The word \u201cnetworking\u201d itself is enough to make many of us groan. There\u2019s good reason for that: in many cases, networking conjures up images of name tags and awkward small talk and follow-up emails that lead nowhere.<\/p>\n
But that doesn\u2019t have to be your experience. Networking \u2013 or connecting, or befriending, or whatever word you want to use \u2013 can be a lot more fun. And most importantly, it can lead to lifelong connections and friendships that shape your career.<\/p>\n
Here are some tips for networking in 2018.<\/p>\n
1. Don\u2019t start with \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n
It sounds counterintuitive, but you don\u2019t want to start your conversations with \u201cWhat do you do?\u201d The main reason is that, often, this immediately puts people into a framework of only talking about work. That, in and of itself, can be limiting (and sometimes quite boring). While your goal is obviously to network professionally, you want to look beyond someone\u2019s job to make connections. If you\u2019re a reporter who writes about baseball, you might have no interest in meeting a dancer; but the best connections come from shared values and experiences, and you might find that you have a real and unexpected opportunity from connecting with someone who, on paper, has a totally different career. Start your conversation with something more fun and you\u2019ll be surprised to see how much more real and engaged people will be.<\/p>\n
2. Look beyond traditional networking events.<\/b><\/p>\n
For the same reason that you don\u2019t want to box yourself in to people of a certain career, you want to keep your options open when it comes to the types of events you go to. Anything with a team focus will work here \u2013 join a community sport, seek out volunteer opportunities, join a Meetup, or go to a lecture. You\u2019ll find that bonding over common interests will result in more fruitful connections.<\/p>\n
3. Ask people how they prefer to connect.<\/b><\/p>\n
When you meet people, don\u2019t assume that you know anything about how they want to connect (email? Text? LinkedIn? Etc). It may be easy enough to text people, but if you assume that the new person you\u2019re talking to wants to be texted, you could be making a big mistake. The simple advice is to just ask.<\/p>\n
Related: How to Decide if It’s Time for a New Job<\/a><\/em><\/b><\/p>\n 4. Don\u2019t be a stalker.<\/b><\/p>\n You could be super excited about a connection, but treating them like your new best friend could backfire quickly. Be genuine, courteous and enthusiastic about wanting to stay in touch, but don\u2019t send three more follow-up emails and a phone call when someone hasn\u2019t responded to your first two. Try to put yourself in that person\u2019s shoes; you wouldn\u2019t want someone stalking you, would you?<\/p>\n 5. Be a giver.<\/b><\/p>\n One of the big mistakes people make when networking is seeing the transaction as one-way. Instead of asking someone to go for coffee so you can unload on them about your current job and why you want to do something different, look for ways to nurture some of the interests and goals of the other person. Invite them to an event you think they might enjoy; offer to connect them with someone who could directly help them with their business. Your thoughtfulness will stand out.<\/p>\n Related:\u00a0See what people like you are getting paid<\/a><\/em><\/b><\/p>\n 6. Don\u2019t be frivolous with people\u2019s contact information.<\/b><\/p>\n So you met someone amazing and now your friends want to connect with that person, too. Be judicious. If you do want to help, don\u2019t just sent out someone\u2019s contact information; offer to make an email connection. Your best bet is to reach out to this prized connection first and ask if you can make a quick connection; no one likes when their contact information ends up in someone else\u2019s hands without their consent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The word \u201cnetworking\u201d itself is enough to make many of us groan. There\u2019s good reason for that: in many cases, networking conjures up images of name tags and awkward small talk and follow-up emails that lead nowhere. But that doesn\u2019t have to be your experience. Networking \u2013 or connecting, or befriending, or whatever word you … Read full-story <\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":4393,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[65,6],"tags":[183,182],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4391"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4391"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4391\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4396,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4391\/revisions\/4396"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.comparably.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}