Networking: the necessary career evil. It conjures up visions of a crowded room of professionals adorned with name tags and holding glasses of wine. In huddles people exchange business cards and share what they do. This is the default idea of networking, but it is so much more than this. By finding and establishing meaningful, lasting, and mutually beneficial connections, it starts and advances careers. It is all about the follow-up and follow-through: the email, the coffee date, the face-to-face time. We set roadblocks for ourselves when we think about networking as a one-off situation that does not go beneath the surface. In reality, networking is like any good relationship — it requires nurturing and grows over time. Think of it as meeting a new friend or date. What if we re-frame what networking means and separate it from the vision of a forced, formal scenario? Consider the following five ways to think about the true meaning of networking.
