The power of networking

Hello. I’m Eamon Dubaissi, a Research Staff Developer with Prosper, and here I’m giving an introduction to networking. We shall start by exploring different definitions of networking, pulling out some core principles. We will then look at why networking is so effective as a career development strategy. Then we’ll look more closely at the power of networking, exploring a few key concepts with the help of networking strategist Jeni Smith. Finally, we will watch a couple of videos where Jeni discusses how you can build confidence ahead of networking events, and establish trust in the relationships you develop.

What exactly is networking? Here I’ve taken three definitions to compare and contrast. When you Google it the definition is, the action or process of interacting with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts.

Merriam-Webster says networking is the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions, specifically the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business. Finally, Dictionary.com describes it as a supportive system of sharing information and services among individuals and groups having a common interest. If you take these definitions all together, some key elements emerge.

Networking requires someone to be proactive, to do something, words such as interaction and interactive. It involves information transfer, words such as exchange and share, between people, so it involves relationships and social contact, and it is usually related to a professional environment, so for example employment or business.

Why network at all? What is the evidence that employing networking as a career development strategy is effective? Well, actually there have been many studies into the power of networking, but if we take a few examples here, starting with academia in isolation, a recent study of over 100 working academics found that most participated in some form of networking, and considered it beneficial for their career. If you see the title of this paper, it uses a quote; there is no career in academia without networks.

Another study showed that graduates who received jobs through social contacts tended to get jobs that fitted them better in terms of their educational attainment, and these jobs offered better career prospects. Taking a longitudinal study from elsewhere, namely two major accountancy firms, it was found that networking is a form of knowledge-sharing that helps individuals to manage and develop their careers. They came up with the concept of the networked professional, a type of identity which benefits those displaying this behaviour in terms of opportunities received.

Now, if we take post-docs as a whole group, there have been some publications on the value of networking. In this quote from Sarah Blackford, networking is sometimes viewed cynically as using people, or dismissed as the old boys’ network, but it can be more valuable than other job-related skills. However, in another study of post-docs who identified as having imposter syndrome, many said they had difficulty networking, with the thought of networking being draining inducing anxiety, feelings of incompetence, and a sense of not belonging.

We recognise that it can be difficult for post-docs to engage in networking activities, which is why Prosper is spending time exploring it further, offering tips and strategies to help. Now, I want to take the opportunity to explore a few key concepts of networking. These have come from Jeni Smith, a networking strategist and founder of NetKno, who also appears later in the presentation with videos on how to build confidence and establish trust.

Jeni describes the core components of networking as being know, like, and trust. People first need to know that you exist and what you do. They then need to like you, or your product and service, and finally they need to trust you and what you represent. It is networking that provides these opportunities to create and establish these core components.

The next concept is network diversity. Jeni advocates for diversifying your network. In simple terms, if people don’t have conversations across boundaries they don’t stimulate new ideas and innovations. This is represented here with academia, where you may know lots of people within the confines of academia but less people in other areas. These other circles could represent companies, government, other technology sector, for example. The same applies to career development and career exploration. If you don’t have the conversations with diverse groups of people, how do you really know what your options are or build a picture of where you’re heading? The image represents you allowing others in to share information.

The next concept is connection marketing, and Jeni describes this as the promotion of yourself and your work through effective relationship management and matchmaking. A nice line is to build your brand by being nice, where you can showcase your qualities in even very small interactions, and this helps to build a rapport.

Remember, networking is not a one-way street. You can create opportunities, share information, add significant value to those who know you. This notion of adding value to others is evidenced in small gestures, for example giving introductions for opportunities, sharing knowledge, and being reliable, which all helps to build trust, and also providing ongoing support to nurture relationships.

For example, simply liking and sharing on social media, calling the person, or larger gestures such as hosting events. At this point, I just want to divert to discuss one strategy that we strongly encourage at Prosper, and that is to conduct informational interviews.

Before embarking on informational interviews, you might feel that you are taking up the person’s time or being a burden in some way without adding too much value to them in return. However, you should zoom out to see the bigger picture. First of all, most people want to help others, and if they don’t reply to you it is more likely that they are extremely busy, rather than being actively hostile. Don’t be put off. This is because it is rewarding to help others.

Imagine your reaction to someone coming to you for careers advice. In addition, it is almost guaranteed that the person you’re speaking to has also been helped before in the past, and if they realise the value of networking they also know that your paths might cross again in future, which takes us back to connection marketing.

To end the video, we will look at how to build confidence ahead of networking interactions, and how to establish trust with the connections that you make. In a moment I’ll hand over to Jeni Smith, who talks about where confidence comes from, why you can use self-reflection as a means to build confidence, and how goal-setting can boost your confidence even further. In the video, Jeni refers to some worksheets that are available on the portal.

Hello. My name is Jeni Smith. I’m a networking strategist and founder of NetKno, and today I’m going to be talking to you about networking confidence. Attending networking events and having confidence to speak to strangers is a skill, and that means you can learn it, but it takes time. Sometimes we need a bit of confidence to be able to take that first step into the world of networking, and that’s what we’re going to help you do today.

Firstly, I want to talk a little bit about lobsters. There’s a wonderful book called ‘The 12 Rules for Life’ by Jordan B Peterson, and in one of the chapters he talks about a study that’s been done into lobsters’ brain activity and their hormone balance. Apparently, lobsters are pretty gangster, and they have lots of fights and stuff. When the lobsters fight, the winner of the fight ends up standing and walking around, strutting his stuff, so that the other lobsters can see that lobster’s a winner, not worth messing with. That happens because when a lobster wins at a fight they get a release of serotonin, and that also happens in humans, not necessarily when we fight. This is what gives this lobster confidence, and it’s one of the things that gives us confidence as well.

Serotonin makes us feel good. It makes us feel happy, but as well as that it makes the lobster stand up tall, but it also makes us as humans stand up tall, have our shoulders back, stand up tall, and it tells the world that we are confident and we know what we’re doing. There’s different ways that we can get a hit of serotonin.

We can get it through exercise, being healthy and active. We can get it through a good diet, lots of fruit and vegetables, fresh ingredients. We can also get it from reflection. Humans, when we reflect on our past achievements, we get a chemical release of serotonin, which in turn makes us feel confident. That’s what we’re going to create for you, is this chemical hit of confidence so that you can then approach these networking situations a lot easier and start building up those networking skills.

In order to reflect, we need to look back at what you’ve achieved so far. We’ve got two worksheets for you that accompany this short video. Worksheet number one is asking you to look back at what you’ve achieved.

Thinking about you, what are your three best qualities and best skills? When is a time that you’ve felt proud of yourself? What have you achieved so far this year? What is your greatest personal and professional achievement to date? In the worksheet – you don’t need to print it off, it’s editable – go in there and answer those four questions, and start reflecting on all the amazing things that you’ve already achieved.

Then what we want to do is continue to build on this confidence, so we need to create more by achieving more goals. Worksheet number two is going to ask you to think about how you can showcase your three best skills that you’ve already identified, and make sure you’re sharing them with the world. Set yourself three goals for three different timeframes. There’s a one-month, a three-month, and a six-month, or a… Anyway.

Three different timeframes. Go and set yourself three goals, one for each of the timeframes that’s listed in the worksheet, and name someone that you are going to tell about those goals, and who you are also going to share your successes with. When you share your goals with someone else, you’re far more likely to succeed because you feel accountable to them.

Finally, how are you going to reward yourself? You should reward yourself when you achieve a goal. Whether it’s getting a takeaway, going on holiday, getting yourself a new pair of shoes, whatever you want, but acknowledging your achievements is really important, and it will help to build your confidence. Now you can give yourself a boost of serotonin and confidence whenever you need it. What I want you to do is take all the things that you highlighted in worksheet number one, what you’re most proud of yourself for, your greatest achievements, your best skills and qualities, and turn that into a list.

You can colour-coordinate it, print it off and laminate it if you want, or you can just put it in your mobile phone, in your notes, and you’ve got a list that’s accessible. When you need it, you can give yourself that boost of serotonin by taking a few minutes to sit back, look through that list, and reflect on all the amazing things you’ve already done.

Moving forward, when you achieve your new goals set out in worksheet number two, add those achievements to that list so you’ve got an ever-growing, evolving list of all the amazing things that you’ve done and are continuing to do, personally, professionally. That is really going to help you build your confidence and approach uncomfortable situations to give you that opportunity to build up those networking skills. There you go. I’ll see you again soon.

In this next video, Jeni talks about establishing trust, and why trust is important within your networks and relationships. She talks about character, competence, honesty, reliability, and knowledge, and how these come together to establish trust. Finally, she talks about finding a why, to attract the right people and build trust with them.

Hello. My name is Jeni Smith. I’m a networking strategist and founder of NetKno, and in this short video we’re going to be looking at how you can build trust across your network and in your relationships. There’s a fantastic book called ‘The Speed of Trust’ by Stephen M. R. Covey, and one of my favourite quotes with it is this; ‘Trust is equal parts character and confidence,’ and that’s what we’re going to be looking at in this short video. Character and confidence; honesty, reliability, and knowledge. These are three things that can help you showcase your character as a person, and also your professional competence. Honesty. Being yourself. It can be quite scary to be your true, authentic self, especially in a professional setting, but being who you are, people want to get to know you, and that’s you being honest. Making sure that you’re being yourself, and people will respond to that. Telling the truth in all situations. If you can’t meet a deadline, tell the truth. If you’re going to be late, tell the truth. That shows that you are an honest person, which builds trust. Asking for help. If you need something or you’re stuck on something, ask for help and it gives others the chance to be there to support you, which again deepens the relationship and helps build trust. Reliability. You can’t trust someone if you don’t think that they’re reliable. Always do what you say that you were going to do. Make sure that you get back to people and respond to them in a timely manner, and meet the deadlines. If you can’t meet a deadline, go back to point number one and tell the truth about it. If you say you’re going to meet a deadline, make sure that you do. All these things will help showcase how reliable you are. Doing this consistently over time will allow you to really build trusting relationships. Finally, sharing your knowledge. You are so knowledgeable at what you do, and so much experience to share. Give advice and support to others. Become a mentor and showcase how fantastic you are and all the things that you’ve learned. Write blogs, posts, and share information on your area of expertise. Share information that you’ve written or share information that other people have written. People in your network want to learn from you, so showcase how knowledgeable, well-read, and informed that you are by sharing this information within your network. That comes for experiences as well. It doesn’t necessarily have to be information. Share your experiences to showcase all the things that you’ve achieved. Finally, building trust with people. When we have something in common and shared beliefs, this is another fantastic way to build trust. There’s a great book called ‘Start With Why’ by Simon Sinek. He says, ‘People don’t buy what you do. They buy what you do it.’ That’s the same for anything. This applies to businesses and leaders. We don’t really care what it is they do. We care why they do it, and it’s important for you to share your why. What is your why? What are you interested in? What are your values, your passions, and the causes, the things that you actually care about? We’ve got a worksheet for you to do that’s going to help you find your why. It asks things like, what do you daydream about? Why do you do the research, the work that you do, and how does that work help people, or animals, or the world? Go and download that worksheet – you don’t need to print it off, it’s editable – and fill in those four questions to start finding your why. Then, once you’ve got those answers, that’s the information. That’s what you should be sharing with the world through your social media, through conversations, and people that have got the same passions and care about the same things that you do will be drawn to you, and you’ll build trusting relationships. There you go. See you again soon. Bye.

Thank you for taking the time to engage with this video. I hope you’ve been inspired to go out and network, and be a bit more conscious about what you’re doing and what benefits it has.

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