BY: Lee McCalla
The digital landscape has completely transformed modern-day networking. Nowadays, if you want to network, you need a social media profile. Some sites, like LinkedIn, were created for the sole purpose of professional networking. Employers and employees congregate on the site to post job opportunities, find job opportunities, and discuss industry insights and developments. But what happened to good old-fashioned in-person networking?
Networking has been a corporate buzzword for decades, and is defined as the process of making connections and building relationships. Connections that can provide you with advice, contacts, or opportunities that may help further your career. Therefore, networking is about building relationships with people that can help you on your career journey.
Why is in-person networking important?
One of the main benefits of in-person networking is the ability to build deeper, more authentic connections due to the added aspect of non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is body language: the way a person looks at you, their instant reactions, nonverbal cues, and even their overall energy– factors that contribute to richer conversations. Non-verbal communication gives context clues that help you better understand one another, build deeper connections, and learn how to work with each other’s personalities.
Face-to-face interactions are important and valuable. When communicating online or over the phone, you lose the ability to foster a greater sense of trust that can only be formed when you see a person in real life and can read their facial expressions and demeanor. This type of communication helps people build personal connections with each other that are stronger and tend to last longer than those strictly made digitally.
What are the best ways to network in-person?
FIND EVENTS
Attending networking events can be a great way to practice in-person networking. Many local businesses and companies offer these types of events and advertise them on their social media accounts, websites, public bulletin boards, or online resources like Eventbrite or Meetup.
PLAN A COFFEE DATE You can also take initiative and reach out to people you’re interested in connected with for coffee dates, lunch meetings, drinks, or even dinner. You can reach out to someone and let them know that you’d love to meet in-person and discuss career opportunities or exchange industry information. Then, once they agree to meet, plan to do something simple like meet for coffee or cocktails. It could even be your treat. This gesture incentivizes people to meet with you and helps bring their guard down.
MEET SOMEONE THROUGH MUTUAL FRIENDS
You can also reach out to your personal network to make introductions for you. For example, if one of your friends or family members knows someone in your industry, you can ask that friend to introduce the two of you. Your friend could possibly hold a dinner or event where they connect you with people that can help you on your career journey.
DON’T SLEEP ON IN-PERSON NETWORKING
In-person networking allows you to build bonds that transcend the internet and enable you to build real-world connections with others. It’s a good idea to combine online interaction with in-person networking to maximize your networking potential and maintain relationships with your contacts. Try attending some in-person events in your community and notice the difference it can make for you and your career
Lee McCalla is a writer living in New York. In her free time, she likes to attend concerts, eat at restaurants, and read.