
And your network will grow your career
Around 80% of jobs today are gained through networking. That statistic alone is enough to make anyone invest their time in this. What this shows is that many jobs are not formally advertised. This means that your perfect job might have come around without you even realising, simply because you’re not putting yourself out there in the right networks. Referrals are becoming an increasingly popular way to recruit, meaning more and more it’s about who you know, rather than what you know. Networking therefore provides the perfect opportunity to utilise this both online and offline.
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Get yourself out there
Joining the appropriate networks and attending relevant events can start getting your name out into the right circles. Not only will that but through talking to new people within your industry you’ll start to build up self-confidence, especially when talking about yourself and your skills.
Follow up
After an event the chances are you will have met a range of people and have collected an abundance of business cards. You may have given them your business card too, but don’t wait for them to get in contact first. It’s so important to follow up on any introductions – this shows you are organised, keen and serious about potential employment opportunities.
Quality over quantity
Invest your time finding quality, relevant connections. Your networking contact list should be filled with people you’ve built a real relationship with and have the potential to offer you opportunities to progress your career.
Don’t waste your time getting to know everyone, spend your time wisely and invest in just a few, well-researched connections so that you build up genuine and natural relationships.
Online
Share useful content
There are so many digital platforms that can help you network in an easy and efficient way. All social media platforms are made up of an abundance of rich sources of content that can help you discover more about your industry and share this knowledge with your connections. This’ll help position you as a thought leader, and as someone others in the industry will look to for information and more importantly to fill job roles.
Grow your connections
Connect with people not just within your industry but interesting people outside of your industry too. Through doing this you can build up a rich list of first and second-degree connections for potential job opportunities or simply thought-leaders you can learn from.
Start with your connections with family or friends and note down any avenues or links you could explore that could lead to the branching out into another realm of connections.
Join groups and circles
Sign up to newsletters for relevant publications or websites you regularly visit and surround yourself with interesting information from your sector. Engage with real communities through social media and in particular, LinkedIn and Twitter. Here you can join conversations and have access to a host of valuable people you may never have met in person.
Grow your network with us
To make a start in creating a rich and useful network you can follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook. This can help kick-start your network by helping to get your name out there among industry professionals and keep up to date with all our employment opportunities.
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