Building networks is an important part of both your professional and personal life. It’s now commonly quoted that “you are the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with”. So if you’re not running with a herd that reflects your values and goals it might be time to upgrade.
Potential benefits of networking include:
- Finding out about new opportunities
- Teaming up with like-minded people to collaborate on projects/ideas
- Finding a mentor
- Becoming someone else’s mentor
- Exchanging ideas
- Getting out of your comfort zone
- Getting some advice
- Giving some advice
- Sharing experiences
- Making contacts for the future
Make the most of networking:
And here are some tips to make the most out of your next networking event:
- Have an idea of what you’d like to get out of the event before you arrive
- Do some research on the host (also a good talking point if you get stuck)
- Dress to impress- first impressions count and are mostly made before you can so much as say “hello”
- Take your business cards and don’t be afraid to hand them out
- Arrive on time- it’s courteous and then you can introduce yourself to people as they arrive instead of walking into a crowd already deep in conversation
- Avoid over-indulging
Happy networking!!!