Networking is a great way to discover career pathways and uncover potential job opportunities. By networking, you get the chance to interact with others, share your interests, and find commonalities with others. With the help of some useful tools and techniques for connecting with people and establishing professional connections, networking has never been so easy!
What does it mean to amplify your network?
The theme for this year’s Canada Career Month is “Amplify”. As part of this, we look to help students understand why it is important to make connections and feel comfortable with the concept of networking. In doing so, students can help build their social and professional networks to support their career development.
Why amplify your networking skills?
There are several ways in which you can amplify your networking skills and benefit from making connections. Networking can:
- Improve future work prospects
- Help you build friendships with a professional bridge
- Support your business: advertising your company, products and services, and most importantly your professional brand
- Grow your list of professional connections in your industry
- Help you gain knowledge and different perspectives in your industry
- Provide the opportunity to access the hidden job market
- Lead to mentorship opportunities (opportunity to be mentored or to mentor)
- Allow you to practice your communication skills
- Source out professional development opportunities
Tools to help you amplify yourself in your professional network?
One of the top platforms for connecting with other professionals and offering opportunities for job advancement is LinkedIn. The barrier extends beyond only professionals and encompasses recruiters, alumni, and students everywhere. Through this single platform, they are all linked. Users with complete profiles are 40x more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn.
At CareerZone, the “Ultimate LinkedIn Cheat Sheet” is one of the most useful resources you can use to help guide you in building the ideal LinkedIn profile and making professional connections.
Ten Thousand Coffees is a mentorship platform that connects students with alumni from Brock.
- By leveraging this tool, you can:
- Learn about new career
opportunities and keep up with industry trends
- Develop your networking
and mentoring skills through real-world practice
- Build your network of
other Brock alumni and faculty based on your industry and interests
- Gain a better
understanding of what careers are available with your degree
- Develop your communication skills in person and virtually
Creating an Elevator Pitch is a quick and useful strategy you can use to network with professionals.
The biggest benefit is that it provides you with a chance to quickly introduce yourself to the individuals you will be meeting or connecting with. Just like when you typically meet someone new for the first time:
1) Self-introduction and identification
· You
start off with your name to identify yourself and for them to know who you are
2) Describe your Key Skills/Experience/Qualifications/Education
· This
comprises a background of prior experiences and education relevant to a
particular role.
3) Mention how your qualifications are valuable
· Talk
about your transferable skills, how they connect to the jobs you're interested
in, and what skill set makes you want to work there.
4) Highlight what type of career or jobs you are seeking
· You
can briefly describe the types of jobs you are interested in and those that
match your skills
Be sure to stop by CareerZone in Market Hall or email us at career@brocku.ca if you have any questions or would like to go over some of these helpful networking strategies.
Connect With Us!
We are here to support you, so don’t be afraid to ask for help! We offer many student resources on our portal (careerzone.brocku.ca) and can be contacted via email at career@brocku.ca to answer your questions.
Follow us on our Social Media to stay up to date on our events and workshops!
Twitter: @BrockCareerZone
Instagram: @brockcareerzone
Written by Chelsa Sunil, Career Assistant
Edited by Kara Renaud, Manager of Career Education, CCEE Department
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