Networking is building and maintaining durable relationships that are beneficial for both sides and can be instrumental in achieving goals in your career and personal life.
Networking goes way beyond exchanging information or begging for favors from others. It’s about building relationships with people who often become your community of colleagues and friends as you progress through your career.
The Power of Networking
You can build a remarkable career on the foundation of networking. No one can deny the importance of networking, but why is it so important?
Opportunities
The most highlighted benefits of a robust network are the opportunities and options. The best chances are always shared within people’s works, often even before being made public! Assignments, projects, mergers, personnel, new clients, and items are just a few examples.
It holds in the job market as well. People in a company are frequently aware of a position that will become available before it is advertised. The first thing people do is notify their friends and family!
What would you do if a job opportunity arose and a friend with practical work experience was looking for work? Market research shows that 21% of Dutch people who changed jobs in 2019 found a job through their network.
The more extensive the network, the more opportunities!
Helping others
Networking is often associated with taking advantage of its benefits, and unfortunately, this is also usually the case in the business world.
Yet, there is a very crucial aspect of networking that people often neglect. That aspect is that you can serve other people in your contacts!
Helping someone with their career goals is beneficial. For example, consider helping someone get the first job or putting in a good word to help someone get a promotion.
It probably gives you an excellent feeling. In addition, this person will be ready to help you in the future.
Findability
Being visible and noticed is essential in building a career. One benefit of networking is that you become more visible to the right people.
By providing helpful information or tips to people who need it, you can build your reputation as knowledgeable, reliable, and supportive. You can gradually become that one person who “knows everyone” and is asked for everything through your contacts.
Knowledge
Staying informed of what is going on in your workplace and the market is essential for your growth, work ethic, and effectiveness.
Your connections are a great place to get new ideas and viewpoints. A broad network of informed, interconnected contacts means complete access to new and valuable information.
Sharing information about challenging experiences and goals is an essential advantage of networking. It may give you new insights that you would never have thought of otherwise! Just think about what is shared on LinkedIn that has added value in your industry.
In addition, offering unmatchable ideas to your network is an excellent way to build your persona as an innovative creator.
Advice
An essential benefit of a network is the possibility of obtaining free advice. Identifying common problems and opportunities might lead to valuable recommendations and guidelines.
Think for a while about having to pay every time you ask for advice from your friends, such as from a service provider. In the business world, advice is often necessary for survival.
Make it count that your network is prepared to give you the necessary advice. Providing real help to your contacts also provides a strong foundation for receiving support when you need it.
You may expect the same from your relationships if you put in the time and effort to advise them. Just make sure that they maintain a balance in giving and taking. There are always opportunists who try to take advantage of certain situations. On the other hand, people won’t be willing to help you if you never do anything in return.
Life experience
Having a large and diverse network ensures that you gain a broader perspective on life. Even without personally experiencing certain situations, you can still understand and empathize with others. By connecting with different people, you will learn about their experiences and problem-solving approaches, providing you with valuable insights and fresh perspectives on unfamiliar situations.
It also applies to knowing people from other countries. When you experience a different culture, you find out that some things you experience as ‘normal’ are not ‘typical,’ or vice versa.
On a business and personal level, you can gain all kinds of new insights and thus gain life experience. Having experience abroad is seen as a plus when applying for a job.
Gaining life experience contributes to being a good manager, leader, or friend. Knowing many (different) people, in other words, having a large and diverse network, plays a vital role in self-development. The more life you live, the better you can put things into perspective.
Confidence
Constantly showing yourself and meeting new people builds valuable social skills and confidence that you can take with you wherever you go. The more you create links, the more you grow and learn to make lasting connections.
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