Networking 101

If your job search or career was a car, networking is the gas that makes it move forward. Unfortunately, a lot of people don’t cultivate their networks until they need to use it as a support system. The secret is to actively foster your network throughout your career —?not just when you need it.

Luckily, career coach and networking expert Diana Yuen Kei Chan Chan is here to help. She joined LinkedIn News Editor Andrew Seaman in the studio to share some key networking tips to help you make valuable connections.

Get Clear on Your Intention

As with a lot of career-oriented endeavors, networking works better when you know why you’re doing it. Are you networking to learn? To get a new position? To find more connections in a new area? Knowing your “why” is key.

Think Longterm

According to Diana, for her clients who have found new jobs through networking, “It doesn't happen overnight. It could take three months, six months or even a year for an opportunity to unfold there.” So, rather than expecting every phone call or coffee date to lead to a job, think of each meeting as time spent building a relationship that might help you further in the future.

Figure Out Your Cadence

Setting goals like “I want to attend one large event every quarter” or “I’d like to set up one coffee meeting every week” can help you keep your networking goals on track, without overwhelming your calendar.

Add Value

Make sure you’re not just setting up meetings to ask people outright for a job. Your goal in networking is to create a mutually beneficial relationship. Even if you’re just starting your career, or have just lost a job, don’t fear. Sharing something like an article or podcast, or offering an introduction to someone else in your network, could be a valuable thing to offer.?

Start Somewhere

If you’re ready to start leveraging your network to help you take a career step, start with something small – even reaching out to a connection to say something reminded you of them, or that you’re exploring options and would love to know more about their field, can be a good starting point.

At the end of the day, networking is all about creating a community of people whose advice you value and who know your work. There’s never a better time to start than now.

TRANSCRIPT: Networking 101

Andrew: We've all been told it's not what you know, it's who you know. And luckily networking isn't just wearing a name tag in a poorly-lit banquet hall anymore. So today we're talking all things network (not the classic film). Let's dive in.

From LinkedIn News, this is Get Hired, a podcast for the ups and downs of our professional lives. I'm Andrew Seaman, LinkedIn's managing editor for Jobs and Career Development. Each week on Get Hired we talk about leveling up. Sometimes we talk about finding work, other times we talk about excelling where you are right now. And through it all we focus on how to stay true to yourself in the process.

We've all been told that networking is one of the most important things you can do to help your job search and get ahead in your career. But what does networking actually entail and how do you get started? My guest today, Diana Chan, is a networking expert. She advises professionals at all kinds of levels on how to grow their careers by capitalizing on their relationships. And funnily enough, networking is exactly how Diana ended up as a guest on our podcast. She was planning a trip to New York, where our offices are, and messaged me on LinkedIn to see if I'd be interested in connecting. Luckily I had the studio booked that day and, well, now you get to benefit from our conversation. First off, I asked Diana to dispel some rumors. What is networking anyway?

Diana: So I like to think about networking as positive networking and positive networking is all about discovering what you can do for others, how can you serve them, how can you add value, how can you help them learn and grow? And so when you come from that service-oriented mindset, you're more likely to be curious, to be more interested in the person.

Andrew: And how has networking helped you in your career? And I guess backing up too, can you tell us a little bit about how you got to where you are? Because you had a really interesting career.

Diana: Yeah, that's such a great question. I love networking. So some context, I'm originally from Hong Kong and I moved to Canada all by myself when I was 16 with a zero network so really had to build my network from the ground up. And pretty much a lot of the opportunities I've got since graduation was because of networking, talking to people. So when I graduated I worked for a big telecommunications company as part of a new grad program and that was a result because I attended an information session where I met the hiring manager there. And my following job, working after – fast forward – my MBA, another information session at a consulting company was because I met someone there just by showing up. And then fast forward a job, the last time I was here in New York was working at Google. That opportunity was because through a classmate who knew that I was very passionate about recruiting, helping people, he referred me into the company. And I remember that at that time they were already interviewing a lot of people, they were about to make an offer and I got in and it's because the recommendation from my friend who referred me how I got in there. So I really believe in the power of networking, especially the last few years with the pandemic. Really the networking for me now has gone global, it's no longer just local, in-person. I've met so many people, coaches, speakers, fellow content creators all over the world and now serving clients all over the world because of active networking versus passive networking there. And what I mean by active networking is actually putting yourself out there.

Andrew: Yeah, no, I think that's really great. And I guess taking a step back, when it comes to networking, I think a lot of people, they almost trip at the starting line because they don't know what to expect or even ask for. So they'll say like, "Okay, that person has the job I want or that person has a really cool job and I want to talk to them." But it seems that it often goes wrong because they'll say like, "Hey, can I have an hour of your time or can we talk about if there's any jobs open at your company?" And a lot of times that's like a hard no or just you get ignored. So when you are trying to build a bridge with someone, what should you expect and what is that sort of transaction that you're looking for?

Diana: That's such a great question. So I think first of all, we got to really get clear on what's our intention with networking. What's really the purpose behind this networking? Is it to learn, to grow your network, what's really the intention behind that? And I know here particularly for the listeners who are those who are looking to job search, a big part of the goal is probably to get more opportunities, that's the main goal. Now, what's really important is that we don't want to approach a first conversation where, "Hey, can you get me a job? Can you refer me to someone else?" That is very transactional. We really want to make it more building a relationship first. So we really want to first start when I talk about the first phase, if you're just starting out, think of really informational meetings where you're really curious to learn about the person's career, about the company, about the culture, about the team org structure, really get to be curious and learn about that and showcase that curiosity so that they can see wow, you really care about them so that they can think about, okay, potential possibilities later on. So I really encourage people to think long term when it comes to networking and not to wait until you need to find a job to start networking. And I want to point out something really important that I see with a lot of my clients who get jobs through networking, it doesn't happen overnight. It could take three months, six months, or even a year for an opportunity to unfold there.

Andrew: I think that's completely right because so many people I know, even on my side, people will send me a request to have an hour meeting or something. And for me, that's an hour of my day that I could be talking to people that I manage or I could be working on my own stuff so I'll say like, "How about 15 minutes?" And then that's a great starting point and then if we want to talk more after that, we could do it again. And then there's always the idea of you have a conversation with someone and then right at the end they'll say, "So are you looking to hire anyone?" And I always tell people that makes someone on the other end feel used almost and you don't want to spoil that relationship so early so I really like that idea of waiting. There are so many variables that need to come together to get a job and the more you network and the more bridges you start to build, the more opportunities that might come your way. It's a long game basically.

Diana: Yeah. Yeah. Part of this is also planting the seeds of what you want to do more of, what you really want to be known for so that people can keep you in mind for these opportunities down the road there. You have to one, let people know your intention, but at the same time don't rush or be desperate that it needs to happen now.

Andrew: Yeah. How do you suggest to people who, maybe there's people listening that they are in a job, they're not actively job seeking necessarily, but maybe this is their wake up call to really start networking. How do you suggest people just start those conversations?

Diana: I love this question. So I really believe that the concept here is really nurturing your network, making time to nurture that network. And I actually hear this a lot from my executive level clients when they're making a change in a different industry, they talk about, "Well, I start this job but I can't just focus on the job. I need to make an effort to continue on nurturing my network there." And so I think this is where you need to figure out what's your cadence and commitment to networking. Is it the fact that you want to meet let's say one person a week or one person a month, or you want to make an effort of attending an event every quarter? Set those goals for yourself so that then you can really attract or find those opportunities for you there. And then I talk a lot about giving back and adding value, whether it's a mentoring coffee chat or being a guest speaker or sharing a relevant article or podcast. Those are ways where you are actually building the relationship equity like a bank account here where you're building that and people are going to remember you. It doesn't have to be a favor, but as you are helping people, they're going to remember you as well in helping them. I think that's a really, really important part of nurturing that network. It doesn't have to be asking anything. A lot of times, even job seekers say, "Well, I'm looking for a job, I need people to help me find a job so what can I do to give in return?" They often think that has to be something significant and it doesn't to be, it could be something you heard from the conversation and you came across an article that you want to share or a podcast that you listen to that you want to share. And it could be something personal like for example, even me coming to New York, people recommended me restaurants or places to check out or things to do. That is still adding value because I'm here, I'm new, I want to know what are some of the best things to do and check out and that's very helpful.

Andrew: We're going to take a quick break. When we get back, how to thank someone for taking the time to meet with you.?

Andrew: We're back with career coach and networking expert Diana Chan. Before the break we were talking about how to make sure networking just doesn't feel transactional.

Diana: I mean oftentimes if I'm thinking of someone, I will just text them or send them a message and be like, "Thinking of you, how are you doing?" Or if I come across an article, I'll be like, "Thought of you when I was reading this, hope you enjoy this." It could just be simple as that to start a conversation. I want to talk a little bit for those who are really serious about job search networking, if that's okay?

Andrew: Yeah, yeah.

Diana: I want to offer some particular tips on job search networking. One thing that I always talk about the importance is really identify the different approaches and strategies of how you want to approach job search networking. For example, if you have some target companies in mind, identifying people who work there to also identify the different types of people from recruiters, those peers, the hiring managers, the executives. And start small first by talking to people at your peer level to learn the ins and outs of the day to day job before you go pitch yourself to a recruiter or hiring manager, so that's one strategy there. Another could be if you are at a very senior level, is you could decide to network with executive recruiters where you find all these either big name agencies or small agencies where you go really network with them. You can find them on LinkedIn to particularly to find these people to network with. Another could be strategy is that you leverage your own network. Start with the warm network first of people that and talk to them and plant those seeds of where you are at now in your career. One of the effective strategies that my client, she landed a job in six weeks over the Christmas holidays, was she reached out to her own warm network and she's in sales. And the way she approached it, it wasn't job searching, it was like, 'I left my job and now I'm at the next stage of my life and I'm looking to figure out what's next, would love to have a chat with you." And it was a very exploratory, “no obligation of helping at all, but I just want to chat to figure out what's next” and that led to an actual opportunity. And so it could be as simple as that. And so the other thing is the concept around the power of weak ties. There's actually a study recently came out from Harvard Business Review of how the power of weak ties, like people who are not necessarily your family and friends, but who are your acquaintances, people that from your school or from your church or from people on your LinkedIn who could really help you get those opportunities and so we don't want to underestimate that. You really want to also reconnect with those people to check in to see how they're doing, what they're up to there, what's out there, what are the trends, challenges and opportunities to uncover those new possibilities. So I really want to encourage listeners to really think about, what are the different approaches? A lot of times people just think there's only one way of networking or they give up too soon after they reach out to a dozen people or a handful of people. And I always give a challenge to people is to have a list of at least a hundred people to reach out to 'cause not everyone's going to respond back to you. And so I really want to encourage people to not give up so easily if you don't hear back after a dozen outreaches, it's nothing ought to do with you, it's just that people's schedules are really busy.

Andrew: I oftentimes tell people to think about when they're sending emails, so it could be the time of year, it could be the time of day. I was a reporter and a lot of times I'd be at the office at 7:00 PM but I knew the person I was trying to reach, they probably went home two hours ago. So what I would do is I would set the email to send the next day at 8:30 AM so that way when that person opened up their inbox, right at the top was my email. And the same thing goes for time of year is that, don't send an email on December 30th because someone's going to be at a party the next night. And when you do have a hundred people that you want to reach out to and you're not going to necessarily know all of them or have a weak tie with all of them, how do you start that conversation?

Diana: Yeah, that's a great question there. So I think first of all, if you could find a common ground that's always a good idea is anything related to common interest, common experience, or just common connections like name dropping. Speaking of name dropping, if you do do that, make sure you get permission first before you name drop. I've had people use my name around and they come back to me so make sure you get permission for that first. But the second, besides finding common experience, is acknowledging. If you really don't know the person, acknowledge what you either admire about them or what you see that interests you, what piques your interest that you want to learn more about so that shows that you've actually done a bit of the research and that you were actually serious about connecting versus just doing a mass generic type of outreach there. So it's really personalizing, personalizing the message a little bit there. Like recently I had someone reach out to me, I actually get a lot of pitch emails as well for services, but I had one particular person that really stood out was that he told me he actually listened to the podcast that I was on and he was able to mention some of the things that I actually talked about and actually read some of my articles and to me that's above and beyond. By taking time to actually learn more about who I am as a coach and speaker, what my domain is, versus just like, "Hey, are you looking for this service? Can we help you with this?"

Andrew: Once you do build bridges and there is, like you said, the chance that maybe opportunities will arise through your network. But then there are other times where someone, maybe they have been networking and they do suddenly get laid off and they sort of say, "Okay, I do want to stay with my current career or I know somewhere else that I want to go." How do you reach out to that network and make that big ask to say, "Hey, I know we've talked several times before, I'm out of a job, my career's sort of wavering a little bit, I need a little bit of help here"? What's your advice in those situations?

Diana: Yeah, that's a good question. I feel like it depends on the relationship that you have with the person. I feel like you can definitely be more direct with people who you are close to that you know them really well, like being more frank with them. If you don't really know them that well, I feel like you really need to build the relationship first there. So my philosophy is how are you coming across? Are you coming across desperate or not? And so this is pretty common, I hear feedback I get from people that say I make introductions to, what they tell, what the job seekers is that, "Are you clear on what you're looking for? Are you really showcasing your value? Are you showcasing credibility or not? If you're not, do you think the person will be willing to bat for you, to refer you?" So that's a really, really important thing to keep in mind. If you're coming across as too desperate, will you make that person feel uncomfortable for them to recommend you there? That's something I feel like we can really manage and control. And so to me, obviously I totally understand it's a really hard thing when someone loses their job and they need to find something. And so a big part is we need to check in with ourselves and managing our own energy, our mindset, our confidence, how we connect with people, how do we make them feel. Those are all things that we can really manage and control there.

Andrew: Yeah. And I think that's where what I call the “power of the pause” comes in because if something like that happens that's dramatic where you lose your job somehow or you see a layoff in the near future, I think everyone thinks they have to run out and they have to get a job that moment. But in reality there's so much value into taking a day or two and saying, "Okay, what do I really want?" And like you said, you have to figure out where you are with that specific person, but the more specific you are, the more they can help you because they can say, "Oh yeah, I do have something that I think would be helpful for you or my friend Jake has something that would be great for you." And I think people are often just way too vague.

Diana: I totally agree with you, and this is why I always talk about the importance of clarity, soul searching before job searching. Because when you are clear on that, the way you come across, you're just more compelling, more confident, more courageous in going after what you want. Taking that pause does not hurt. One thing I notice, Andrew, in the last few years is there's either people got laid off, lost their job, or there's that other camp where they quit their jobs, they decided, and I feel like oftentimes sometimes people can rush back into a job too soon because I actually notice people coming back to me within three months, less than three months that they want to look for something new after they start a new job. And I personally believe it's with all the changes that's happening, that people haven't taken the time to really pause or take the time to really reflect what's truly important. One thing that I'm starting to talk more about now is really thinking about how does your career fit into your life, not the other way around? What does success and happiness mean to you? What does the ideal role look like to you? What really truly gives you fulfillment and joy? What are those primary responsibilities? What are the secondary responsibilities? What type of problems do you enjoy solving? What are the deliverables? Really just getting clear on that is going to make you more compelling when you're networking or having those conversations.

Andrew: Yeah. You don't have to love your job, but hopefully you find one that doesn't make you miserable.

Diana: Yes, right.

Andrew: Before we go, for people who are listening, I always like to give them something really actionable to do. What is one thing that they could do to really put themselves on a better path with networking?

Diana: Yeah. Such a great question. So first of all, I want to share my ABC rule of networking, which is always be connecting, always be curious, and always be cultivating. That's the guiding principle of networking. And the thing that you can really do today... There are few things I want to say. One is if you're really serious or you're just starting out building your network right now is have a goal to build at least a hundred or even 500 people in your network, even if you're just starting out on LinkedIn. Have that goal to build that and think about, what type of network do you want to build? Have that criteria, who do you want to be in your circle and get intentional about that. So is it the fact you want to meet more experienced people or you want to meet more recruiters or you want to meet more people at your company? Get really clear on that criteria so that you can be intentional about it. And then set yourself a goal of how many people do you want to meet on a monthly basis, how many coffee chats do you want to have? And then think about, "Hey, what do I want to learn from these conversations? What are those questions that I want to ask?" So that you can also have more meaningful conversations as well, but be intentional about that conversation so that you can also have a better outcome.

Andrew: And if you're like me who sometimes have trouble with remembering names and faces, then doing your homework ahead of time can really help you.

Diana: For sure, just take a screenshot of the person's picture. Just put it on your phone.

Andrew: Yeah. My worst case scenario is when I walk in and there's people who look similar to each other and they're like, "Hi, my name's Janice Joyce and something else." And I go, "Oh God." So yeah.

Diana: So a tip there is also acknowledging people's name once you meet them like say it a few times at the beginning and that's going to help you remember their name.

Andrew: Yes, I do try that, but I sometimes fall down on it. But thank you so much Diana for joining us.

Diana: Oh, such an absolute pleasure, Andrew. Thank you so much for having me on the show again.

Andrew: That was networking expert Diana Chan. Remember, it's up to you to put our advice into practice. Still, you always have a community backing you up and cheering you on. Connect with me and the Get Hired community on LinkedIn to continue the conversation. You can also join my weekly Get Hired live show every Friday on the LinkedIn News page. And if you liked this episode, leave us a rating on Apple Podcast, it helps people like you find the show. And of course, we'll continue this conversation next week right here, wherever you like to listen. Get Hired is a production of LinkedIn News. The show is produced by Michele O'Brien. Joe DiGiorgi mixed our show. Florencia Iriondo is head of original audio and video. Dave Pond is head of news production. Dan Roth is the editor-in-chief of LinkedIn and I am Andrew Seaman. Until next time, stay well and best of luck.