doors to open and opportunities to fall in your lap with no application needed. There’s a multitude of people out there and it starts with your network of friends, relatives, colleagues, and acquaintances as a valuable job search resource.
Networking may sound intimidating, but it can be rewarding and fun, even if you’re shy or feel like you don’t know many people. By connecting with these people it can then allow you to connect with other people that they may be involved with, thus you are already networking. Each member of a network may know of an available job or a connection to someone who will know of one connecting you to another network and compile a list of contacts.
To construct meaningful relationships, follow these tips that will enable you to invest in the right people to start networking.
Link in with LinkedIn
LinkedIn is the networking resource to allow you to connect with people within your industry. It allows you to compose a personal note mentioning why you want to connect with them, for new contacts whilst reiterating something they said when you first met or offer to help them with a challenge they might be experiencing. This practice shows interest in them — and not just how connecting benefits you. By investing your time with LinkedIn it will attract people within your preferred industry to connect with and can then recommend you to other people within the industry. LinkedIn is also a major recruiting site in which majority of recruiters find potential employees through LinkedIn and referrals therefore to network with LinkedIn is a great resource.
Share the Light
Networking is about finding ways to make your contacts useful to you, without requiring them to put in too much effort. To do that, you need to know as much about your contact as possible — you can tell them about yourself when the time comes. Nobody wants to be around somebody that does not take into consideration that they do lead busy time and time is of the essence. Therefore to ensure that a contact is useful to you it’s important to know as much about them through active listening to show them that your interested and genuinely care. By acknowledging and praising their efforts and accomplishments it also shows admiration that they will enjoy. Continuously use their name throughout the conversation and end by asking ‘what can I do for you?’ or ‘how can I help you?’ that indicates that you would like to connect with them. Just remember to come prepared to ensure you deduct if and how this person can help you.
Put in the effort from the first meeting
It takes more than one interaction to build a strong relationship so put the time and effort to show them that you want to connect with them. Send them an article that relates to their industry, job or aspirations or even discuss how you took action from your initial meeting. By going that extra mile and remaining in contact with them, the person will be able to sense that you are serious about your career aspirations and want to succeed. In order to receive you may have to give, once the effort is shown then they invest time with you back and connect you with other people of similar career aspirations or within the industry to create a win- win relationship.
When networking it is important to know what you can bring to the table and what you would like to get from connecting with these people. These tips will allow you to start networking and start compiling a contact list. Networking does take time so do not expect instant gratification but by starting to connect with people it will allow opportunities to come to you more easily and readily overtime.
