In today’s world, networking is crucial when it comes to finding career opportunities. It’s important as a professional to continuously be making an effort to build relationships with the people in your network. Regardless of what stage your relationships are in, you should continue to grow them and encourage new and existing connections. Here are our strongest tips on how to effectively build relationships within your network:
- Initiate conversation and introduce yourself. Even if it feels out of your comfort zone, always initiate conversations with those around you. You should be able to introduce yourself in a couple of sentences, and then show that you want to learn more about who they are. Be unique in your introduction! You want people to remember you for whatever reason that may be. Share something fun/interesting about yourself, and ask unique questions that they may not have been asked before.
- Start with the people you know. Anyone in your life can be a connection. Start relationship building with the people you already know so that you have a solid foundation to work off of. It’s much easier to build trust with your connections when you already have something in common to build off. Use the people you know, and as you build relationships with them, you will continue to make more and more connections and grow your web.
- Add them on LinkedIn. A simple act like adding a new contact on LinkedIn can make a world of a difference. This allows you to stay updated on their professional life and can give you a means of communication. When they get promoted at work or start a new job, you can congratulate them and stay in touch in a professional manner.
- Listen. The best way to build relationships with people is to listen. When talking to people, ask them questions about themselves, learn more about them, and just listen. People love to talk about themselves, so give them the opportunity to do so! Listening to what they are interested in allows you to understand them better which will make for a deeper relationship. Find out what they like, dislike, what their job consists of, etc so that you understand as much as you can about them.
- Be willing to collaborate. With your connections, be aware of how they can help you and how you can help them. Be generous in offering to help them with the value that you have, and this will eventually create a relationship where they help you as well. Make it clear that you’re willing to help them with whatever they may need that you can provide, and be generous in your offerings. They will remember the help you’ve given them, and it will potentially help you in the future when you need them.
- Meet in person. If possible, try to set up meetings with people that you have already established a connection with. These can be casual like grabbing coffee or lunch during your break at work, and they don’t need to have a purpose! One of the basics of relationship building is spending time together and having conversations that are not work-related. Meeting in person and spending time together will help to grow the foundation of loyalty and trust in the connection.
- Send follow-up messages. Whether it be follow-up emails or text messages (depending on how close you are), always follow up a meeting with a “thank you” type of message. You can include how much you enjoyed meeting them or talking to them again, and include a snippet from your conversation so that they can remember more clearly what you two talked about. Be specific and show a genuine interest in staying in contact with them in the future.
- Be authentic. Be honest and be yourself in every interaction with people! The key to building relationships is to be who you are; when you’re yourself, that will be transparent to others. If you try to act like someone you aren’t, it could backfire later on. Show what you have to offer, be your best professional self, and allow the opportunities to grow.
For more tips on all things job search, professional development, staffing, and hiring check out our Employee Tips and Employer Tips or contact us at mglenny@franklinprofessionals.com.
