8 Top Tips for Networking

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Career networks are essential for any employee or entrepreneur looking to rise to the top of their niche or industry. If not for anything else, having quality contacts in your career network gives you access to the support and resources that you need to generate competitive ideas, make better career decisions and advance professionally. Your innovativeness and work performance can also be pegged on the networks you create.

But how do you build strong career networks in today’s super-competitive world? It’s probably easier than you’d imagine. Numerous studies show that building relationships is as simple as deliberately getting in close proximity with other people. It is as simple as going where other entrepreneurs, professionals and investors reside. That is why Silicon Valley and other regional economic clusters have become the go-to regions for new graduates. That also explains why startup entrepreneurs opt to join incubators and coworking spaces as opposed to working in isolation.

When creating career connections, you must always remember that what matters in this game is quality, not quantity. Don’t fill your wallet with business cards or your phone with contacts of people you don’t have a real relationship with; people whom you cannot rely for your career growth. This article focuses on helping you create a career network that’s filled with professionals and entrepreneurs with whom you share common connections and/or interests.

1. Network With Coworking

When you step into a shared space, you find dozens of ambitious professionals chasing success in their respective ventures. You share a space with experienced individuals from different nationalities, career backgrounds and rich networks who are more than happy to make meaningful connections with you. Because these people are co-tenants in the coworking space, there isn’t any urgency to approach and connect with them. Everything happens organically unlike when you bump into each other at events. Sharing a space with people who have been taught differently and worked in different countries/companies/industries also helps you expand your perspectives, which in turn makes it easy for you to talk to and connect with new people. Do you need help with enhancing networking skills at coworking spaces? Here are a few tips.

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Rachel Eleza is the director of growth marketing for Upsuite and a writer for different websites. Reach her at [email protected].

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