Networking | Career Building
Ace Your Networking Game: Part 3
The Foolproof Networking Strategies That Work Every Time
In this 3-part series, I will go over networking strategies I have been using, as a consultant for over 25 years, and still use now.
I was just brought onto a team for a 1 year contract. They were all new faces to me and, I, a new face to them. But I knew a lot about the team already. I knew their personalities. I knew many of their personal and professional traits. I knew what type of players they were on the team. You see, before I joined the team, a very close colleague/friend of mine, had been part of the team for 2 years already. Although I believe that each person creates their own relationships and one person’s experience may be different than another’s, I had known this peer for some 15 years and we knew each other well personally and professionally. I trusted his insight, and his perspective provided me with an advantageous edge as a new member of the team.
If you read part 1 and/or 2, skip ahead to after the section break.
I interpret “networking” to be…
Expanding your professional circle to enrich your personal growth and boost your career.
In this 3 part series, I will cover who you need to network with, where to find them, how to approach them, and how to build those relationships over time.
Broadly, I classify the people you network with into three categories:
Mentors
Experts who inspire and motivate you.
They provide insights based on their expertise that you can learn from.
Champions
These individuals bring up your name when opportunities arise.
They might recommend you as an expert or suggest your name for a promotion or job opening when you’re not present.
Peers
These are your colleagues who provide insightful advice and support.
Being at the same level, they can provide you with honest opinions about managers, employers, and hands-on tips, while also relating to your everyday experiences.
For Part 3, I am going to focus on ‘Peers’.
Having people who are essentially at the same season in their career, going through the same types of companies, similar roles and crossing paths with the same people are both supportive and can be incredibly helpful in your networking efforts as well. Peer relationships work both ways though. As much as your peers can help you, actively reach out to your peers and see how you can help them as well. You will all have interesting thoughts, skills and knowledge to share.
Learning through peers
I am constantly learning, improving and upgrading my skills. But one of the easiest ways I have been able to do this is by learning from my peers. Sometimes, they show me an invaluable software shortcut, at times when I don’t know how to do something, I can comfortably ask them instead of scouring YouTube for tutorials, and get information that you just can’t find.
I really wanted to attend an annual conference, but it was above my budget. When I mentioned it to one of my friends, she told me that she was going because she got a special ticket for women that had a significant discount. I would have never known or thought to look for something like that. The following year, I jumped at the discounted ticket price and went to every session I could with her.
Many designers are making the transition from Sketch to Figma as it has become the tool-of-choice for my field (UX). While working with clients, I often show people tips on how to use Figma that are unique to it compared to Sketch. This helps my peers with being more efficient. I send helpful tutorial videos out to on whatever channels the teams use (ie. Slack, Teams, etc), I let people know of live sessions that may be helpful to attend and offer to summarize for people that may not be able to attend.
Intel through peers
As in my previous example, peers may have been somewhere or interacted with someone before you. These experiences, positive or negative, can be helpful to know ahead of time.
Within a team, there may be people that you need to be a bit gentler with, maybe there is someone who knows a lot that can help guide you, there could be a person that goes on tangents on meetings that may require a bit more corralling back in, there may even be someone who doesn’t respect the role you are in that may need to see the value in more evident ways to be won over.
I have often been given a heads-up, without even asking, about challenging partners and stakeholders. I make sure to put extra effort into those relationships and work hard to figure out what exactly those people need to see and hear in order to have positive communication. Without fail, people are always surprised at how these notoriously “difficult” people take to me and how well meetings and projects go with them when I’m involved. I might have been able to reach that point independently, but maybe I would have experienced a lot of frustrations and questioning if it was me or the situation before I got to the point of tailoring my communication with them to get to that positive point. I know for a fact, that going in with the concept that the challenge exists, gives me an advantageous head start in building that relationship.
Keep an eye out for an article I’m working on about how to communicate to different types of people at work to build positive relationships.
Jobs through Peers
Lastly, peers can be incredibly helpful when it comes to finding a new job. There are three main ways that this unfolds.
Recruiters contact me often for roles. They usually send me an email with a job description, some internal info that they may have and ask to shoot them a message back if I am available. They also almost always note that if I am not available, that they appreciate any recommendations of people that I feel may be suitable for the role or who may be looking.
I have often reached out to my peers with the job information that was sent to me and share the opportunity out. Quite a few times, this has helped someone I know get to the interviews quickly and land the role.
Another way this could work out is if one of your peers knows of a role that is coming up in the company they work at, they could recommend you. In a world where a LinkedIn job posting can attract hundreds of applicants in a single day, having your resume fast-tracked to the right person can provide a significant edge. More often than not, an internal recommendation also pretty much guarantees a first interview.
Lastly, if a peer is leaving a role, the company is usually very happy if they can refer people that should be considered for their replacement moving forward. This type of transition is favorable for companies that value your peer and have really appreciated your peer’s hard work. They hope to get someone similar to take the role over.
Even when I think someone is happy in their current role, if I have an opportunity that I feel is worth it, I will always reach out just in case. You never know what is happening in the background in someone’s life, and they may be stressing about leaving their current role. You reaching out, may be the sigh of relief they need in their job hunt.
On the other side, if you are looking to change roles or companies, don’t be shy to let your close peer network know. They will act as scouts for you and having additional ears out for opportunities is just what you will need.
Remember, networking is a reciprocal process where both you and your peers benefit, so don’t hesitate to tap into your peers as a valuable resource.
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