“Dear network. » These two words alone have the power to revive the phobia of professional social networks, with their “posts” which are texts copied and pasted from other posts, and based on an absolutely consensual statement to be relayed to the greatest number… And also, sometimes, asking for help from this network which is, well and truly, quite expensive.
In real life or on the Web, it is essential, in certain professions, to weave one’s own: this is the whole purpose of “networking”, or networking, which designates the fact of exchanging and meeting new people. in a strictly professional setting.
Its objectives are multiple: to recruit future employees or find a job – by cooptation for example, by soliciting that high school friend that you did not like, but who has become “chief of people” in tech –, developing your business, identifying potential partners… The more fish there are in the pond, the more chances there are of a good catch.
Know how to introduce
But a network requires work, as the very etymology of our word of the day reminds us: someone who “networks” works (work) on his net (net). In French, the word “network” also refers to “net” (from the Latin retiolus), which refers to hunting more than fishing.
Networking is semi-informal: apart from specialized circles and clubs, which require a membership fee, a network is built free of charge, in various events (cocktail parties, fairs, etc.). But it costs time and requires a certain subtlety in the posture, between private life and professional life.
The latter asks you to take the first step with a smile, know how to introduce yourself and make an impression, while asking questions to your well-identified “target”. Ask open-ended questions, but don’t ask too many, be curious or pretend to be. Finding commonalities too, in the manner of the very masculine Anglo-Saxon business clubs, which, from the 19e century, were tied around passions for horse racing, rugby and even cigars.
“The principle of networking is not to evoke the prevailing malaise in society and display a pessimism that will leave in the memory of your interlocutors the desire to never contact you again”advise Entrepreneurial dynamic.
Say “hello” from time to time
But let’s talk little, let’s talk well. We will therefore shorten the “small talk” to get straight to the point: “I don’t care about your vacation in Normandy, I just want you to add me on LinkedIn, because you have a lot of connections. » The art of networking is also knowing when to leave a circle and a boring conversation to move on to another.
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