2.7 Networking Activity: Expand Your Professional Networks
Aim: Investigate and use professional social networks to develop your employability
A survey by LinkedIn in 2016 revealed that 85% of jobs are filled through networking rather than through responses to conventional job advertisements (LinkedIn, 2016) .
To expand your professional networking skills, we’d like you to take a moment to plan how you might expand your network this academic year. Your approach to networking is likely to include online social networking and social networking apps such as LinkedIn, but you can also include other kinds of professional networking.
Step 1: Brainstorming. Note down 6 ways that you can expand your network this year. Think about ways that you can network with your fellow students, graduates and with wider professional connections, organisations and businesses.
Step 2: Post and share your networking plans with your fellow students in the forum. Include some context on how you network now and how you plan to network in the future.
Step 3: Discuss. Look at the networking plans of other students. Look for networking approaches suggested by other students that are new to you. Comment and discuss networking strategies. Which networking strategies or social networking tools might be most beneficial to increase your employability in the future? Why would these strategies be successful in a professional context?
Step 4: Connect. Finally we’d like to invite all new postgraduate students to connect with QMUL Alumni via LinkedIn. If you don’t yet have a LinkedIn login, or you’d like to further develop your LinkedIn profile, this is your opportunity. You can also take a look at alumni news and graduate stories here.
LinkedIn (2016) New Survey Reveals 85% of All Jobs are Filled Via Networking
