Unlock Your Dream Job: Master Proactive Networking Strategies for Success
What is Networking
At its core, networking is exchanging knowledge, ideas, and resources among individuals with shared professional interests or goals. In the modern, interconnected business landscape, networking has evolved from a mere job-seeking tool to a crucial element of career development and business growth.
Unlike reactive networking, which often occurs in response to immediate needs, proactive networking involves:
Continuous Engagement: Regularly participating in industry events, online forums, and professional associations.
Relationship Building: Fostering connections with colleagues, mentors, and industry peers over time.
Knowledge Sharing: Contributing insights, resources, and expertise to your professional community.
Importance of Networking?
Since nearly 70% of individuals are hired by companies where they have personal or professional connections, networking is a critical aspect of the career exploration process. However, beyond making personal connections with others in careers of interest to you, networking allows you to gain insight into many aspects of work, including
Three Principles to Good Networking:
Successful networking hinges on three fundamental principles: intention, diversity, and consistency. Integrating these elements into your networking strategy can cultivate a robust and enduring professional ecosystem.
Intention:
Networking should be a mutually beneficial endeavour. Focus on creating value for your connections, not just seeking personal gain. By focusing on developing such reciprocal relationships, you’ll learn how critical balanced exchanges are for long-term success.
Strategies for Intentional Networking:
Actively listen during conversations to identify potential synergies
Facilitate introductions between contacts who could benefit from knowing each other
When connecting with others, provide concise context to highlight potential common ground
Be open to reciprocal introductions from your network
Diversity:
A well-rounded network resembles a web rather than a linear structure. It should encompass various professional and personal connections across multiple experience levels and industries.
Sources for Diverse Networking:
Current and former colleagues
Academic connections (classmates, professors)
Industry association members
Peers from digital professional networks like LinkedIn
Personal interest groups (sports teams, community organisations)
Industry leaders
Executive members of a company you aspire to work at
Specialised recruiters in your field
Remember to engage with individuals at all career stages, from emerging talents to seasoned mentors and industry leaders.
Consistency:
Transform networking into a habitual practice by establishing a routine incorporating regular engagement with your professional community.
Habits for Consistent Networking:
Schedule regular check-ins with former colleagues
Engage consistently on professional social media platforms
Attend industry events regularly
Allocate time for follow-ups and nurturing connections
Share relevant content (articles, podcasts) with your network when it reminds you of them
Seize opportunities to make introductions within your network
By embracing these three pillars, you can develop a networking approach that expands your professional circle and creates lasting, meaningful connections that contribute to your long-term career success.
Setting clear networking goals
Like everything, your direction is more critical than your travel speed. Networking is no different. Many focus on connecting with as many people as possible without having a goal to strive towards.
How will you know who you should connect with without knowing what you want from your networking efforts?
Is it a new job, investor, employee, or mentor? How many? And why do you need those people?
Setting networking goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound (SMART) can help clarify your purpose and direction, focus your efforts and resources, and track your progress and results. Knowing the ideal outcomes for your networking plan allows you to steer conversations effectively and set up meetings with the right people.
Assessing your current career status
Before you start crafting your networking goals, you need to consider where you are in your career and where you want to head. Ask yourself questions like
What’s your job right now, and what do you do?
What skills do you have?
What big projects have you worked on?
What have people said about your work?
Where do you want to go next in your career?
What’s coming up that could be good or tough for your career?
Knowing your strengths and what you need to work on helps you focus your networking.
Envisioning your ideal career outcomes
Think about where you want to be in your career in the next 1-5 years
What job do you want? What skills or successes do you hope to have?
What kind of work interests you?
What projects could help you grow?
Are there any leadership roles or special skills you are aiming for?
Your networking goals should help you achieve your career goals. Consider who you need to meet, what you need to learn, and what groups you should join to accomplish these goals.
Aligning Networking with Career Goals
Now that you have a clear picture of where you are in your career and where you want to be, you need to identify how networking can bridge the gap between your current position and future goals.
Identify the types of professionals you need to connect with.
Determine your networking priorities (e.b., job opportunities, skill development, mentorship).
Decide on the nature of relationships you want to cultivate (Casual, professional, mentor).
Assess the time and effort you are willing to invest in networking.
Define both short-term and long-term networking objectives.
These questions will help you shape what you want out of networking.
Setting SMART goals
A set goal is excellent, but with a concrete measurement, you will know if you're on the path to achieving it.
Each networking goal needs to be SMART, which you can track later.
For example: "I will establish connections with five industry leaders in my field within the next two months by attending two industry conferences and engaging in three online professional forums."
This goal is:
Specific: targets industry leaders
Measurable: Quantifies the number of connections
Achievable: Utilises specific networking channels
Relevant: Aligns with career advancement
Time-bound: Set a two-month deadline.
By setting clear, SMART networking goals, you create a roadmap for your professional growth, ensuring that your networking efforts are focused, purposeful, and aligned with your career aspirations.
Selecting Effective Networking Channels
Networking opportunities abound in both digital and physical spaces. The key is identifying and utilising channels aligning with your goals, personal style, and schedule.
Leveraging Your Immediate Professional Circle:
If you’re like most people, there’s a good chance you already have an established network of connections. Be it a sheet, contact book, email list, or LinkedIn. Before proceeding to network with new people, take some time to review your current list of contacts.
Some of your contacts are more helpful than others, so focus on these individuals.
Analyse information like where your connections are from, their industry, and their job titles to grasp your current network better.
Once you know your network better, you can start by bulk disconnecting connections that don’t align with your goals. This will leave you with only relevant people in your network and help you identify the gaps in your connections.
Maximising Coworker Interactions
Engaging with current and past colleagues can be a valuable networking strategy. This can be a great way to start, as you have already established trust and camaraderie with these individuals. To make the most of these interactions, consider using open-ended questions that encourage meaningful dialogue:
These prompts help steer conversations towards mutually beneficial information exchanges and potential opportunities.
Leveraging social media
In today's digital age, social media platforms offer powerful tools for expanding your professional network. While LinkedIn stands out as the premier platform for professional networking, other platforms like Twitter and industry-specific forums can also play valuable roles.
As part of your social media networking strategy, you must ensure your profile is up-to-date and professional. LinkedIn prioritises complete profiles over empty ones.
Professional Profile:
Headline:Your profile headline is your own personal ad. That’s why you should treat it like your mission statement – encapsulating who you are and why people should connect with you.
Here is a basic formula you can follow to help you create an effective LinkedIn headline.
(Current Role/Profession) | (Primary Skills/Area of expertise) | (Unique Value) | (Notable Achievement) | (Personal Passion or Career Goal)
Examples:
- Project Manager | Expert in Agile & Scrum Methodologies | Delivering High-Quality Projects On Time
- Software Engineer | Full-Stack Developer | Specialized in React & Node.js | Passionate About Building Scalable Solutions
- Project Manager | Agile & Scrum Specialist | Leading High-Impact Teams
- Financial Analyst | Data Analysis & Forecasting | Enhancing Business Decisions
Professional Profile Picture: Your profile picture is your calling card on LinkedIn—it's how people are introduced to you and governs their impressions from the start. Ensure the picture you choose is recent and looks like you, with at least 60% of your face in the photo wearing what you would wear to work and smiling with your eyes.
A LinkedIn Summary: You've got a story to tell, and your About section lets you tell it however you want. Use this section to connect with prospective employers and connections through storytelling. Providing information about who you are, what you are doing currently, who you want to help, what you are looking for, ect.
See below for three examples of outstanding LinkedIn summaries from which you can draw inspiration:
Katrina hooks her readers and then connects the dots in her non-linear career path
Damilare shares the roots of his professional passion and connects the dots to his current role.
Giji shows off his passion, skills, and accomplishments using a hybrid paragraph bullet combo.
Detailed Work Experience:
The "Experience" section of your LinkedIn profile allows you to share your previous and current roles, positions of responsibilities, and details of your past work experience with your professional network. While a resume is traditionally a straightforward listing of your experiences, a LinkedIn profile gives you room to elaborate.
A few things to remember when crafting your profile experience section:
Always write descriptions in the first-person narrative: Always write in the first person and follow a conversational writing style. While writing about your current role, use present tense, and for all previous roles use the past tense.
Keep your descriptions concise: Every sentence you write costs the reader a few seconds. So make sure you use words wisely and don't add any information that is not worth the reader's time.
You can follow these tips to make the description more scannable for readers
To maintain consistency, use a structured format and follow the same layout for each role description.
Use subheadings "responsibilities", "achievements", "Software used" ect., in your description to break up large groups of text.
Use bullet points, don't write lengthy paragraphs
Don't use fancy vocabulary. The purpose is to communicate your work to the massess. The simplier it is, the more people will understand it.
Use Action Verbs: You can use action verbs like implemented, managed, directed, conducted, organised, reduced, saved, added, delegated, produced, launched, enhanced, refined, upgraded, trained, and built while describing your work.
Describe your responsibilities: Discuss the product or service your worked on. 3-4 bullet points is the optimal length. For example:
Highlight your key accomplishments: One of the most effective marketing tactics is capitalising on the highest-quality results. That is exactly what you need to do while marketing yourself to potential employers. Include an achievements section for each role, using numbers and percentages to quanify your job experiences.
For example:
Attach relevant media to your experiences: LinkedIn allows you to add media like images, documents, websites and presentations to each experience. This shared media can serve as social proof, giving your profile more credibility. So, if you have articles, white papers, case studies, designs or other similar content, show them off so your audience can see exactly what you do.
Here is how to add media to your LinkedIn profile:
Go to your profile and then into edit profile mode
Scroll down to your experience section and click the pencil icon to edit experience.
Go to the Media section and then click "add media".
You then have the option to add a link - if you have a slideshare, copy the link and add that here.
Highlight your skills: Skills are one of the quickest wins on LinkedIn. Scroll through the list of skills and identify those that are relevant to you. Doing so helps to substantiate the description in your headline and summary and provides a platform for others to endorse you.
Endorsements highlight a person's strengths and expertise. For example, if you worked with me on a content marketing campaign and were impressed with my content creation and on-page SEO skills, you can choose to endorse me for content writing. This would allow my profile visitors to gain insights into my top skills.
It serves as a more compelling validation of my abilities than merely listing them on my resume or self-reporting, as these endorsements come directly from people who have had first-hand expeirience with your work.
Important: Make sure your "Endorsements settings" are "On". Here's how:
Go to the "Skills Section"
Click on the three dots and select "Endorsement Settings"
Toggle the settings to "Yes" and click "Save."
But how do you get endorsed on LinkedIn? For starters, go through your network and identify connections with whom you feel genuinely deserve an endorsement from you – that is often the trigger for people to return the favour.
Don't be afraid to reach out with a polite request asking for endorsement for a few skills. Customise your request by referencing the project you collaborated on with them and gently job their memory regarding your contributions. Show that you value their opinion and clearly mention the skill or skills you'd like them to endorse. Be specific and concise in your request. Say something like:
"Hi (Name),
It's been some time since we chatted. I enjoyed our collaborationa and work together. I'd like to request your endorsement for my "Specific skill" on LinkedIn. Your support would help stregthen my professional profile.
If there's anything you'd like me to do in return, please let me know. I'm more than happy to reciprocate.
Thank you in advance for your support.
Best regards,
(Your Name)"
Testimonials: Although skill endorsements highlight your expertise, recommendations are at the next level. Serving as testimonials, recommendations detail your collaboration, projects completed, or skills developed. Consider contacting close contacts for recommendations that apply to your current role – or next career goal. You can contact past colleagues, managers, customers or even former classmates. A good rule of thumb is to have at least one recommendation per listed role in your LinkedIn profile.
Connecting with new people:
It would help if you also connected with people in your industry with whom you could see yourself working in the future or who could provide you with value in your networking activities. Remember to refer to the ideal personas you identified when crafting your goals. You should always ensure that you connect with people who fit within these personas or align with your goals.
Some ways to find potential contacts for networking
Sync your profile with your email address book. This enables LinkedIn to suggest people you could connect with.
Follow up on meetings and conversations with LinkedIn connection requests
Contact people you already know, such as co-workers, ex-employees, customers, university peers, ect.,
LinkedIn offers you “People you may know” whenever you connect with someone. You can also find it under the “My Network” tab.
Use the search box. You can filter your search by location, company, connection hierarchy, etc.
Be active on LinkedIn groups. Find groups that align with your interests and engage and connect with relevant members.
Always include a personalised note when sending a connection request. Avoid using generic LinkedIn invitations. Instead, write a quick message introducing yourself, explaining what you do and why you wish to connect.
Interacting with your connections:
Building a network isn't just about acquiring followers; it's about engaging with them regularly. Set aside 20-30 minutes daily to liking, commenting and sharing relevant posts from your network. Respond to comments on your posts, answer messages promptly, and show genuine interest in your follower's work or opinions. Daily engagement will keep you visible in your network's feed whilst nurturing those contacts.
PRO TIP: Use ContactOut's AI Commenter via Chrome Extension. This app allows you to use AI to comment on posts, giving you the option to
Add Value
Questions
Compliments
Say Thank You
Remember to personalise and revise the generated content to suit your tone of voice and personality, adding any additional insights or comments. You can also use this extension to write your personalised messages for connection requestions:
Posting Content:
Content is king on LinkedIn. It is the fuel that drives engagement, visibility, and growth on the platform. It is also the key to establishing your authority, reputation, and influence in your field.
But what kind of content should you share on LinkedIn? And how do you create and distribute it effectively?
Before you start sharing your posts, consider turning on creator mode on your linkedin profile. Why? Because you can gain followers - people who appreciate and engage with your content.
By turning on LinkedIn's Creator Mode you can enable
Enhanced Visibility: Creator Mode prioritises the display of posts and shared insights over job details, making content more accessible to followers and viewers.
Increased Engagement: It helps in enhancing user engagement by highlighting the content to a broader audience and encouraging interactions.
Follow Feature: It replaces the "Connect" button with "Follow", allowing for a wider and more diverse audience reach, without the limitations of connection requestions.
Write articles: Share your knowledge and insights through LinkedIn's publishing platform
Post Updates: Share industry news, personal achievements, and thought-provoking questions
Use multimedia: Incorporate images, videos, infographics and polls to make your posts more engaging.
Attend virtual events:
LinkedIn offers various virtual events, such as webinars, workshops, and conferences. Take advantage of these opportunities to learn, network, and connect with professionals in your industry. Engage actively by asking questions, participating in discussions, and connecting with speakers and attendees.
Joining LinkedIn Groups:
You can join groups related to your industry, area of expertise, or professional interests. Once you join, you can share valuable insights, ask thought-provoking questions, and participate in discussions. This is a great way to expand your network, as sharing authentic and engaging content or contributing to conversations boosts your visibility.
Joining Professional Associations
Professional associations are a great way to expand your network beyond people you know. Consider joining organisations for professionals with your role or more general organisations within your industry.
Industry organisations often host seminars, conferences, and workshops exclusively for members. These events are a great way to meet other members within your industry, learn new things, keep up with trends, and explore different perspectives.
Attending Industry Events
Networking events provide opportunities to meet and converse with like-minded people in a conducive environment. These can include conferences, workshops, seminars, or informal social gatherings
Before the Event:
Identify your goals for attending: What is your goal, and who do you want to meet and connect with? Just because an event takes place doesn’t mean you must be there. Ask yourself if it makes sense to be present. Once you have confirmed it is relevant for you to attend, it is an excellent idea to set specific objectives so you can focus on meaningful interactions rather than aimlessly navigating the event. Be specific with your goals; for example, you might identify three professionals you would like to meet and introduce yourself to, or there might be particular workshops you would like to attend.
Research about the event: Conferences are generally packed with presentations, panels, and even some hands-on skill-building sessions. Take the time to read all the pre-event materials sent your way. Then, plan your agenda. Reflect on why you are going: Which sessions are you most excited about? Do any of them have conflicting times? Make a schedule of time to attend panels and presentations, look at booths, and connect your current connections.
Identify any current network contacts that may be going and reach out: If the event is significant and many people from your industry will be attending, you may like to reach out to some of your connections before finding out who is going. An excellent way to do this is to make a simple post on LinkedIn advertising that you will be going to and ask anyone else who is going. You can then arrange times to catch up for coffee or coordinate events where you can attend together.
During the event
Striking a balance between expanding your network and consolidating it: The people you meet at a networking event will fall into two categories: those you have met before and those you are meeting for the first time. Ideally, you should strike a balance between the two, using the event to reconnect with familiar faces (especially if there are people you recognise but haven’t yet gotten to know well) while also seeking brand-new connections.
Your emphasis should be on reconnecting briefly and, if appropriate (or desirable), sharing details that will allow you to catch up in the future. Then, focus on expanding your professional circles and, ultimately, the event's purpose.
Introducing yourself with confidence:
Time constraints often come into play during event networking scenarios. So always be ready to share who you are, what you do, and what you want in 30 seconds or less. Distil it down into a snappy overview. You should rehearse this quick pitch beforehand until it flows smoothly and confidently. This ensures you make a memorable first impression.
Once you have introduced who you are and what you do, you should focus on shared experience. What is the most apparent thing you and the other person have in common? To begin with, you are both at the same networking event so some possible follow-ups may include
What did you think of the presentation earlier?
How did you find out about this networking event?
I wonder if these events are usually so crowded.
Build rapport by discussing the topic of interest: Let's say the person you are talking with is an accountant. What do they most like about it? Have they learned anything interesting lately? The trick here is to get people talking about something they are passionate about. Alternatively, you could lead the way by sharing an interesting anecdote about your experiences. Remember, the best conversations don't involve only an exchange of facts but also an exchange of excitement and enthusiasm.
You don't need to sell yourself: Networking events aren't competitions where you have to impress everyone you meet. The erroneous belief that doing so is necessary will only result in undue pressure and, often, a wooden performance when making introductions. A more sensible goal is to focus on learning more about the other person to see if you have common interests and goals and whether or not there might be ways you can help each other.
Relax: Meeting new people can be challenging. You deserve credit for being bold enough to converse with somebody you haven't met before. Once you've done so, it is easier to go with the flow, and by being at ease with yourself, you will also help the other person relax.
Ending the conversation politely: To do so, reverse your introduction. Wait for an appropriate null in the conversation, then issue a polite exit line such as "It has been great meeting you, but I want to ask the speaker/colleague some questions before they leave OR Well, I want to make sure to say hello to at least three people tonight, OR anyways I don't want to take up all of your time". You can then thank the person in a specific way: "Thanks for sharing your experiences as …. You have helped me answer some important questions OR I appreciate you telling me more about life within COMPANY". Then shake hands and, with conviction, depart to do what you said you would do.
After the event:
Follow-Up: It is essential to follow up promptly with everyone you meet after an event. You should send them personalised emails or LinkedIn messages thanking them for meeting and expressing interest in future collaboration. Quick follow-ups show professionalism and keep the momentum alive.
Consistency counts: The more consistently you attend a specific professional network event, the more familiar you become. For instance, if you have been to an HR conference where you have made valuable connections in the past, it only makes sense to attend the same event every year. This helps you strengthen your existing connections and make new ones. Remember, repeated interactions strengthen bonds exponentially more than one-off meetings. People start recognising you, making it easier to engage them in conversations.
Strategising your approach
Now that you have your SMART Goals, target connections, and networking channels, it's time to break them down and create a strategy for achieving them.
A networking action plan is a detailed roadmap that outlines the steps you need to take to achieve your networking goals. It should include the names and contact details of the people you want to reach out to, the messages or script you want to use, the frequency and duration of your interactions, the follow-up actions you need to take, and the resources you need to support your networking activities.
Focus on creating annual, quarterly, monthly and weekly benchmarks that lead to the overall goals. After this, you can create weekly/daily habits that help you achieve them. For example:
Connect with ten people per day
Message 15 people per day
Attend one networking event per month
Review my network once a month
Catch up with essential people once a week.
You need to ask yourself how you will achieve your goals.
If you want in-person relationships, focus on attending industry events. If you wish to have more LinkedIn professionals in your network, focus on connecting with people on LinkedIn.
No set strategy will reach your goal; you must try different ideas and see what works.
Monitoring your Networking Metrics:
You need to measure your networking metrics to know if your networking efforts are paying off. Networking metrics show how well you build and maintain relationships, add value, and achieve outcomes. Some examples of networking metrics you can use are the number of contacts you make, the response rate you have, the feedback you receive, the referrals you generate, the opportunities you discover, ect.
An excellent way to track your networking efforts is to use a contact management system or a simple spreadsheet to record contact information, details about your interactions, and any follow-up actions.
