5 Ways Networking Changed My Life

~7 minute read.

I am a big believer that networking has the power to change your life.

I have been doing it for ~9 years, and since that time I’ve used it to build my business, advance my career internally, and meet 100s of people along the way. Networking has also helped me find my community of people, make new friends, and improve myself in ways I otherwise never would have.

The best time to network was years ago. The second best time to network is now.

If you haven’t already, I want you to start building out your network today.

And I have 5 specific reasons why:

Reason #1: Open doors to new opportunities

• While I’ve been at the same company for 9 years, I have at least a handful of open job offers through people I’ve met (& honestly I’m currently considering two of them 😉).

• While you’re networking and meeting new people, you get a chance to share your success, value, and impact you’ve brought to the table throughout your career.

• At some point, someone you talk to will bring you along the ride with them, or introduce you to someone who can use your expertise.

• Building your network is like building your brand. The bigger the brand, the more opportunities that can come your way passively.

Reason #2: Networking internally at my company changed my career.

• When people think of networking, they usually think of meeting people outside the company they work for.

• Networking internally is equally as important (especially if you plan on staying a while).

• I was able to align myself with the right people. Solve problems with the right people. Make the right people look good.

• In turn, they brought me along for the ride as they moved up the corporate ladder.

• Eventually I was put on all major initiatives, projects, key accounts, was the right-hand man to our SVP (1 level below the CEO), and had regular contact with the Owner/President.

Reason #3: Mentorship

• This is especially important for junior level folks & experienced new-hires.

• For juniors, this can be a major career hack that can save you months & years of trial and error. If you’re able to learn from someone who’s been there, done that, you get the fast track of how exactly they became successful, all while avoiding the mistakes they’ve made along the way.

• Mentorship is also important for political reasons, which is why it’s important for experienced new hires as well.

• I was lucky enough to have quite a few experienced mentors early in my career. From the sales side, recruiting, operations, management, I was like a sponge soaking in all of their experience, taking the best pieces of advice from them, and forming my own style of how to do things my way.

Reason #4: Learning new things

• There’s only so much you can learn at your current company. The same people, the same processes get stale.

• If you want to keep growing, learning, getting better, you’re going to have to go out and meet some people.

• Ask them how they’ve become successful in their niche. How did they get to where they are today?

• Even myself, the top 1% of our industry, has an open mind to learning more things from other people. I make it a goal of mine to seek out ways to become better at my craft, and the best way to do that for me recently has been seeking outside mentorship.

Reason #5: *Some* job stability

• Similar to point 1, networking can provide some job stability. People can help refer you into new jobs.

• Here’s what I mean: if you were to get laid off or fired today, can you call at least 3 people who can refer you into a job application right now?

• If not, it’s time to start building your network.

• My father, my brother, and a good amount candidates I’ve placed in the past have all been laid off. They’ve all were able to use their network to leverage their next job offer within only a month or two in between.

When you start networking, let me know—I'd love to connect with you (and answer any questions you have getting started!).

……..

Did you know I now offer LinkedIn & Resume audits as well as coaching calls?

Here’s the link to my coaching call.

Here’s the link to my resume/linkedin audit.

And here’s 50% of my job seeker’s playbook