Career Corner – 11+3 reasons why you should network with other C&B pros

Career Corner – 11+3 reasons why you should network with other C&B pros

Whether it is online or offline, networking with other C&B professionals should play an important role into your personal development and the pursuit of your career plans, whether within the same company, or outside of it.

Here are some of the benefits of networking with other C&B professionals :

  1. Get feedback on your ideas and grow them through incorporating the comments from your peers
  2. Hear about the latest C&B trends
  3. Have a network you can rely on when you need to prepare your arguments for a meeting with top management
  4. Get found for that next job opportunity
  5. Find candidates for positions on your team
  6. Run quick informal surveys and get a “feel” for market trends on a geographical or industry basis
  7. Learn technical tips and tricks
  8. Have a sounding board, someone who “gets it”, when you start getting some half-baked ideas or imprecise questions about programs to implement in your organisation
  9. Mentor and be mentored informally by one of your peers
  10. Make new friends. I started many friendships through networking, even online networking. When the premise is one of candidness and support, relationships thrive and your horizon expands.
  11. Improve your interpersonal skills.

For those of you who are consultants, there are 3 additional benefits :

  • Get in contact with prospects who would normally not be accessible to you. If you are a consultant, your network can help you get in touch with those out-of-reach decision makers.
  • Find referral partners. Yes, even your competition ! Sometimes they won’t be interested by a client request, will already have other engagements or will lack the technical skills to work on some projects for their clients. In that case, it will be good for them, the client and you, to refer you to to their client. Everyone wins ! Your referral partner reinforces her reputation as a trusted, selfless business partner to the client, the client gets a recommendation for someone who they will have a positive opinion of, and you get an easy new client.
  • As mentioned by Sandy Rees in Benefits of professional networking at Get Fully Funded Blog : “Becoming The Expert – You will become aware of a lot of things very early on, and will develop an awareness of business that will translate into a reputation as an expert, “the one to ask”. Your advice will be sought, and seriously considered, by a lot of people as your knowledge and skills grow. Awareness of trends early on will insure that the information you share is timely and accurate.”

 

So are you convinced now ? Then why not take a 30-second option now and connect with me on LinkedIn ! With 305 C&B professionals in my network, plus another 350 HR professionals and numerous recruiters as of September 2011, this will give you exposure. Or feel free to contact me and subscribe to this blog by RSS or by email (at the top right column)

 

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