Should You Have Networked 4 Years Ago? The Key To Networking
Originally published at Forbes.com
Four years ago. Like in Jeopardy, the clue is solved by the question, “When should I have started networking?”
It is among the top three questions that I’m asked, the other two being:
How do I position myself for more senior-level management jobs?
Should I start a full-time MBA program?
But, to answer the networking question, the actual question should first be understood as this: “When should I start doing things to get visibility outside of my current company?”
Let’s say that you’re blocked from senior-level management, or your employer is in trouble and they may be scaling back. Perhaps your manager is holding you back. Whatever the case may be, it is important to gain visibility both inside and outside your company, so you are highly impactful on the job, but also highly employable regardless of your current organization’s ebbs and flows. And the time to start is well before you may need to consider a change of employer.
If you’re in one of the first three rungs of management positions, but below the business unit head and at least two notches below the C-suite, the little-known reality is that executive recruitment firms (search firms) don’t work primarily in that zone. And it is too far above the purview of traditional employment agencies. The reluctance of search firms is simple: There are simply too many potential candidates for jobs at those levels in the middle. Search firms don’t keep active files on people at these levels and they don’t know the candidates. And their fee structure makes it difficult to do an economic search with so many possibilities.
Plus, most companies prefer promoting from within, where they can. Many jobs at this level are not out for search, but are top of mind for senior managers who don’t have an optimal internal choice. Lacking an internal option, senior managers will be inclined to contact an external candidate where there is a strong reference from a trustworthy source. And therein lies the power of “preemptive networking”—staying top of mind within your network and expanding it, so references come.
The traditional prescription for preemptive networking has been to join industry associations, professional organizations, and selective civic or charitable groups. In the process, you get to know and be known by people whose references can become the “door-openers” in the future. “Getting your name out there” takes many forms, and these are the most common.
But when you do get involved, just contributing your name to a masthead achieves little to nothing. What matters most for preemptive networking is your actual reputation. And your reputation is based on your usefulness and diligence within the organizations outside of your work. The implication is that a high value-add at a charity or civic organization, for example, speaks to a high-value add in your day job. Someone who is useful and diligent outside of work is most likely the same way on the job too.
Therefore, the best preemptive networkers make sure that the 100 people—give or take—who know them outside of their employer gain a positive impression. While remaining discreet and never bad-mouthing their current company, these networkers cultivate dozens of relationships that have nothing to do with their day job. And the network naturally expands when it is time to “put the word out” that you may be open to something new. One person with a positive impression of you could reach out to two or three of their contacts, so 100 people may turn into 200 or 300. If there is a career fit somewhere and your reputation is positive, you now have hundreds of people in your corner.
But you can’t shortcut building your reputation. Nor can online networking replace in-person connections. While new-age tools like LinkedIn are extremely valuable in certain ways, they should be seen as supplementary, reinforcing your networking that is done face-to-face.
Maintaining a social media presence or sending resumes to job posting websites is more necessary now than before, but it is still not enough. Many companies ignore or discard the resumes they receive from websites, giving preference to the candidate whom they know through someone else. An in-person connection leads to a more serious look, as does a trustworthy reference. Although online tools can obviously land jobs these days, that one trusty reference—cultivated over time—makes much more of a difference to employers, which rely on third-party validation.
Remember: People know that everything on social media is a curated description of you, by you. And that works for describing your technical expertise or job history. But when you are looking to be assessed as a manager, only people who have seen you work with others can truly attest to your value-add within an organization.
Entering the new year, preemptive networking requires an all-hands-on-deck approach. Involvement in industry associations, professional organizations, and targeted civic or charitable groups is still a top priority, but new-age marketing tools can be used to supplement that face-to-face involvement. They are not mutually exclusive. The more opportunities you have to be “discovered,” the more you should seize.
Preemptive networking is ultimately a numbers game. You want the most possible chances to get your name out there to contacts who matter. Just remember that in-person contacts are more meaningful than virtual ones, even in 2024. Stay online, but you need to get out there to get noticed.