It’s not what you know, it’s who you know.
If you’ve ever looked for a job, it’s a familiar mantra. Essentially, it means using your network (and extended network) to get a job, as opposed to mindlessly submitting your résumé into black holes on online job boards.
But, guess what? That networking process shouldn’t stop once you are hired!
One of the best things you can do is to continually reach out, up and down the org chart, and across different business units, within your company. Most people only get familiar with the people they work with on a regular basis. While it makes sense, it’s a mistake.
Don’t limit yourself to your immediate group. There are many advantages when meeting someone in a different area:
- Get your name out there
- Learn about other departments in more depth so you get a better understanding how the company and business model works
- Learn what ‘a day in the life’ looks like for other roles
- Ask leaders and individual contributors about their biggest challenges and think about ways you can help them solve those problems
- Figure out how you can apply other departments’ best practices, tools, and methodologies to your own team
- Put a name with a face. Think about your own job – you typically help those you know more frequently than those you don’t.
- Ideas for new projects
How do you get started?
Here’s a great tip. Whenever you get an email, take a look at the To: and Cc: lines. Reach out to any names you don’t know. Set up a meeting with the people you don’t know. A quick 15 minute ‘get to know you’ phone call.
If you’re in the same building, go out for a coffee or lunch. This isn’t a first date where you have no idea what you have in common. You’re both on the same email thread so you have an ice breaker built-in. Ask probing questions and see if you can find ways to help that person, perhaps by solving a difficult problem or connecting them to someone else in your network who can.
Do this simple exercise enough and you’ll quickly find your network expanding. When you need help with your own challenges, you’ll have more people to reach out to. When you’re thinking of applying to an internal position, you will be able to use your larger network to open doors with the hiring manager, or have more people vouch for you.
Just like with the job search, who you know pays off huge dividends.