Knowing How To Network Will Boost Your Career

When it comes to having a great career and leading a happy life, you will know that you cannot achieve all of your aims and ambitions by yourself. Even if you are more than happy to work hard by yourself and push yourself on to bigger things, there will be times when you need the support and assistance of others. This means that you will give yourself a greater chance of success by being able to network and meet people. For some people, networking is very easy, coming very naturally to them but this isn’t the case for everyone. Many people struggle when it comes to meeting new people, and this is why you need to know how to network.

Knowing how to network will boost your career, and learning some skills and techniques could go a long way to ensuring that you have a chance of achieving your career aims and goals.


Start off in a small manner 

Don’t feel as though you have to meet everyone in one day or morning. Start slowly by meeting one person and then build upwards from there.


Don’t always apologise 

It may be natural to apologise when you try to meet people or introduce yourself, but there is no need to (unless you were rude). Most people know and understand that networking is essential and major conferences and events are the perfect setting to network. As long as you introduce yourself in a polite and respectful manner, you will find that you don’t need to apologise for talking to people.


Think about your passions 

If you have a passion that is related to your industry, or can at least provide you with some great talking points, bring it up. Great anecdotes can help other people to remember you.

Five very simple tips to help you network are:

- Ask questions
- Listen
- Say the name of the other person
- Be ready to provide a business card
- Smile If you follow these tips, you will find that most people are more than happy to chat with you. 

This isn’t to say that you will always find something of value for networking purposes but developing your skills and being seen as a person that is nice is a great thing. It may be that you don’t know who can help you in the future. A person you meet today may not seem as though they are of much use to you but your career can change and so can other peoples, which mean that the people you met at one point may be of great benefit in the future.

This is why you should never look to discard or disown people because they don’t seem like an ideal fit at the moment. If nothing else, remain polite and give as many people as possible the time of day.
There are many different events where you will have chances to network and meet people. Depending on the industry you are in, you may find that there are local events or it may be that you have to travel to another country or area. Some of these major conferences are ideal for networking because they can put you at the heart of your industry, giving you the chance to speak to so many key people and players in the industry.

A great example of this is the MIPCOM event which takes place every year in Cannes. This is for people operating in TV and communications and when it comes to finding people who can help your career or who can drive you on to future success; this is definitely the place to be. Cannes is a location that has events and conferences taking place all year round, which means that no matter what industry you are in, it could be the ideal place for you to visit.

Cannes is an ideal place to visit on holiday, let alone a business event, but you can see why people are happy to mingle and network in such a location. It is a stunning resort and the great accommodation and choice of restaurants and bars help many people to relax and unwind. This is an important tip for people looking to network because you should try to relax when you meet people. If you are nervous, uptight or jumpy, other people will pick up on this and this may feed into how they engage and interact with you. It can be difficult to be at your best if you are looking to network but you’ll find that the right setting can make a massive difference.

Author bio:
Andrew Reilly is a freelance writer with a focus on news stories and consumer interest articles. He has been writing professionally for 9 years but has been writing for as long as he can care to remember. When Andrew isn't sat behind a laptop or researching a story, he will be found watching a gig or a game of football.