Learning To Network In The Modern World
Carving out your niche in this modern world as a young woman can mean lots of conflicts, internally and externally. In the professional world, people are, it would seem, out to get you, and you’ve got to build up your reserves of resilience, and learn how to fight your corner. The other side of this coin is that you need to look at yourself as a commodity, and you need to look at your own skills and learn how to market them as best as you can. Whether you are a freelancer, or you are looking to make changes in your career, or you’ve got financial problems and you are looking for a new way forward, networking is and incredibly useful skill. So, how can you make the most of networking?
Go To The Right Events
In the digital age, networking is still the most popular way to learn about opportunities. Whether it’s a career networking event or one specifically for freelancers, if you look online, you can find something nearby that would cater to your skills, and you go there! While networking in these environments can feel like a bit of an uphill struggle, because everybody’s there for the same reason, you should make the most of these opportunities. And remember, you need to dress to impress. In these events, you need to stand out like a sore thumb for the right reasons. There are ideas for fashion inspiration on sites like LotusBoutique.com to have, so make you sure you are promoting the best possible version of you! You never know who will be there to give you a kick start in a new, completely different, career direction.
Pick The Right People To Be Near To
As they say, it’s not what you know, but who you know. And if you are a freelancer that works out of your own home, looking for opportunities online can seem a little fruitless in comparison to spending time with people who are working in a start-up company, or have their own office. Lots of small businesses, bloggers, and freelance workers work in a shared space. You can use sites like WeWork.com to locate freelancer working space opportunities near you, and if you work in the same building as these people you’ve got much more of an opportunity to network with the right people. It certainly beats you staring out of the window in your bedroom.
Don’t Expect Anything In Return
You might be thinking, “why should I go networking in the first place then?” Sometimes, it can take us a while for us to find our feet in learning how to network. Networking isn’t just a way to build up contacts because people know when you are doing something with an ulterior motive. Instead, you need to keep practicing your networking skills, so that it doesn’t sound like you are forcing conversation, but you are being natural. In essence, being yourself. And at the very outset, you shouldn’t expect anything in return for your efforts, because you are still practicing. And even those that are skilled in networking know that they can’t be a 100% effective all the time, the sooner you understand this, the better.
Networking can feel very difficult at the outset, but it’s a skill that will most definitely take you places.
