Networking for technical professionals

Have any of you been brought to a networking event before? I remember being taken to one very early in my career. My boss was wheeling and dealing with lots of people, and I didn’t know anyone. I thought that If I wanted to be like him, I needed to go to networking events. So I went to more. After going to several more, I wasn’t making any progress, but I didn’t quite know why.

Separately, I got a sense that I was really missing some of my old coworkers. So I reached out. One of my first friends at work and I started getting together. And just by talking to them, I learned a lot. Time passed and we stayed in touch. A few years later, we had reconnected and become old buds.

Then it hit me. My old boss had been seeing his old buds at the big networking event. The only difference between he and I? He had developed relationships for much, much longer. So I started doing that more and more. I reached out to people I worked with on projects. I reconnected with managers and direct reports. Over time, my network has grown tremendously.

You don’t need an MBA to recognize a very familiar parallel. If you nurture your relationships, your network grows with compound interest. If you aren’t familiar with compound interest, you can find a really great write-up here. Small investments build up over time. Consistency and time are your friends in the world of compound interest.

So where do you start? Here are some tips for anyone who is looking to build there network:

1. Start small - For anyone who hasn’t been networking, going to an event could be intimidating. Connecting with someone online who you don’t know might give you the heebie jeebies. If this is you, start by reaching out to an old friend from work. You can do this in seconds from your cell phone. Ask how they’re doing. See what they’re up to. If you’re feeling good about the contact, ask to take them to coffee. Once you have completed this successfully, you’ve increased your network!
2. Be consistent - Once you’ve started working on your network, make it a habit to reach out to someone every Monday morning. Once Monday comes, pop open your phone and look for another old colleague that you haven’t connected with in a while. Reach out, see how they’re doing. You’ve increased your network again! Rinse and repeat. Bonus points if you can do 2 or 3 reconnect messages per week.
3. Build Resilience - When you send out your messages, some people won’t answer. This is more about them than it is about you. They could be busy and forget. They could be going through really tough times. Do let their responses interfere with your goal of building your network.
4. Broaden your horizons - Once you’re comfortable, don’t limit yourself to texting people. Reconnect over email or LinkedIn. Talk to people you don’t know at conferences. Make new friends. Keep on building your network.
5. Connect in all directions - Don’t limit yourself to people who you were on the same level with. Reach out to old managers. Talk to former direct reports. Call people you collaborated with on projects. Send a note to your college and high school. There are endless places to expand your network once you get comfortable.

Hope this helps you to keep growing your network!

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