Techies – like everyone else – often land jobs through friends, acquaintances, and colleagues and today’s professionals are networking like never before. Making a proactive effort to connect with others helps you gain insider information, land jobs (which may not be advertised on open channels), and stand out from the pack.
Even if you’re not actively searching for a job, networking can help set you up for exciting tech opportunities in your region. What’s more, others are likely to tell you about job opportunities that you never knew existed, for example, companies looking for new talent, emerging trends, or interesting business prospects.
Use these tips to meet compatible people who will help expand your knowledge, share your stories, and help you climb the ladder to success – much faster than you can do on your own. Start building a strong network within your industry by utilizing these four tactics.
Take a closer look at your current network and analyze important factors. For example, think about what the people in your network do, how they can help you, or if they can connect you to others in the industry. From here, you can determine the types of individuals you want to connect with and research the best methods to build those connections.
To begin with, start off building connections by identifying the names of people you know on platforms like LinkedIn, GitHub, and Stack Overflow. Target specific communities specific to your line of work and improve your visibility on online platforms.
Set aside some time every day – even 15 minutes is enough – to add to your network and maintain it intentionally instead of allowing it to grow organically on its own. Stay committed to building your network and create specific networking goals. These can be made in the same format as a SMART goal, for example adding five new LinkedIn connections every week.
Use the opportunity to meet with other tech professionals face-to-face and mingle with interesting people. Before a conference, see if you can get a list of companies or individuals attending and research their business or make a connection ahead of time. Spend your time at the conference wisely by connecting with like-minded businesses and individuals, and have a plan of attack to follow up after the conference with people you want to stay connected with in the future.
Keeping to yourself can result in negative consequences like missing out on valuable career opportunities or even the friendship of a lifetime. While communicating by email and text is fine, consider more personal methods such as face-to-face meetings over lunch or coffee when it comes to networking. Do your bit and pay the rewards forward by sharing your information on emerging career trends, attractive job opportunities, and business prospects with others.
As leading IT recruiters, nTech Workforce is committed to helping people like you explore fulfilling job opportunities. Contact us today to discuss your career goals and aspirations and how networking fits into the big picture of your career.