Networking Skills Everyone Should Have

Are you trying to start networking more? Then you can find that networking at first is like trying to find a lifelong partner in a bar—tough work. If you are aiming to improve this side of your life, though, you can use any of the following useful networking skills that everyone really should have!

Starting Slow

People think networking and treat it like speed-dating; treat it like a courtship. Find one person who you find interesting and who you could learn a lot from, and slowly but steadily build that relationship. With the right time being spent and the right plans in place you can easily avoid having too many acquaintances and not enough people that you can legitimately rely upon to help you out if you ever feel like you are in a tough situation.

Don’t Beg, Ask

When you go to meet someone who you are networking with and you want to get something, be direct about it. There is no point trying to kind of edge your way in and start half-suggesting/begging for a bit of help. If you are speaking to an influential person, and you’ve done the work to build a good relationship, you should be able to ask them for advice or help.

It’s Still Reality

Networking online seems to make people become overly brazen, to the point where they are very irritating. To avoid this problem you should consider thinking about how you ask – if you met this person in real life, would you really go to them and just ask for the world? No, you wouldn’t! Take the time needed to build up a strong, friendly relationship before you start asking for anything too heavy.

Don’t expect people to just drop everything they are doing for you either. People are giving up their time, knowledge and wisdom for you so the least that you can do is give them the same response back. Always remember that these are good people helping you out and should never be treated as a toy or a magic lamp.

These basic networking skills may seem obvious but when you are desperate to learn and succeed, you can be shocked at what you say ask for. Remain humble, human and friendly in all of your chats and things can become a whole lot more enjoyable for you!

For more career advice, check out our post on the top career experts to follow on social media.