The first years of your career always come with uncertainties. But it’s these career unknowns that can hide untapped career opportunities. Beyond time and experience, networking is an invaluable resource that will help you navigate these and uncover career blind spots.
Maybe you haven’t figured out how to network or think it’s too time-consuming. You might also have preconceived ideas of what it takes to be a good networker:
“I’m not extroverted enough”.
”I’m not naturally charming”.
“I’m not that interesting”.
But here is the good news: networking is something you don’t naturally need to be good at to be great at it. As recruitment specialists, we can help you learn how to grow your professional network and share why investing some time into it each day can really help your career in the long term.
1. “Your network is your net worth”
Porter Gale
Do you roll your eyes when you hear networking is one of the most important business skills? It’s possible you’re uncomfortable with the idea that qualifications or experience aren’t enough to guarantee career opportunities. “Why should I rely on other people to progress?”, you might think.
It’s not so much about reliance on others as much as it is about making valuable connections. And while this might appear transactional, it comes down to the basis of relationship-building: genuine mutual interest, and a willingness to help each other out.
2. “The currency of real networking is not greed, but generosity”
Keith Ferrazi
As social creatures, helping each other has been our survival mechanism for thousands of years. It’s no different in the workplace: think of all the connections you’ve made since university or your first job. People have ideas, projects, opportunities, and a network of their own, which means it’s likely that you might be able to somehow help each other professionally in the future.
However, keep in mind that true generosity and a genuine desire to help is the only way to build valuable connections. Most people can spot self-serving interests, but to have a an authentic interest in others is one of the rarest people skills.
3. “Know where you want to go and make sure the right people know about it.”
Meredith Mahoney
Social media platforms like LinkedIn have only increased our ability to connect and keep in touch with people beyond our addressable circle of contacts. By using it correctly, LinkedIn can allow you to put yourself in front of the right network of people. It’s the online equivalent of being in the right place at the right time.
Here are a few things you can do to boost your LinkedIn profile over time – try to do these for at least 5 minutes every day:
- Share helpful, original content – even if it’s your opinion on a relevant topic in your sector. Make sure you have a ‘call to action’ to encourage people to reach out to you. You’d be surprised how many people are interested to hear what you have to say!
- Be human. LinkedIn has become more accepting toward a “relaxed” content sharing style. Using a conversational (yet professional) tone will show you as relatable and approachable.
- Engage. Respond to others comments and the algorithm will thank you- even more so if you do it within the first few hours of posting.
- Use community hashtags. This LinkedIn hashtags Chrome extension is a huge time saver.
- Not ready to make your own posts? Commenting on relevant content is a good way to boost your profile, and a fantastic way to exchange thoughts and connect with people with powerful insights. Engage in conversations, but don’t be a keyboard warrior.
- Be consistent. Don’t get lost in vanity metrics and remember networking is a muscle. The more you train it, the stronger it gets.
4. “My Golden Rule of Networking is simple: Don’t keep score.”
Harvey Mackay
Networking is a long term game, and the golden rule is to never expect anything in return. There’s of course an element of reciprocity, but the fact is not everyone will give back. Not because they don’t want to, but because people get busy, or simply forget. Regardless, burning bridges for trivial reasons isn’t worth it.
You never know where that colleague you enjoyed working with might be in 5 years, or when your previous manager who greatly appreciated your work might be hiring again. To progressively grow your network, why not:
- Connect with talented people you bonded with professionally, and be their cheerleader (for example, drop them a DM to congratulate them for their recent promotion)
- Look outside your usual network. Connecting with people from different walks of life ensures you’ve got a diversity of knowledgeable people in your network (e.g., if you work in marketing, why not also connect with graphic designers and photographers?)
- Attend networking events. While social media is a powerful tool, it can never replace face to face interaction. Try to remember their name and a small fact to bring up next time… and watch their faces light up. Leaving them a tangible object like a business card can also help keep you in the back of their mind. And why not add your LinkedIn QR code to make connecting with you even easier.
5. “The successful networkers I know, the ones receiving tons of referrals and feeling truly happy about themselves, continually put the other person’s needs ahead of their own.”
Bob Burg
Say you’re scrolling on LinkedIn and stumble upon a job opening. You’re not interested in it yourself, but instantly think of an ex-colleague you know would be perfect for the job
Still on the topic of helping others, a fantastic way to help your network is through referral schemes. Not only will you be helping a valuable connection, but you’ll likely be getting a reward, and a grateful friend that will keep you in mind in the future. A win-win situation for everyone.
At Sitka, we have our own referral scheme through which you could earn £300 for helping a friend. Find out more here and get in touch with us if any our vacancies could be interesting to someone you know.
To find out how we can work with you, please drop us a line
The whole recruitment process, led by Karen, was a really engaging and positive experience. I can honestly say it was the best interview I have ever had!
The recruitment process was very straight forward and communication and updates were very regular. Sitka staff are very professional and have an excellent customer focus. They were extremely focussed on what WCR needed and gave us a great calibre of candidates. Sitka will be my first point of call when I’m next recruiting.
This was the most professional recruitment processes I have experienced as a candidate. I felt really well prepared for the hiring process. Ita took the time to understand my experience and align my skills and values with those of role that I was applying for. This meant that I felt really prepared for the interview process and confident that I understood the role, culture and values of the organisation.
I would recommend Sitka and I would also consider using them as a client in the future. Having experienced their service as a candidate I have seen the effort that is made to ensure there is a good fit between candidate and client. Thank you Ita!
We liked Karen’s personal approach to finding the best candidate. She spoke to them in depth, matching the person to the business and vice versa, rather than just advertising the role to an existing database of job seekers. The process was very efficient and well-communicated from start to finish.
The recruitment process was excellent. Karen provided me with updates on a regular basis and the level of communication at all points was handled very well. The whole recruitment process was handled extremely efficiently from start to finish.
The recruitment process was thorough and straight forward, and the quality of candidate provided was very good to say the least. The best thing about the recruitment process was, apart from explaining the job role and what we were looking for, I had little to do but to interview!