Networking is important at every stage of your professional career. In our case, we attend events, dinners, award ceremonies, job fairs, degree shows and countless other opportunities that allow us to connect with students, industry professionals, researchers, clients, and people with expertise in fields we didn’t even know existed. These connections will help us in expanding our work force, portfolio, and skill sets. We don’t know the opportunities that will come from these interactions but often they help us in becoming more skilled and knowledgeable practitioners.
In the case of students, we suggest attending as many public and guest events you possibly can, and engaging at the event as much as possible. Keep an up to date portfolio and CV because the people at these events will be your future employers, clients, and colleagues.
Networking in the pandemic won’t be as easy as it has in the past but this does not mean the approach should change, just the platform. LinkedIn is the most widely used platform for professional connections and this should be used to branch out to potential connections and people you have met. Using LinkedIn in conjunction with virtual meetings, lectures and events is the perfect way to informally connect with anyone who is relevant to you.
Our top tips:
Don’t let the pandemic stop you!
Be ready and prepared with questions and things to talk about.
Be appreciative of their time.
Continue the dialogue.
Have your information ready, you don’t know when an opportunity will arise.
Don’t disregard anyone, you don’t know who they are, who they will be, or their connections.
Stand out from the crowd.
Be enthusiastic.
Take an interest.
Take a leap.
https://thenextweb.com/contributors/2017/06/07/getting-business-networking/
https://www.olympiabenefits.com/blog/why-networking-is-important-for-small-business
https://medium.com/swlh/9-benefits-of-networking-in-business-66b2445e6d84
https://www.forbes.com/sites/biancamillercole/2019/03/20/why-networking-should-be-at-the-core-of-your-career/#65d054331300
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