A practical guide to networking I: Getting started

This is Part I in a three-part blog series with practical tips for networking. Read Part II: Reaching out and Part III: Following up.

Networking. When I was in grad school and looking to transition to a career out of academia, I hated the term networking. I found that everyone emphasized its importance but there was rarely practical advice on how to actually do it.

Shift the mindset

If you were like me, I strongly resisted the urge to roll my eyes every time I attended a career panel and the advice was “to network”. Networking is a professional buzzword. It meant nothing to me. It’s a stark contrast to how I view networking now: an important week-to-week activity I do continuously for my professional development.

I embraced networking as getting to know other people, finding out more about other careers, and learning more about myself. It transformed from a chore to a learning opportunity. I network when I’m open to learning and have the capacity for it, not just when I’m looking for a job.

Who do you reach out to?

When I first started, I felt lost as to whom to even reach out to. I didn’t know what I wanted to do after graduate school; I just knew that academia was not my preferred career path. My advice is to start with who you know and what resources are available to you.

• Even though I didn’t want to stay in academia, I started my networking search by meeting with the professors who had mentored me throughout my research career. This doesn’t have to necessarily be your Principal Investigator—it could be another professor whom you admire or whose teaching style you enjoy. I met with a few professors who had mentored me and discussed what I enjoyed doing with them: What parts of being a grad student did I like? When did I get most excited about research? What was important to me? What non-academic opportunities interested me? Did they have any former students with similar interests/questions as me?

• Talk to your friends intentionally about your career. It seems obvious, but I think “intention” really is the key word here. While I was in grad school, I found most people had the sentiment of “I don’t know what I want to do, but everyone feels that way so it’s normal, so whatever.” Find a friend who’s willing to do a deeper dive with you, make an evening out of it, and talk about your strengths and weaknesses. What opportunities are you curious about? What do you like to do in your free time? What aspects are most important to you in a job (e.g., scope of work, industry, work environment, location, salary)? Once I figured out some of my interests and my parameters, it was much easier to find organizations that I saw myself fitting with.
• Reach out to your school’s career centre. While the quality of each school’s career centre does differ, it’s worth one meeting. Usually, you’ll be referred to some resources, potential organizations, and upcoming events. At worst, you wasted an hour and ate a free mint on your way out.

• When you’re first starting your networking journey, embrace reaching out in a way that’s easiest for you. Networking chats are awkward. Minimize the barriers for yourself where you can, whether that’s by starting with people you have some familiarity with, people you already have a connection to, or people that are easily accessible for you to reach.
  • • • • The first strangers I reached out to were recent alumni and graduates from my program and lab and then the parents of friends. Even if I didn’t know them personally, I had something in common with them (i.e., we studied the same topic, we were from the same school, participated in similar extracurriculars, or I was friends with their child). It made reaching out easier because there was common ground.
        • Find what works for you and accept which methods don’t. I know there are programs connecting alumni on a larger scale like Ten Thousand Coffees or LinkedIn groups. If these work for you, that’s great. They didn’t work for me because creating an account was enough of a barrier that I didn’t use it. My preferred method was email. With LinkedIn, I felt a pressure to make sure my profile was updated “perfectly” before I reached out to people. (As an aside, your LinkedIn profile doesn’t have to be perfect. Spend an hour updating your profile and then start using it!)
        • Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, I looked for nearby connections. In my situation, I was lucky to be based in downtown Toronto and had many organizations within a 20-minute walking or transit radius. Using this radius as my boundary and Google Maps as my guide, it was easiest for me to meet with these people at their offices in-person or nearby coffee shops. I recommend starting off meeting people that are in a location easily accessible to you, by car, transit, or walking. Even if they’re not your “dream” organizations, this helps build the habit of meeting strangers and learning about their careers.

Still feel overwhelmed about where to start? Set aside some time this month to simply list out names of three people that first come to mind as someone you’d reach out to. When inspiration for learning hits, reach out.

For tips on how to message or email your networking connections, check out A practical guide to networking II: Reaching out.

About the Author: Connie Tang

Connie Tang has always loved talking, thinking, and learning about career resilience and professional development. She’s worked in the workforce innovation and skills training sector provincially and nationally, and currently manages a research impact network at York University. Connie also volunteers as a career mentor for experienced newcomers to Canada and serves on the Board of Directors for the Toronto Region Conservation Authority.