Feature

Nine Ways to Network and Move Ahead in Your Career

by Rachel Williams
Have you ever helped a friend find a job by referring her to your HR department or passed along her resume to your boss? Then congratulations, you’ve already mastered a key networking skill without even trying.

Many women view networking as an activity in which you participate when you attend career or alumni related events. You introduce yourself and hand out business cards or contact info to as many people as possible, the more the better. However, networking effectively is really more about establishing and sustaining relationships with different people than how many people have your business cards. Although attending specific, so-called networking events can help you increase “the people you know,” it’s neither the primary nor the only way to network.

If you look at your normal daily routine, you’re probably already involved in some kind of networking activity without even realizing it. Remember the time you hooked up a friend who needed inexpensive furniture with another friend who needed to get rid of some of hers? These people not only appreciate your help, but will most likely feel secure and inclined to help you land the interview for that coveted job at either their workplace or that friend’s workplace. So, the things you normally do to nurture relationships with family and close friends can actually be considered networking.

Of course, women are known for their nurturing abilities in their various relationships, but fail to devote the energy necessary for building a significant network of contacts, even before a spouse and children enter into the equation. “This is true of girlfriends, both older and younger,” Taneshia Nash Laird, 36, Director of the Division of Economic Development for the City of Trenton, said. “My youngest friend is 25, and she’s like, `I’m not trying to make new friends.’” Laird agrees that “women tend to hang in the same circle” because of the trust issues they have with other women.

In order to build a substantial network of people that can help you get ahead of the pack and closer to your dream job, it’s important to incorporate one or more of the following nine steps:

1. Create Your Own Fan Base
You don’t need to be Halle Berry, Jennifer Lopez or Lucy Liu to have your own fan club. But like celebrities and businesses, you will need to market or brand yourself as an expert or star. In other words, become known for doing something well. Whether you’re good at sales or at research, let people know this. Rather than bragging about it though, simply mention at the appropriate time how excited you are about exceeding your sales goal or finding that “hard-to-locate” piece of information on the client.

2. Volunteer for Additional Responsibilities And Projects
Turning your boss and coworkers into a fan base may make you visible in other departments or to people in higher positions; however, if you volunteer for additional responsibilities or assignments either within and/or outside your current department, it can ensure that you build a bigger network and gain more exposure to other people in your company, whether small or large. (Plus, this may also help you in situations when your boss or co-workers are resistant to becoming one of your fans).

3. Reconnect with Alumni and Old Colleagues
Old friends from school and colleagues from previous companies already know how “good” you are at what you do and can quickly help you enlarge that fan base you’ve begun to create at your current company.

4. Talk to Strangers (Be open - Anyone, Anytime, Anywhere)
As a child, your parents told you: “Don’t talk to strangers.” Well, now, as an adult you may want to make exceptions to that rule. Laird initiated a conversation with an architect while commuting on the train to work and subsequently co-launched a successful real estate development company with him soon after. The moral of this story: it pays to be open to speaking with strangers in certain situations; you’ll further expand your network and increase opportunities to launch a business or locate a job you wouldn’t have otherwise known about.

5. Donate Your Time to a Charitable Organization
Pick a cause your passionate about and join an organization focusing on that issue. Not only will you make a difference in the lives of others, but you’ll establish additional and valuable relationships with other volunteers in that organization.

6. Make Learning a Priority
Regardless of your industry, updating your education, even if it’s only learning about new technology or software upgrades, makes good business and career sense. Whether you take an internal company course or a class through an institution, you’ll walk away smarter and will have made some connections with some of your classmates (Don’t forget the instructor can provide a significant contact for your network as well).

7. Join Career- and Hobby-Related Organizations
Joining an industry-related organization is a no-brainer. But hobby-related clubs or activities-whether it’s a dance class, a scrap-booking club or a volleyball team-offer similar opportunities to bond with additional people. Even when your priorities change or you switch from Tap to Ballet, technology makes it easier to maintain contact with these people from your past. In addition, participating in these clubs and classes can also help you to have a better work/life balance.

8. Attend Special Events: Career- and Non-Career-Related
Sure, who wants to go to a stuffy networking mixer, when you could be hanging out with your girlfriends during happy hour? However, networking functions aren’t as boring as they used to be. For one thing, many now happen during happy hour at the places you and your girlfriends tend to frequent anyway. But more importantly, any event you attend, either for professional or personal reasons, is really another opportunity to expand your network.

9. Add Networking to Your Career Plans
Very few women map out a career plan that includes a solid “networking strategy,” despite the fact that in this world, it’s not just what you know, but who you know that makes the difference between succeeding and not. But whatever type of networking you choose to do, you definitely need to include it as part of your career goals.

If you incorporate most or all of these networking activities, you’ll soon have a fan club to rival that of any celebrity. Like a company sponsored 401(K), networking early in your career nets you the biggest benefit; each relationship you develop becomes a mutually beneficial investment for both parties. And the more people you know, the more opportunities you gain access to down the road.
Rachel Williams, a freelance writer based in NJ, learned the importance of networking while working for a management consulting firm; thanks to her internal network of contacts, she easily gained several promotions within the company. She has written news stories, artist profiles and features for a music trade magazine as well as book and film reviews for a regional couples’ magazine.