July 15, 2026 • 22 mins
Networking isn’t just awkward small talk and exchanging business cards.
In this episode, we’re joined by Chris Rea, Head of strategic relationships and Hedd to break down what networking really means, and why it could be one of the biggest career skills you develop.
Whether you're heading to a careers fair, building your LinkedIn profile, applying for graduate jobs, or simply trying to meet new people in your industry, this episode is packed with practical, actionable, networking tips.
You'll learn:
- how to network even if you're shy or introverted
- what to say when meeting employers or recruiters
- how LinkedIn can help you land opportunities
- why networking isn't about collecting contacts
- the best places to build professional connections as a student or graduate.
Networking in a digital world: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/the-topic/networking-in-a-digital-world/
---
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📜 Episode transcripts: https://www.prospects.ac.uk/podcasts/future-you-podcast-transcripts
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(00:00):
You don't have to say a great deal.
(00:01):
You just have to be yourself.
Be natural, be polite, be curious.
And quite possibly the person that you'retalking to is just the same as you.
Hello and welcome back to Future You
the early careers and student advicepodcast brought to you by Prospects.
I'm your host, Emily Slade,and I'm joined today by Chris Rea.
Hello. Hello there.
Hello. Hello there.
(00:22):
Hello. Hello there.
Would you like to explain who you are?I would love to.
Would you like to explain who you are?I would love to.
I am head of strategic relationshipsin the Student Services department
Hello and welcome back to Future You,
at Jisc, working on Prospects, on Luminate,
our research platformand the degree verification service, Hedd.
Amazing.
So we're here todayto talk about networking,
how to build connectionsthat boost your career.
(00:44):
So why let's start with does the wordnetworking make people so uncomfortable?
It really does.
I know, and I'mnot sure why it should particularly,
but I think the reasons it doesare to do with associations
of overly formal,
awkward situations of peoplewearing formal dress,
(01:06):
sipping warm white wine,and exchanging business cards.
Yeah, American Psycho style.
Exactly
And that's because it's true.
Oh no.There is an element of that.
There will be at least one instanceof that, that you might well encounter.
However, the good news isthat networking is not just about that.
It's I think it's one of those termswhich can just keep
(01:27):
expanding in, in its sort of meaning,
because really, it's a
synonym for should be a synonymfor building enduring relationships.
Yeah, that's what it is, I think. Yeah.
Because if you called it,like meeting new people and having a chat,
I'd be like, sign me up.
Chat working would be, you know.
(01:49):
I know. So.
So the job is to rebrand networking
Yeah.
100%. I think that's our job today.
So so yes, it's.
And that can happenanywhere, can't it? Really?
Or if we're thinking of itas a professional asset
that you can develop and need
and frankly, need to developbecause you can't go through your
working life without having networkedeven if it's not conscious.
(02:11):
I mean, I think you build up networksbecause you work with people, and you
get to know people, when you talk to peopleand you learn from them
and and some of them, you developmore in a stronger way than with others.
And that might be to dowith the kind of work you're doing.
The importance of that at that time.
And then there's allthe sort of the social aspects of work.
(02:34):
And when I say that, I don't just meansocial events that come with work like,
you know, do's or going out and stuff,although, you know,
they're they're helpful, but it's workas a sort of sociable activity.
But it's not just about the mechanicsof the job.
It's like getting to knowpeople know, enjoying the company,
spending time with them.
And they may not just be peoplethat you work with.
(02:55):
It could be people,
other teams, departments or companies as well
and as your working life develops,
You do,
you can't helpbut build up a network of people.
You develop a put an external profileas well as an internal one.
And so when we think networking, I alwaysthink it's just external strangers.
But it could be someone withinthe company.
It's just in a different team or
(03:16):
I mean that's all still networkingthat all count.
It really, really does.
And you know, thinking of wherewe work in Jisc, which is a reasonably
large organisation, I think it helpsto get to know people in areas that aren't
necessarily aligned with your own,but helps build your knowledge.
But you never knowwhen you might be working
with those people, or you might never know
(03:36):
when you might need to sort of leanon somebody for expertise with support.
Oh, finally, just to be interestedin what your business does generally,
because I think that's good thing, though,and what you know the better is 100%.
So if they're not just formal occasionswith warm white wine.
What does networkingactually look like in 2026?
It's,
(03:57):
a hugely digitalexperience as well as a face to face.
Although I will say,there’s no substitute,
I think for just meeting peopleand talking to them wherever you can.
But, you know, building networksthrough LinkedIn obviously.
I suppose it's stillI think is still an important place to
(04:18):
to communicate yourself out into the world
and meet other people.
If as a student, I think it's going
to university careers service organised business events
where employers comeand only have an evening or an afternoon
talking to recruiters or alumni
(04:38):
or people, new graduates in jobs.
I think that's incredibly important.
I think going to a careers fair or jobs fair
is is very, very important
And interestingly,
you know, during the lockdown period,obviously all those things stopped
and there was a bit of a tendencyafter that
to think, well,all this stuff now can be done virtually.
That's not the case at all.
(04:59):
There's more and more of a return, and I thinkit's a very good thing, to physical events
where employers meet perspective employees
in that sort of environment.Places like that
I've known so many instanceswhere people have got their jobs
from a good, impactful conversationon a standard jobs fair.
That's where the journey had started for them,
(05:21):
and it continued from there.
So I know it's huge for networkinggetting to know people in the business.
They may be interviewing youat some stage.
They may not be,but at least you know who they are
and they can vouch for you,and speak about you.
And recommend, you and they know your work
You say impactful conversation.
How do you know what to say to someone?
Yeah.
(05:42):
I mean, the basics of whatwe're think of networking are
can be very, very challenging.
And I'm going to go backto that stereotypical context
of a lot of peoplemilling around and convention center
with their glasses and everything
It does take quite a bit to just launch
into a conversationto go up to somebody
Hi, I'm such a body
And who are you and what do you?
(06:02):
But I think once you've brokenthe conversational ice,
there's very few people that you can starttalking to and find something.
And but that's where I think, again,one of the things that unlocks
this is don't just treat a networkingopportunity as like an instinctive thing.
Be prepared for it.
So if you go on to any kind of event,for example, say a network
(06:26):
in your formal networking event,who's hosting it?
Who is likely to be there?
What are their experiences likely to be?
What kind of jobs are they doing?
All that sort of stuffbecause you can research
good now working opportunities,you can go prepared.
So at that point at which you arriveat where, what do I say to somebody?
Well, you should have a bit of stuffstacked up in your mind.
(06:48):
You know what you need.
But there's also nothing wrong withjust being like, what’s your favourite colour?
No, not at all. Not at all.
And that's a killer question.
You get the answer wrong.
I mean, it's, you know, I'm in blue.
But also,
never forget the people lovetalking about the jobs as well.
So if you're stuck for anythingto ask somebody in that kind of context
(07:09):
for a company.
So, well, what do you do and why is thatimportant and how have you done it?
People love talking about workin my experience anyway.
So so really just get them talkingand then bring yourself into it.
But you're right.
Also the sort of the, you know, the,the non-work related stuff
because the building relationshipis fundamentally
it's to human beingsget to know each other.
(07:30):
And there's a million waysthat we can do that.
There's a matter of whether it's to dowith work or anything else, you know,
those sort of failures and saying,I really
what if you are super shyand hate talking to strangers?
Yeah, yeah,I know that's massively challenging.
I think firstly,
(07:51):
get some support with that.
If, if you, if you are as many,many people are,
and even if you're not massively shyor deeply introverted
it's still, you know,it's not always your favorite thing to do.
Is it used to sort of go and do thatkind of networking out, role play it.
Get some support from a careers service.
Talk to friends about it.
(08:12):
Just do some mocknetworking conversations.
And they might be really cornyand they might feel very clumsy,
but they might be quite funny as well.
And and then just remember theyou don't have to say a great deal.
And and then just remember theyou don't have to say a great deal.
You just have to be yourself.
Be natural, be polite, be curious.
And quite possibly the person that you'retalking to is just the same as you.
(08:37):
They might be feeling just as, well, not massively uncomfortable
a little bit awkward about it.
And they may have been thrustinto doing that job
because the bosses say,you've got to go out there and do
go to our networking event
and wanted to talk to ten qualitygraduates, and don't come back
until you've got them signed up.
But do I have to?
So you just assume thatyou're all in the same boat.
(09:01):
You're not going up to high powered
go getting a complete extrovert typesbecause most people aren't like that,
even if they’re pretending to be, they’re notreally, you know what I mean, they’re acting
And yeah, I dunno beyond saying
don't worry too much about it,it's not a test.
It's just chatting to somebody.
Yeah.
(09:21):
And, you know, most of the timewe generally
we can do that when we have to.You might be chatting to someone on the bus
who you don't know, going to the shopsand talking to people.
And it's no different to that.It really, really isn't.
And the more you do it,the easier it's going to become.
Honestly.
And I think that is one of the it'sone of those things that a lot of stuff
about getting readyfor work,
(09:41):
you just have to dive it, just do itand you will get all right.
Because it is all right.It’s just talking to people.
No more mysterious than that. Yeah.
And I supposecoming off the back of Covid, where
everything was very isolated,it can seem very daunting.
But I know, I know so many young peopleat this company that had that.
And then as soon as they just did ita couple of times, they were like,
oh.No, really.
(10:02):
I mean, I’ve worked with so many people who,for example, like public speaking,
it's not the same as networking,but it is also putting you out there
and putting your head above the powerand all that sort of stuff.
There are people who've been so apprehensiveabout doing it and think, oh, sure,
there were going to really be comfortableand they’re totally accomplished
public speakers, having done it a few times,had training, had support,
(10:27):
trialed it,and now they can talk to any audience,
about any subjects under the sunprovided they’re briefed on it and know about it.
Completely comfortable.
And you would saythat was not their natural disposition.
Yeah, but it probably still isn't.
But they do it
and they’re good at it
because they felt the jargon to itand the good,
and they learn that they’re good at it.
and then they can becomeproud of the fact
that you've actuallyI can do that really well.
(10:48):
And I never thought I could.
And it’s not somethingthat had to come naturally,
like they've worked at it, done training in itand like that's also possible.
Yeah.
So so you cansometimes be sent to network for your job.
Like that's a thing. Yeah. It is a thing.
It is thinking, that might be a conferenceor an exhibition and,
and a lot of young graduate workersget thrown into the deep end for that.
(11:11):
And we go to a lot of eventsin, in our world as the early careers
and, and student communicationand degree verification.
And you see a lot of companieswhere they've got very, very young stuff,
and they might even bethe first week in the job,
and they're on the stand
and they're going to conference dinnersand doing all that sort of thing.
And they may be hating ityou know what I mean?
(11:33):
But they're getting support for itand they understand that this is
this is part of the world of work,
and there's no substitutefor getting stuck in doing it.
No one expects you to be perfect.
You're not being judged harshlyif you made some missteps.
It's just part of what you end up doing.
And I think,
on the whole, those
those are there was a sightingopportunities really.
(11:56):
Yeah.
If you're starting out
and you don't have any industrycontacts, where’s a good place to start?
Yeah.
And that's really importantto be clear about this with networking
because networking A. Comes more easilyto some people because of their background
and their circumstancesand the general social situation,
because confidence can often be, you know,
(12:18):
it's experienced in a greater way.
The more comfortable you are,the more you're had encouragement etc.
So we have to be really,really mindful of that.
And as part of that, yeah. Networks.
Some people are just introducedinto networks, through family,
through contacts and friends andmany other people don’t have that.
(12:38):
So that is a massive challenge.
And again, I think it's where gettingadvice and support from university career
service to to make up - if you’ve got that
challenge in your lifewhere you simply
you and your family do not knowpeople who can help you out in that way.
And that's a case of hundredsof thousands of people.
(12:58):
Then get your university career serviceto help you. Join a student society.
Now they're increasingly importanthubs for networking.
So whatever your subject is, or yourinterest is or your allegiances,
whatever it is,
there are hundreds of student societies at university
and many of them are really active
in networking business opportunities,and they will help you just do it through.
(13:21):
An organisation is not just down to you off your own back.
If you're lucky enough to know people
in high flying jobs in the City of Londonwho can give you a leg up and,
you know, good for you,that's fine. But for most of us
it’s not the reality really,you know what I mean?
and that's why you do itthrough the solidarity of an organisation.
And that might be the careers service,it might be a student society
(13:43):
it might be the student unioncan be any one of those hubs.
But that's where the importance of gettingstuck into organisations as a student,
being part of a group and a communityof like minded people with a common aim
who can help youget into that world.
Probably the best route in to be honest with you.
What about LinkedIn?
How important is LinkedInfor people in their early 20s?
(14:04):
Yeah, I feel that it is importantand I'm sure there's good evidence to say
it’s been supplantedfor certainly younger workers
or prospective workersby other types of social media.
However, it is still,I think, the standard place
for most experienced people in work.
Ie the ones who are running the companiesand if it's good enough for them,
(14:25):
I think you should say, well,I need to be part of that as well,
because that is where a lot of actiontakes place around the narratives
about work, about issues around work, andfundamentally as a shop window for you.
But there's still a placethat recruiters will look at
and expect to see a presence on.
I think it's true to say that.I know things shift all the time.
(14:46):
Yeah.
But I'd say lighting is still the standard
social platform for professional peopleengaged in work globally.
I should also add that, using LinkedIn as a research tool
as a candidate, and as a prospective employee
again, 20, 30 years ago,it was unimaginable that you could have access to
again, 20, 30 years ago,it was unimaginable that you could have access to
(15:06):
so much information
not only about
the company that you're interested in,but about the individuals as well.
And that is that all just.
And I feel thatit's still not being exploited fully,
really.There's such a wealth of information.
You can know a lot about the peoplewho might be interviewing you
and you can use that information,obviously not in a sort of
(15:29):
stalkery...
I was gonna say like, what
And I suppose this is just like feelingthe vibe in the moment, but
you're at an event,
You've met someone that you havesort of lowkey stalked on LinkedIn.
Yeah. You know that they like love dogs.
Can you be like, oh my God, you love dogs.
Can you be like, oh my God, you love dogs.
Like I love dogs as well.
Or is that like weird?
But then can you assume that if it's onLinkedIn it's public information?
(15:52):
It's a really good question.
I don't know,I've never I've never done that.
I don't know,I've never I've never done that.
But I don't see why.
For example, if parking the dogs thing,if you saw that that worked for a company
in your hometown and you knew that, oh,I see you used to work for that.
When I'm from there, I remember those.
That wouldn't seem weird, would it?
So so by that that's informationgleaned from LinkedIn.
(16:14):
And if they've done a post saying, soproud of my lovely new puppy etc
and I don't see why I shouldn't mention that.And if they don’t like it...
They’ll tell you
*laughter*
It’s a lesson learned.
Is there a difference between building
real connectionsand just collecting contacts?
Yes there is.
(16:35):
I think one way to describe
it would say is the differencebetween hearing and listening.
I mean, it's that you canyour contacts, your
the basic sorts of exposure to the world,the connections is what you do with it.
And it's the sort of the deeperlevel immersion in it.
You can go to an eventand come back with a box
(16:55):
full of people's business cards,and you can get loads of connections
and contacts on LinkedIn,but what do you do with them?
And I think that comes down tobecause you can't do everything
with all of thembecause there's no need to.
I think that's just comes down to sensiblemanagement and relationships based upon.
And this this is goingto sound like it's a sort of,
(17:18):
a cold approach, but it'sreally about what it's going to be useful,
who is going to be useful for it.
And there's nothing wrongwith thinking of it in that way.
You know that you might meet somebody orconnect with them and you think,
where I'm heading in my job or whatI want to do, what I want to learn,
this person can really help me.
And then you would buildthat relationship with them.
And that's why I think people are okaywith that, because,
(17:39):
there's a sort of element ofcan I help you?
Can you help me?
If that's agreeable to both of us.
Yeah. We can go forward with that.
And they say,
you're not going to do that with everybodythat you, you made contact with.
Of course, you can't doand shouldn't be expected to.
And that is where, I suppose longer termdevelopment and building of friendships
(18:01):
and trust and all those sorts of thingscome into it.
Was there anything else that you can thinkof to say about networking?
Yes.
It may be a slightly alarming
word to people,but the reality is far from that.
And again and againcome back to, to remember
that it's just talking to people,getting to know them.
And obviously from there it becomesmore structured and a bit more serious.
(18:23):
But that is the basis for it.
So much of your time is spent at work.
You get to know the people you work withextremely well over time,
and then you get to know peoplethat you don't directly work with
or who work in other businesses, ormaybe people who moved to other businesses
but you've worked with them previously.
And that gives youthen a sort of extended contact
(18:44):
into other companies,and it just flows out from there, really.
And whilst there are things
you may need to learn about networkingto help you get started with it,
generally over time, it is somethingthat just develops organically,
naturally, assuming that you've gotthe interest in maintaining it.
(19:05):
But yeah, it's impossiblereally to work for a long time in
any industry, company sectoror anything else without being like that,
because otherwise you wouldn't be working,would you? You know?
Or if you did,you'd be so sort of like isolated.
It wouldn'tbe like any kind of pleasurable job at all.
I think the point earlier
about the challenge with hybrid workingor predominately
(19:26):
online workingthat is really, really important.
So I think things have to be put in placeto compensate for the natural,
I think the natural driftpotentially towards
isolation and lack of contact.
So understanding how to network throughteams, joining communities and groups
and just getting faceto face as often as is practical.
(19:51):
That's the absolute corrective to that.
Yeah.
Amazing, thank you so much for your time today.You’re very welcome.
You don't have to say a great deal.
(00:01):
You just have to be yourself.
Be natural, be polite, be curious.
And quite possibly the person that you'retalking to is just the same as you.
Hello and welcome back to Future You
the early careers and student advicepodcast brought to you by Prospects.
I'm your host, Emily Slade,and I'm joined today by Chris Rea.
Hello. Hello there.
Hello. Hello there.
(00:22):
Hello. Hello there.
Would you like to explain who you are?I would love to.
Would you like to explain who you are?I would love to.
I am head of strategic relationshipsin the Student Services department
Hello and welcome back to Future You,
at Jisc, working on Prospects, on Luminate,
our research platformand the degree verification service, Hedd.
Amazing.
So we're here todayto talk about networking,
how to build connectionsthat boost your career.
(00:44):
So why let's start with does the wordnetworking make people so uncomfortable?
It really does.
I know, and I'mnot sure why it should particularly,
but I think the reasons it doesare to do with associations
of overly formal,
awkward situations of peoplewearing formal dress,
(01:06):
sipping warm white wine,and exchanging business cards.
Yeah, American Psycho style.
Exactly
And that's because it's true.
Oh no.There is an element of that.
There will be at least one instanceof that, that you might well encounter.
However, the good news isthat networking is not just about that.
It's I think it's one of those termswhich can just keep
(01:27):
expanding in, in its sort of meaning,
because really, it's a
synonym for should be a synonymfor building enduring relationships.
Yeah, that's what it is, I think. Yeah.
Because if you called it,like meeting new people and having a chat,
I'd be like, sign me up.
Chat working would be, you know.
(01:49):
I know. So.
So the job is to rebrand networking
Yeah.
100%. I think that's our job today.
So so yes, it's.
And that can happenanywhere, can't it? Really?
Or if we're thinking of itas a professional asset
that you can develop and need
and frankly, need to developbecause you can't go through your
working life without having networkedeven if it's not conscious.
(02:11):
I mean, I think you build up networksbecause you work with people, and you
get to know people, when you talk to peopleand you learn from them
and and some of them, you developmore in a stronger way than with others.
And that might be to dowith the kind of work you're doing.
The importance of that at that time.
And then there's allthe sort of the social aspects of work.
(02:34):
And when I say that, I don't just meansocial events that come with work like,
you know, do's or going out and stuff,although, you know,
they're they're helpful, but it's workas a sort of sociable activity.
But it's not just about the mechanicsof the job.
It's like getting to knowpeople know, enjoying the company,
spending time with them.
And they may not just be peoplethat you work with.
(02:55):
It could be people,
other teams, departments or companies as well
and as your working life develops,
You do,
you can't helpbut build up a network of people.
You develop a put an external profileas well as an internal one.
And so when we think networking, I alwaysthink it's just external strangers.
But it could be someone withinthe company.
It's just in a different team or
(03:16):
I mean that's all still networkingthat all count.
It really, really does.
And you know, thinking of wherewe work in Jisc, which is a reasonably
large organisation, I think it helpsto get to know people in areas that aren't
necessarily aligned with your own,but helps build your knowledge.
But you never knowwhen you might be working
with those people, or you might never know
(03:36):
when you might need to sort of leanon somebody for expertise with support.
Oh, finally, just to be interestedin what your business does generally,
because I think that's good thing, though,and what you know the better is 100%.
So if they're not just formal occasionswith warm white wine.
What does networkingactually look like in 2026?
It's,
(03:57):
a hugely digitalexperience as well as a face to face.
Although I will say,there’s no substitute,
I think for just meeting peopleand talking to them wherever you can.
But, you know, building networksthrough LinkedIn obviously.
I suppose it's stillI think is still an important place to
(04:18):
to communicate yourself out into the world
and meet other people.
If as a student, I think it's going
to university careers service organised business events
where employers comeand only have an evening or an afternoon
talking to recruiters or alumni
(04:38):
or people, new graduates in jobs.
I think that's incredibly important.
I think going to a careers fair or jobs fair
is is very, very important
And interestingly,
you know, during the lockdown period,obviously all those things stopped
and there was a bit of a tendencyafter that
to think, well,all this stuff now can be done virtually.
That's not the case at all.
(04:59):
There's more and more of a return, and I thinkit's a very good thing, to physical events
where employers meet perspective employees
in that sort of environment.Places like that
I've known so many instanceswhere people have got their jobs
from a good, impactful conversationon a standard jobs fair.
That's where the journey had started for them,
(05:21):
and it continued from there.
So I know it's huge for networkinggetting to know people in the business.
They may be interviewing youat some stage.
They may not be,but at least you know who they are
and they can vouch for you,and speak about you.
And recommend, you and they know your work
You say impactful conversation.
How do you know what to say to someone?
Yeah.
(05:42):
I mean, the basics of whatwe're think of networking are
can be very, very challenging.
And I'm going to go backto that stereotypical context
of a lot of peoplemilling around and convention center
with their glasses and everything
It does take quite a bit to just launch
into a conversationto go up to somebody
Hi, I'm such a body
And who are you and what do you?
(06:02):
But I think once you've brokenthe conversational ice,
there's very few people that you can starttalking to and find something.
And but that's where I think, again,one of the things that unlocks
this is don't just treat a networkingopportunity as like an instinctive thing.
Be prepared for it.
So if you go on to any kind of event,for example, say a network
(06:26):
in your formal networking event,who's hosting it?
Who is likely to be there?
What are their experiences likely to be?
What kind of jobs are they doing?
All that sort of stuffbecause you can research
good now working opportunities,you can go prepared.
So at that point at which you arriveat where, what do I say to somebody?
Well, you should have a bit of stuffstacked up in your mind.
(06:48):
You know what you need.
But there's also nothing wrong withjust being like, what’s your favourite colour?
No, not at all. Not at all.
And that's a killer question.
You get the answer wrong.
I mean, it's, you know, I'm in blue.
But also,
never forget the people lovetalking about the jobs as well.
So if you're stuck for anythingto ask somebody in that kind of context
(07:09):
for a company.
So, well, what do you do and why is thatimportant and how have you done it?
People love talking about workin my experience anyway.
So so really just get them talkingand then bring yourself into it.
But you're right.
Also the sort of the, you know, the,the non-work related stuff
because the building relationshipis fundamentally
it's to human beingsget to know each other.
(07:30):
And there's a million waysthat we can do that.
There's a matter of whether it's to dowith work or anything else, you know,
those sort of failures and saying,I really
what if you are super shyand hate talking to strangers?
Yeah, yeah,I know that's massively challenging.
I think firstly,
(07:51):
get some support with that.
If, if you, if you are as many,many people are,
and even if you're not massively shyor deeply introverted
it's still, you know,it's not always your favorite thing to do.
Is it used to sort of go and do thatkind of networking out, role play it.
Get some support from a careers service.
Talk to friends about it.
(08:12):
Just do some mocknetworking conversations.
And they might be really cornyand they might feel very clumsy,
but they might be quite funny as well.
And and then just remember theyou don't have to say a great deal.
And and then just remember theyou don't have to say a great deal.
You just have to be yourself.
Be natural, be polite, be curious.
And quite possibly the person that you'retalking to is just the same as you.
(08:37):
They might be feeling just as, well, not massively uncomfortable
a little bit awkward about it.
And they may have been thrustinto doing that job
because the bosses say,you've got to go out there and do
go to our networking event
and wanted to talk to ten qualitygraduates, and don't come back
until you've got them signed up.
But do I have to?
So you just assume thatyou're all in the same boat.
(09:01):
You're not going up to high powered
go getting a complete extrovert typesbecause most people aren't like that,
even if they’re pretending to be, they’re notreally, you know what I mean, they’re acting
And yeah, I dunno beyond saying
don't worry too much about it,it's not a test.
It's just chatting to somebody.
Yeah.
(09:21):
And, you know, most of the timewe generally
we can do that when we have to.You might be chatting to someone on the bus
who you don't know, going to the shopsand talking to people.
And it's no different to that.It really, really isn't.
And the more you do it,the easier it's going to become.
Honestly.
And I think that is one of the it'sone of those things that a lot of stuff
about getting readyfor work,
(09:41):
you just have to dive it, just do itand you will get all right.
Because it is all right.It’s just talking to people.
No more mysterious than that. Yeah.
And I supposecoming off the back of Covid, where
everything was very isolated,it can seem very daunting.
But I know, I know so many young peopleat this company that had that.
And then as soon as they just did ita couple of times, they were like,
oh.No, really.
(10:02):
I mean, I’ve worked with so many people who,for example, like public speaking,
it's not the same as networking,but it is also putting you out there
and putting your head above the powerand all that sort of stuff.
There are people who've been so apprehensiveabout doing it and think, oh, sure,
there were going to really be comfortableand they’re totally accomplished
public speakers, having done it a few times,had training, had support,
(10:27):
trialed it,and now they can talk to any audience,
about any subjects under the sunprovided they’re briefed on it and know about it.
Completely comfortable.
And you would saythat was not their natural disposition.
Yeah, but it probably still isn't.
But they do it
and they’re good at it
because they felt the jargon to itand the good,
and they learn that they’re good at it.
and then they can becomeproud of the fact
that you've actuallyI can do that really well.
(10:48):
And I never thought I could.
And it’s not somethingthat had to come naturally,
like they've worked at it, done training in itand like that's also possible.
Yeah.
So so you cansometimes be sent to network for your job.
Like that's a thing. Yeah. It is a thing.
It is thinking, that might be a conferenceor an exhibition and,
and a lot of young graduate workersget thrown into the deep end for that.
(11:11):
And we go to a lot of eventsin, in our world as the early careers
and, and student communicationand degree verification.
And you see a lot of companieswhere they've got very, very young stuff,
and they might even bethe first week in the job,
and they're on the stand
and they're going to conference dinnersand doing all that sort of thing.
And they may be hating ityou know what I mean?
(11:33):
But they're getting support for itand they understand that this is
this is part of the world of work,
and there's no substitutefor getting stuck in doing it.
No one expects you to be perfect.
You're not being judged harshlyif you made some missteps.
It's just part of what you end up doing.
And I think,
on the whole, those
those are there was a sightingopportunities really.
(11:56):
Yeah.
If you're starting out
and you don't have any industrycontacts, where’s a good place to start?
Yeah.
And that's really importantto be clear about this with networking
because networking A. Comes more easilyto some people because of their background
and their circumstancesand the general social situation,
because confidence can often be, you know,
(12:18):
it's experienced in a greater way.
The more comfortable you are,the more you're had encouragement etc.
So we have to be really,really mindful of that.
And as part of that, yeah. Networks.
Some people are just introducedinto networks, through family,
through contacts and friends andmany other people don’t have that.
(12:38):
So that is a massive challenge.
And again, I think it's where gettingadvice and support from university career
service to to make up - if you’ve got that
challenge in your lifewhere you simply
you and your family do not knowpeople who can help you out in that way.
And that's a case of hundredsof thousands of people.
(12:58):
Then get your university career serviceto help you. Join a student society.
Now they're increasingly importanthubs for networking.
So whatever your subject is, or yourinterest is or your allegiances,
whatever it is,
there are hundreds of student societies at university
and many of them are really active
in networking business opportunities,and they will help you just do it through.
(13:21):
An organisation is not just down to you off your own back.
If you're lucky enough to know people
in high flying jobs in the City of Londonwho can give you a leg up and,
you know, good for you,that's fine. But for most of us
it’s not the reality really,you know what I mean?
and that's why you do itthrough the solidarity of an organisation.
And that might be the careers service,it might be a student society
(13:43):
it might be the student unioncan be any one of those hubs.
But that's where the importance of gettingstuck into organisations as a student,
being part of a group and a communityof like minded people with a common aim
who can help youget into that world.
Probably the best route in to be honest with you.
What about LinkedIn?
How important is LinkedInfor people in their early 20s?
(14:04):
Yeah, I feel that it is importantand I'm sure there's good evidence to say
it’s been supplantedfor certainly younger workers
or prospective workersby other types of social media.
However, it is still,I think, the standard place
for most experienced people in work.
Ie the ones who are running the companiesand if it's good enough for them,
(14:25):
I think you should say, well,I need to be part of that as well,
because that is where a lot of actiontakes place around the narratives
about work, about issues around work, andfundamentally as a shop window for you.
But there's still a placethat recruiters will look at
and expect to see a presence on.
I think it's true to say that.I know things shift all the time.
(14:46):
Yeah.
But I'd say lighting is still the standard
social platform for professional peopleengaged in work globally.
I should also add that, using LinkedIn as a research tool
as a candidate, and as a prospective employee
again, 20, 30 years ago,it was unimaginable that you could have access to
again, 20, 30 years ago,it was unimaginable that you could have access to
(15:06):
so much information
not only about
the company that you're interested in,but about the individuals as well.
And that is that all just.
And I feel thatit's still not being exploited fully,
really.There's such a wealth of information.
You can know a lot about the peoplewho might be interviewing you
and you can use that information,obviously not in a sort of
(15:29):
stalkery...
I was gonna say like, what
And I suppose this is just like feelingthe vibe in the moment, but
you're at an event,
You've met someone that you havesort of lowkey stalked on LinkedIn.
Yeah. You know that they like love dogs.
Can you be like, oh my God, you love dogs.
Can you be like, oh my God, you love dogs.
Like I love dogs as well.
Or is that like weird?
But then can you assume that if it's onLinkedIn it's public information?
(15:52):
It's a really good question.
I don't know,I've never I've never done that.
I don't know,I've never I've never done that.
But I don't see why.
For example, if parking the dogs thing,if you saw that that worked for a company
in your hometown and you knew that, oh,I see you used to work for that.
When I'm from there, I remember those.
That wouldn't seem weird, would it?
So so by that that's informationgleaned from LinkedIn.
(16:14):
And if they've done a post saying, soproud of my lovely new puppy etc
and I don't see why I shouldn't mention that.And if they don’t like it...
They’ll tell you
*laughter*
It’s a lesson learned.
Is there a difference between building
real connectionsand just collecting contacts?
Yes there is.
(16:35):
I think one way to describe
it would say is the differencebetween hearing and listening.
I mean, it's that you canyour contacts, your
the basic sorts of exposure to the world,the connections is what you do with it.
And it's the sort of the deeperlevel immersion in it.
You can go to an eventand come back with a box
(16:55):
full of people's business cards,and you can get loads of connections
and contacts on LinkedIn,but what do you do with them?
And I think that comes down tobecause you can't do everything
with all of thembecause there's no need to.
I think that's just comes down to sensiblemanagement and relationships based upon.
And this this is goingto sound like it's a sort of,
(17:18):
a cold approach, but it'sreally about what it's going to be useful,
who is going to be useful for it.
And there's nothing wrongwith thinking of it in that way.
You know that you might meet somebody orconnect with them and you think,
where I'm heading in my job or whatI want to do, what I want to learn,
this person can really help me.
And then you would buildthat relationship with them.
And that's why I think people are okaywith that, because,
(17:39):
there's a sort of element ofcan I help you?
Can you help me?
If that's agreeable to both of us.
Yeah. We can go forward with that.
And they say,
you're not going to do that with everybodythat you, you made contact with.
Of course, you can't doand shouldn't be expected to.
And that is where, I suppose longer termdevelopment and building of friendships
(18:01):
and trust and all those sorts of thingscome into it.
Was there anything else that you can thinkof to say about networking?
Yes.
It may be a slightly alarming
word to people,but the reality is far from that.
And again and againcome back to, to remember
that it's just talking to people,getting to know them.
And obviously from there it becomesmore structured and a bit more serious.
(18:23):
But that is the basis for it.
So much of your time is spent at work.
You get to know the people you work withextremely well over time,
and then you get to know peoplethat you don't directly work with
or who work in other businesses, ormaybe people who moved to other businesses
but you've worked with them previously.
And that gives youthen a sort of extended contact
(18:44):
into other companies,and it just flows out from there, really.
And whilst there are things
you may need to learn about networkingto help you get started with it,
generally over time, it is somethingthat just develops organically,
naturally, assuming that you've gotthe interest in maintaining it.
(19:05):
But yeah, it's impossiblereally to work for a long time in
any industry, company sectoror anything else without being like that,
because otherwise you wouldn't be working,would you? You know?
Or if you did,you'd be so sort of like isolated.
It wouldn'tbe like any kind of pleasurable job at all.
I think the point earlier
about the challenge with hybrid workingor predominately
(19:26):
online workingthat is really, really important.
So I think things have to be put in placeto compensate for the natural,
I think the natural driftpotentially towards
isolation and lack of contact.
So understanding how to network throughteams, joining communities and groups
and just getting faceto face as often as is practical.
(19:51):
That's the absolute corrective to that.
Yeah.
Amazing, thank you so much for your time today.You’re very welcome.
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