Networking, the all-too-potent buzzword symbolizing adulthood. You don’t fully “adult” till you network. I think this is why many people my age don’t network: we think it’s reserved for adults. This, notion however, is far from true. I think it’s strange that we aren’t taught how to build our own networks but then suddenly, on reaching adulthood, we are expected to.
It’s important to provide some context around “networking”. When I talk about networking, I’m speaking only about the conscious act of meeting people and creating relationships for a specific career purpose. So while the close friends we make though serendipity, at various point in our lives can certainly form a network, those in our network are not necessarily close friends, or even friends at all. Individuals in your network don’t necessarily have to be close friends but they can serve a purpose as you do to them.
Purpose, in my thinking is the crux of networking and the most important reason why a majority of young people don’t network. The popular thought is that there simply isn’t a reason to. This probably stems from the common misconception that networking is for the purpose of making money or should be done when one begins to make money or as a means to make money. This couldn’t be much further from the truth. At first glance this may seem intuitive; after all, young people don’t usually have a professional life, so why should they begin to network. This is wrong as many young people are being exposed to bona fide professional experiences through academic and industry partnerships and at an earlier age than they were before. I for one am an example of this. Recently, I worked for a month in the tech industry, and from there I was offered a second job at a web and mobile development company, both as part of school course. During this time I witnessed my colleagues placed at other companies struggle with networking. You can begin to see where my insistence that young people be taught the ins and outs of networking comes from.
Networking in the eye of the young adult needs a drastic redefinition or perhaps, a re-awakening to its original purpose. Over the past couple of months I’ve experienced such a re-awakening, one that eventually motivated this post. All my various endeavours from, my three months researching at Ryerson University, one month at Bnotions and my work with Action against Hunger as a Youth Advisory Board executive and most recently my visit to Android TO have all illuminated my mind to one thing: the purpose of networking is service others. Build a network of people you can serve in, one way or another.
“The purpose of networking is service to others. Build a network of people you can serve, in one way or another”
Networking, when looked at this way, frames the act of consciously crafting relationships as an opportunity to provide a service to others and contribute to the advancement of their goals, with monetary compensation being an eventual but not guaranteed by-product of the process.
In this frame, networking is motivated towards the purpose of service; service to the mutual advancement of one another’s goals. Therefore networking requires:
- A goal or a purpose to the endeavour. Are you building your network because you like collecting human contacts? Or do you want to begin crafting a web of like-minded but clearly disparate individuals all mutually advancing each other’s goals
- Recognition of your unique service/offering. As young people this can be the hardest thing to do. You barely know where you’re headed or who you are. How can you possibly know your what your “unique offering” is?. This recognition can just be a mild inkling or raging fire but it needs to be something. A north star from which you will chart your networking course. I promise that by recognizing and being conscious of your unique offering you will create in yourself a distinctive gusto that can’t be reproduced any other way.
- Willingness to serve. A certain humility, I’ve learned, is required of those that want to build the best networks. A humility to not only recognise the unique offering of others, but also to serve in advancing their goals and maintaining the relationship.
Finally, building a network still requires that first “hello” or “hi”. You sure as hell won’t get it right the first time. You will make mistakes and maybe even get burned. Hopefully this article and the wisdom of many others in your field will mean these pitfalls happen a lot less. Either way you will get better. I do believe we should make those mistakes sooner rather than later. Most of all, now is the time to imbibe the underlying principles that guide effective networking.
These are my thoughts.
