Whether you love networking or hate the idea of it, there’s no getting away from the fact that it can hugely influence your career success.

This is the first in a series of episodes about networking for the HR Coffee Time podcast. In it, host Fay Wallis talks through the three most important networks for your career; explaining what they are, how to assess the strength of your relationships with them and how to create a plan to improve them.

Key Points From This Episode

[01:32] Networking will be covered over a series of episodes because it is such a large topic

[02:04] Networking makes some people feel uncomfortable. Research by Francesca Gino, Maryam Kouchaki & Tiziana Casciaro revealed it makes some people feel physically dirty

[02:34] Fay wants to convince you that networking is something to be embraced & enjoyed

[03:24] Networking is about building relationships

[03:45] The first of the three most important networks for your career is your personal network

[04:52] Your friends and family will probably have helped you with your career at some point

[06:30] Thinking about why networking is useful and what else ‘networking’ means

[07:22] Networking is a way of helping and supporting each other

[07:55] Career karma – what goes around comes around

[09:14] Adam Grant’s research into givers, takers and matchers

[13:16] Approaching networking with a giver’s mindset

[14:25] The second important network for your career – your external professional network

[16:01] Building your external professional network by going to events, joining memberships and groups

[21:00] Networking on LinkedIn will be covered in a future episode

[25:00] The second important network for your career – your internal network

[28:40] A DiSC team building workshop is one way Fay can help your team to build relationships and work effectively together

[29:48] A simple exercise to help you get started with assessing and building your three networks

Useful Links From This Episode

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If you found this episode of HR Coffee Time helpful, please do rate and review it on Apple Podcasts.

If you're kind enough to leave a review, please do let Fay know so she can say thank you. You can always reach her at: fay@brightskycareercoaching.co.uk.

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