Almost everybody has heard that business is often not as much about what you know as it is about who you know. However, not everybody has heard the concrete version of that wisdom. Did you know that close to 85% of all jobs are filled using some kind of personal connection?
In other words, a lot of people may be approaching getting a job in entirely the wrong way. The question is not so much about how to impress an interviewer at a business you know nothing about. Rather, the question is more about how to develop a professional network of people that will think of you when jobs come up in their own workplaces.
But how exactly are you supposed to grow your professional network? Well, there are many different ways to do so from a local level all the way up to an innovation hub that specializes in global expansion.
Start With the Easiest Opportunities
As in many things in life, if you can get started, you will build up momentum and things will get easier. In many cases, it is just starting out that is the most difficult part.
Fortunately, you can start out by doing something extremely easy. In most cases, you can find family and friends that will be a valuable networking resource. Generally, one of them will know about somebody you can talk to or a job opportunity.
Talking with your friends and family is also an extremely forgiving environment to practice new networking skills. Any mistakes you make now will be valuable training for when you have to start networking with strangers.
When Necessary, Look Outside of Your Industry
You can even look outside of your industry. After all, some of the best people in business are those who have moved between all kinds of different jobs. Meeting a super-connector can be a gold mine that will help you find out about all kinds of job opportunities you didn’t know about.
Get Involved With Your Alumni Association
Your alumni association may be more powerful than you realize. Many people feel that they are very different people than they were in college. That leads them to discount the possibility of using their alumni network.
The truth is that the alumni network can be extraordinarily useful. A quick reach out to people in your alumni association can lead to a long list of potential job opportunities.
The more that you learn about how to network in professional organizations, the more you might be looking for the best place to try out your networking skills. Not every organization provides the same diverse professional connections. To learn more about professional networking tips and where you can make the most of them, check out alpha pi mu honor society.
Use the Best Techniques to Grow Your Professional Network
We hope that you were able to take away something helpful from this brief article on some of the most important tools you can use to start growing your professional network. It can take a little bit of time to develop networking skills. However, doing so is an investment that will pay off more the sooner you learn it.
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