KEY POINTS:
Networking is a fundamental skill in any industry and it can make or break your career. Quite simply, says Lee Brodie of Career Dynamics, networking is "a fundamental micro skill of working in the new age. It is one of the core competencies".
Networking doesn't just mean going down to the pub at lunchtime or after work with your mates. In fact if you're hanging out with the wrong crowd you may be doing your career some damage.
Nor does it mean taking every meeting or exchange with other people in the same industry as something you can wring for your own benefit.
There are a thousand and one ways to network in any industry. The most straightforward ones are going to events such as conferences, exhibitions, and seminars.
Other types of networks include:
* Your university alumni association
* Your own extended family
* Joining industry bodies
* Online industry-relevant forums
* Networks such as Ecademy.com or Linkedin.com
* Former colleagues and employers
* Rotary, Lions or similar clubs
* Sports clubs, churches and other organisations you may belong to
If formal opportunities don't exist in your industry then you can create them.
I found myself in exactly this position on returning from 11 years of OE in 2003. There was no formal journalism society or organisation that I could find, nor a press club of any sorts in Auckland. There wasn't even an online meeting place, so I set one up and began networking online.
Soon afterwards, fellow freelance journalist Kim Griggs realised that the network of nearly 400 journalists on Journz could be a vehicle to market a freelance journalism conference.
Around 150 freelance journalists attended the conference and it both catapulted Griggs' name to being well-known in the industry, and also enabled many local networks to be formed around the country.
But you don't need to set up your own online group or conference to network. Good networking can be as simple as identifying a group of people within your office or business that would be worth keeping in regular contact with and setting up a periodic meeting over breakfast, coffee or a glass of wine.
If you're not a natural networker, getting out and mixing with office or industry contacts could be your worst nightmare.
Help is at hand from books on the subject such as A Foot in the Door: Networking Your Way into the Hidden Job Market by American writer Katharine Hansen. Career coaches can also help if you prefer the one-to-one approach.
Exclusive bodies can also be good for your career. For some, you need certain qualifications. For example around 100 or more New Zealanders have a qualification called the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and belong to the CFA Society of New Zealand.
The exams to get the qualification aren't easy to pass and members include some well known names in the financial services community such as Brook Asset Management's Simon Botherway.
Job hunters could also benefit from seeking out contacts at target companies, says Brodie. If you wanted to work for a particular for example you could trawl through all the people you know and ask 'who do you know who works for so and so employer and get a foot in the door".
Brodie says only around 30 per cent of jobs are ever advertised, and working your network can "enhance your visibility" so that opportunities find you.
Networking for the self employed can be a big bonus. If you're working on your own it will help to keep you sane. But it can also give you new business leads.
Amanda Neill runs her own interior design company and is vice president of the Takapuna chapter of Business Networking International (BNI). Each chapter of the organisation admits only one person of each profession to join a chapter enabling cross-profession networking resulting in business leads.
Neill also networks at industry events such as the recent Urbis Design Day and also Design Institute of New Zealand and Colourways events.
The growing trend of companies setting up alumni networks benefits both companies and former employees. Accounting firm PwC has a world wide alumni network.
Here former professional staff can join and there are 1,100 former staff members on the database, says Craig Rice, PwC Auckland office managing partner and an event is held annually to which all are invited. Former staff working overseas can attend such events at local PwC branches.
Rice says the benefit for ex-staff is that they can seek informal support and advice from old colleagues. PwC itself is able to keep contact with former employees who have moved into industry and offer its services where appropriate.
Professional networks need not be limited by geography. I once interviewed a lily farmer from Kaitaia whose network stretched to a world authority on the lilies who was based in India.
Online forums allow you to network with people from your industry in other countries where you may plan to move. Or they can be a source of information and fresh ideas.
Virtually every occupation has some sort of forum dedicated to the industry where you can meet others. If not general networks such as Ecademy.com, a social network for business people can be useful for setting up a virtual network sharing contacts, knowledge and support, find jobs, prospects and clients as well as finding out about networking events.
If you leave off networking until you have a crisis on your hands it's too late. It's better to be offered a new job before your existing one disappears than to find yourself on the unemployed heap unexpectedly. And once you have formed a network of contacts is god to keep up regular contact.
WHY NETWORK?
* To market yourself
* To keep up collegial contact with like-minded professionals
* For an ideas springboard
* To have people in the industry to turn to for advice in difficult times
* To provide their business with leads and referrals
* To mentor and coach younger people in the industry
* To learn from more senior people
