What is networking?
Networking refers to the process of building your own network of contacts within your industry – either online or in person. It can seem daunting, but it’s an important way to stay up to date in your sector and hear about jobs. Along with our partners at Royal Bank of Canada, we’ve developed this interactive film to help answer all your networking questions:
- Meet the experts
- What is networking?
- How do you differentiate between making friendships and career networking?
- How do you avoid seeming like you’re giving a sales pitch?
- How do you identify your strengths without seeming over-confident?
- What are the benefits of networking in peer groups?
- How do you prepare for a networking event?
- What’s the best way to deal with nerves?
- What should you wear to a networking event?
- What’s the best way to approach people you don’t know?
- How do you deal with imposter syndrome?
- What happens after you’ve made a networking connection?
- What happens if a networking event hasn’t gone to plan?
- How do you know if you’ve been successful at networking?
With thanks to Peter Cork, Client Relationship Manager (RBC), Alexandra Murphy (Director, RBC Wealth Management), Priya Radhakrishnan, Corporate Development Officer (The Old Vic) and Louie Keen (actor, facilitator and Old Vic Education Consultant).
Click on the on-screen touch points to discover more. More top tips for networking can be found further down this page.
Top tips
Think of networking as developing professional friendships – you never know when a contact within your network may present you with an opportunity, or vice versa. Here are some more top tips for successful networking.
- Social media is a great place to start. Follow companies and people you admire within your industry on Instagram and/or Twitter. Who are they engaging with? What conversations are they having? Being able to engage directly with people on an open forum is clearly advantageous, but ensure you always communicate in a professional and appropriate manner.
- Look for Facebook or Reddit groups and follow blogs that relate to your industry. It’s likely that you’ll find others in a similar situation to you. Sharing experiences and questions is a great way to make connections.
- Join LinkedIn, a website designed to help people manage and grow their professional networks. Build your profile and start by adding people you already know. LinkedIn will then suggest other people that you may want to connect with.
- Attend conferences, industry events, or lectures. You can often find out about these in trade press or websites such as Eventbrite. There are also membership bodies you can join who will send out industry updates – the best place to start is a Google search.
- You may have the opportunity to meet the speakers at these events, but even if not, start a conversation with the person next to you – you never know who the other attendees at these events might be, and the fact that you’ve both chosen to attend suggests you’re likely to have something in common with them! Identifying shared interests is a great way to initiate a conversation.
- If you feel nervous about attending one of these events alone, consider taking a friend with you. As your network grows, you will get to know more people who will be interested in attending the same events as you.
- Always make a note of who you meet and who they work for and maybe even make some simple business cards with your name and contact details on.
- Whether connecting with somebody in person or online, make sure you have your elevator pitch ready.
Elevator pitch
An elevator pitch doesn’t always have to be delivered in one go. It’s a collection of sentences that you can drop into conversation as required when you’re introducing yourself to somebody. You can also use it in written form to introduce yourself to people on professional networks online.
For more information on developing your elevator pitch, watch our film How to be a pitch with Rikki Beadle-Blair, or discover more in our article Create your elevator pitch.
Credits
Copy: Anne Langford and Simon Pollard
Videography and editing: Jonny Ruff