Why is networking important?

[Anonymous]

People always say networking is very important for your career. But I always wonder why? It seems to me that networking takes a lot of energy, effort, time, etc. With the same amount of effort, if you focus on your work/study, you usually can do very well if not outstandingly well. Then which strategy is better: spend all your energy on your work (the technical skills, etc.) vs. spend part of the energy to meet the minimum requirement of the work, then spend the rest of the energy on networking?

I have always been using the first strategy and have been out of graduate school not long ago. I started to realize that my old strategy will not work, but am currently in a confused stage and need some advice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People always say networking is very important for your career. But I always wonder why? It seems to me that networking takes a lot of energy, effort, time, etc. With the same amount of effort, if you focus on your work/study, you usually can do very well if not outstandingly well. Then which strategy is better: spend all your energy on your work (the technical skills, etc.) vs. spend part of the energy to meet the minimum requirement of the work, then spend the rest of the energy on networking?

I have always been using the first strategy and have been out of graduate school not long ago. I started to realize that my old strategy will not work, but am currently in a confused stage and need some advice.

"It's not what you know, it's who you know."


There's probably a good reason why that popular, oft-repeated quote is not reversed.

[Anonymous]

It's not all or nothing. No one's saying abandon all professional skill in favor of networking. But I and many, many people I know got our jobs through people we know. There are a lot of job-seekers out there and having a connection gets your resume to the top of the pile. All there is to it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It's not all or nothing. No one's saying abandon all professional skill in favor of networking. But I and many, many people I know got our jobs through people we know. There are a lot of job-seekers out there and having a connection gets your resume to the top of the pile. All there is to it.

I understand the importance of network when looking for a job. But when you are not in active search of a job, why is network still important in your career? Or I guess my question is who to network with (other than those colleagues you have direct interactions with), how and why? Random chatting with everyone you see and then try to keep in touch with everyone you have ever talked to seems very exhausting and with little use (other than the pure joy of talking).

I also understand it's not all or nothing. But after you have meet the basic requirement of your work (i.e. you get an average and acceptable performance on your job), should you try very hard to do it better (quality, quantity, etc.) or will it serve you better if you spend the same amount of energy/time/effort on networking. I think I start to realize probably the latter will serve you better, although with a very vague understanding/reasoning on why and have no clue on how.

[Anonymous]

There is superficial networking, which takes up a lot of energy socializing/talking/schmoozing to people, and which is generally unproductive; and deep networking, which is done over the years and consists in honing in on the few professional relationships you really care about. The latter is productive in the sense that you will have really proved to the people who matter to you what you are worth, professionally. And so when push comes to shove, those people will come through for you, and vice versa. Of course, this implies that you are invested enough in your field to recognize good current/future players.

Absolutely everyone I know got their job by being known and recommended by many people within or related to their company/organization.

Except my DH, transplanted from Europe, for whom it took 18 MONTHS to find a job, without knowing anybody here. The problem is, some people like my DH do not relate well to people, and can't small talk and schmooze. The only people who can recommend him are the Professors/scientists who have known him for years in his old Institute. Not as much good as you'd think here, unfortunately.

[Anonymous]

Curious on what those with management experience have to say on this? Have you done systematic networking to get to the management position? How have you done it? Was it helpful or a waste?

[Anonymous]

Networking is important because you never know who will talk to whom about you or your performance/goals, and you never know when you will need another position or will want to leave your current role.

You have to maintain your connections so that it isn't only superficial or one-sided when you do need to reach out to someone.

Networking is also important to know the lay of the land at all times. I network with those at other departments or companies to find out that, so and so left the company, so I don't try to call that person in a year and find out then that they aren't there. I have also heard things that impact my group/department from others within the company but not in my group.

Finally, I am just interested in other people, and it's a good way to be social and focused on your career at work at the same time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People always say networking is very important for your career. But I always wonder why? It seems to me that networking takes a lot of energy, effort, time, etc. With the same amount of effort, if you focus on your work/study, you usually can do very well if not outstandingly well. Then which strategy is better: spend all your energy on your work (the technical skills, etc.) vs. spend part of the energy to meet the minimum requirement of the work, then spend the rest of the energy on networking?

I have always been using the first strategy and have been out of graduate school not long ago. I started to realize that my old strategy will not work, but am currently in a confused stage and need some advice.

Because you won't always be entry level. Or doing easy peasy campus recruiting as you get more senior.,

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People always say networking is very important for your career. But I always wonder why? It seems to me that networking takes a lot of energy, effort, time, etc. With the same amount of effort, if you focus on your work/study, you usually can do very well if not outstandingly well. Then which strategy is better: spend all your energy on your work (the technical skills, etc.) vs. spend part of the energy to meet the minimum requirement of the work, then spend the rest of the energy on networking?

I have always been using the first strategy and have been out of graduate school not long ago. I started to realize that my old strategy will not work, but am currently in a confused stage and need some advice.

Because you won't always be entry level. Or doing easy peasy campus recruiting as you get more senior.,

? You mean, you will not be outstandingly well even if you only focus on the technique skills. So better spend some time/energy on networking to make up for it?

[Anonymous]

Just some thoughts off the top of my head:

- You never know when you'll need those contacts.
- Practice networking (even when you don't immediately need the fruits) makes you better at networking when you do.
- Many jobs require developing contacts. While I'm sure there are jobs where contacts are less important, I imagine those are few. Even a job where the value of networking isn't obvious, in my experience there is always value to connections.

[Anonymous]

Previous poster, I just reread OP more carefully and think you raise a good point. I think the answer is that there is networking is indeed important but there is an art to doing it well and effectively AND efficiently. But you won't learn to do it well unless you are out there doing it. Also networking isn't limited to the cocktail party smoozing. Networking can mean building your reputation in a field by, for example, attending conferences and writing articles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is superficial networking, which takes up a lot of energy socializing/talking/schmoozing to people, and which is generally unproductive; and deep networking, which is done over the years and consists in honing in on the few professional relationships you really care about. The latter is productive in the sense that you will have really proved to the people who matter to you what you are worth, professionally. And so when push comes to shove, those people will come through for you, and vice versa. Of course, this implies that you are invested enough in your field to recognize good current/future players.

Absolutely everyone I know got their job by being known and recommended by many people within or related to their company/organization.

Except my DH, transplanted from Europe, for whom it took 18 MONTHS to find a job, without knowing anybody here. The problem is, some people like my DH do not relate well to people, and can't small talk and schmooze. The only people who can recommend him are the Professors/scientists who have known him for years in his old Institute. Not as much good as you'd think here, unfortunately.

I agree with this and have noticed that the older I get and the more advanced in my career the more networking counts and the more it seems to be paying off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There is superficial networking, which takes up a lot of energy socializing/talking/schmoozing to people, and which is generally unproductive; and deep networking, which is done over the years and consists in honing in on the few professional relationships you really care about. The latter is productive in the sense that you will have really proved to the people who matter to you what you are worth, professionally. And so when push comes to shove, those people will come through for you, and vice versa. Of course, this implies that you are invested enough in your field to recognize good current/future players.

Absolutely everyone I know got their job by being known and recommended by many people within or related to their company/organization.

Except my DH, transplanted from Europe, for whom it took 18 MONTHS to find a job, without knowing anybody here. The problem is, some people like my DH do not relate well to people, and can't small talk and schmooze. The only people who can recommend him are the Professors/scientists who have known him for years in his old Institute. Not as much good as you'd think here, unfortunately.

I agree with this and have noticed that the older I get and the more advanced in my career the more networking counts and the more it seems to be paying off.

+2. When DH came from abroad he had been in a management position and had to start all over- as an intern! Not because he couldn't do the work (obviously he ran circles around everyone else who was just out of college while he had worked his way up for 6 years) but because he needed contacts and references in order to find a job here. That's just the way it is. I find that I'm a truly horrible schmoozer, but I like to develop relationships with people over the long term and have long conversations with them and I really enjoy developing close, real relationships.

[Anonymous]

Some people are born networkers, others have to work at it. I've seen some exercises that can help you think about how it might be useful.

Start by writing down everyone you know who you would consider to be a champion for you - someone who would go far out of their way to make things happen for you. This list might be empty. Next write down a list of everyone you'd consider to be an advocate for you - People who would set up an interview if the opportunity arose, for example. Next write down a list of everyone who you'd consider a supporter - people you think like you and would say favorable things about you or write a recommendation letter. Next write down a list of people who are more neutral or friendly acquaintances - people you've worked with or know professionally that you think have a favorable impression of you or just like you, even if not at the level where they'd do anything about it.

Then look at your lists. Look! You have a network! Are there people on one list who you think you'd like to be at a higher level? Now you have an idea how you might go about developing your network.

I'm sure it's immediately apparent that many people on the list are there because you did good work and they were in the position to know about it. So you can't concentrate on "networking" and ignore working hard. You have to do both.

[Anonymous]

Networking is important because it can help you find jobs that aren't posted. It's not just who you know know, it's who THEY know. I used my network to do informational interviews with people I knew to find out more about their work and how they ended up there. Then I asked these contacts for 3 more contacts each, and did informational interviews with them. One of those second level people (started out as a complete stranger to me) knew of a job that was not posted, and connected me with the hiring manager for my current job. The job was never posted so I had no competition, and I got hired. That's networking. It doesn't come naturally to me, but I swear by it.