Maximizing the Benefits From Your Professional Network

Posted on | January 18, 2008 | No Comments

Yesterday, I posed a career question: “What has your network done for you lately?”. Today, I’ll share some of the answers I’ve received and a bit more on what you can realistically expect from your professional network.

If you haven’t spent time actually cultivating a professional network, save for the folks you lunch with at work, now is as good a time as any. There are scores of social networking websites for working adults, and due to the recession, plenty of reasons to start mining our networks in anticipation of possible fallout.

Of course, social networking sites are not the only fish in the sea. If you are not into profiles and pictures and widgets, you can build your network the old-fashioned way–attending happy hours, joining associations and asking friends for introductions to folks in their networks.
What has your network done for you lately?

I’m sure it goes without saying that your network is only as good as you make it. If you’ve collected a bunch of business cards that you’ve never used or set up profiles and added friends with wild abandon, now is also a good time to try to shape up your network.

Why should you invest all of this work into this nebulous network? What can you expect to gain?

Ask the average person (I did) and you’ll find that most people have not made good use of their networks. They’ve used to them to track down parties and dates, maybe a temp job or two, but nothing major. Others will tell you that they’ve used their networks to ferret out the best happy hour events and to “name-drop” (“My friend works at Google”). Most have not used their networks to their full potential. Or, they have, and their networks don’t have much potential.

WHAT YOU CAN REALISTICALLY EXPECT FROM YOU NETWORK

Introductions to needed contacts (Investors, Potential employers, etc.)
Job Referrals (“Hey, Facebook is hiring!”)
Job Interviews
Job Leads (“Acme, Inc. may be hiring a consultant in March.”)
Companionship (Professional, Platonic and Romantic)
Information
And…

RECIPROCATION!!! People in your professional networks are not, necessarily, your best friends. Professional networks are symbiotic relationships. You cannot properly expect to ask and take without expecting someone to request something in return. You may get away with it a few times as long as you spread it around, but eventually, the boomerang will return to you and your network will be watching to see if you reciprocate.

WHAT YOU CANNOT REALISTICALLY EXPECT FROM YOUR NETWORK

Handouts
Jobs for which you don’t qualify
Insider trading information
Guarantees

Now, how can you reap of the benefits of your professional networks?

GETTING THE MOST FROM YOUR PROFESSIONAL NETWORK

Invest time and thought into building your network:

Who will be a part of your network? (Friends, family and colleagues are a given, but give some thought to who else you NEED in your network)

Deliberately diversify your network (Cover all of your career and business interests. You never know who you’ll need to know and when.)

Organize and manage your network:

Determine the contact management system that works for you (Social networking websites are my second choice; I prefer my old fashioned business cards-in-a-box and email contacts coupled with dragging myself to events.)

Establish a time/day to manage your network (Write identifying information on the backs of business cards and in electronic files, i.e. “J. Davies, H.S. Stern & Assoc., met at Linda’s ribbon-cutting, talked about consulting opportunities”, and send out “touch-base” emails to say hello, happy birthday or happy holidays or share relevant information)

Trim the fat from your network by focusing on no more than 2-3 resources (Facebook and LinkedIn + Professional Association or the “Big 3″ social networking websites or three professional associations or…)

Respect the Relationship:

Don’t waste valuable contacts on the little things

Before you ask for a favor, think ahead to what you might offer the contact (If you’re not close to the contact, you may want to mention the “exchange” to motivate the contact to help you)

Be responsive to requests (You are not expected to say “yes” to every request, but do respond professionally and “nicely”. You never know when you’ll need to ask this contact for a favor.)

Do not freely share your contacts’ information with others (Your access to a certain contact may make you a valuable contact and benefit you as the middleman. Or, you may alienate members of your network by providing personal information to strangers.

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