Focus Your Networking for Greater Success
By John West Hadley, FSA
This article is reprinted from The Stepping Stone, newsletter of the Management and Personal Development Section.
I'm a firm believer in the power of networking, and I consistently advise my career search clients that they should spend the majority of their time networking. Effective networking is also critical to shaping your future career opportunities. It is your network that provides critical resources and information you can tap in to. Your network gives you the perspective of viewpoints and expertise outside of your current operation, company or industry that make you more valuable in any discussion. And it is your network that you can fall back on when you are looking for your next opportunity, or that often will bring you opportunities when you aren’t seeking them.
It is absolutely critical that you maintain and build your network at all times, even when you are your busiest and not just when it’s convenient. You want to have a network to draw on whenever you need it and not be caught just trying to rebuild it at a critical juncture! In fact, this is a common trap consultants fall prey to. We get very busy servicing our existing clients, so that our efforts at creating and fostering other relationships fall by the wayside. As a result, we keep following the peaks in our business with deep valleys, due to the corresponding up and down cycles in our pipelines.
My own experience is that every job I have ever had, plus my consulting practices, arose out of my networking activities. Now, given how vitally important I’m suggesting networking is to your future, you might think that I would advise you to network all the time. That you should look at every meeting as another place to work at expanding and building your network. Definitely not! You should be very focused in your networking activity. Be open to all networking opportunities that present themselves, but also be very selective in what you actually choose to do.
Many people confuse being open to networking opportunities with always being on stage. They are constantly in a selling mode, trying hard to shake as many hands as possible, and in the process actually rub a great many people the wrong way. I remember one recruiter who wandered around a Society of Actuaries conference in a dumpy suit carrying a shopping bag and sticking pens in everyone's hands. While I kept the pen, his name on it only served as a continual reminder of one headhunter with whom I would never work. This is similar to the person who runs around networking events handing everyone in sight a business card. That is not networking. That's giving out a lot of cards that are mostly going to wind up in the trash. Networking is about building relationships, and that takes time and effort.
I've met many people who try to go to a wide variety of networking events, constantly meeting lots of new people. Where they tend to fall down is in relationship building outside of those events. Simply attending many different events doesn't accomplish all that much. It does get you initial contacts, but the point of such events is not to bend someone’s ear for an extended period. That initial contact should just be about establishing some common ground, building rapport and creating interest in taking the relationship further. It's the meetings, e-mails and phone calls in between events that build and ripen relationships into meaningful opportunities. And if you spend a great deal of time and energy attending a lot of different networking events, you may not have enough time left over to do the follow-up that bears the real fruit! As a result, I've severely limited my own memberships in networking groups. Last year a good friend and business colleague invited me to a new networking group that met bi-weekly, and I enjoyed both the people in it and the 'feel' of the group. Afterward I considered joining. On reflection, I concluded that I could only participate meaningfully in that group if I was prepared to drop out of at least one of the other two business networking groups I attend regularly.
My message to you is to be very selective about your networking. This doesn’t mean to stop networking for any period of time. You should make it a habit to be doing some level of networking or relationship-building at all times. Yes, you may do less of it during your busy season, but even then you need to actively plan some networking activities into your schedule each week. But you should spend a little time planning out which networking activities and events are most likely to help you develop the relationships you seek, or to provide you with the long-term visibility your search or business requires. Then make sure you are allocating enough time and energy to build on those events instead of just attending them.
John Hadley is principal of John Hadley Associates, providing Career Search and Career Enhancement Counseling. He also publishes a monthly “Career Tips” e-newsletter, read by thousands nationwide. To subscribe, email him at John@JHACareers.com, visit his Web site at www.JHACareers.com or call him at (908) 725-2437.