How to Cultivate a Career Network

2-Minute Read

When looking for career tips to expand a career network, you may find that it’s much easier said than done. How can you build connections and improve your prospects for healthcare jobs? In this piece, we’ll take a closer look at how to establish, cultivate, and expand your network for a fruitful career in healthcare.

Lay a Strong Foundation

You need to be thoughtful and intentional in your job prep. This means investing in the right relationships for a valuable network. And because part of career planning involves getting the proper training, this is an excellent opportunity to meet other learners with similar interests and ambitions.

While it’s a good idea to leverage this particular network, in practice, it can be difficult to lay the groundwork for these relationships. Here are some suggestions to build strong foundations that will lead to deep, long-lasting connections: ^[1]

• Connect with those whom you met during your career training. Find them on LinkedIn or other social media websites.
• Touch base with the organization and your training providers. They may be able to introduce you to other learners you didn’t get a chance to meet.
• Attend webinars, conferences, and other events with guest speakers and presenters. Be sure to reach out to the experts and form a connection.

Stay in Touch

Have you ever had someone you haven’t heard from in a while suddenly reach out? Initially, you’re probably grateful to reconnect only to find out the person just wants a favor. Experts caution us to avoid only communicating just when we want something. Take the time to get to know other people and communicate regularly through various channels. Find out their interests and hobbies. Follow them on social media and share relevant content they post.^[2]

Pro Tip: As you look for opportunities to expand your network, be sure to take a little time — maybe 1 hour — each week for online career networking.

Return the Favor

We should also be willing to give back to others and not solely focus on what we can receive. Cultivation goes both ways. Sea recommends giving help whenever it is requested. If you brush off someone asking a favor, you might regret it later when it turns out you need help and that person is in a position to give it. Usually, all it takes is just introducing them to someone else or providing a few links to resources online.^[2]

Just as a farmer regenerates the soil by putting nutrients back, you should always be willing to give back to the network that has helped you on your career path.

If you are looking for help with cultivating your career network, be sure to check out all that CareerStep has to offer for your career training.

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Sources

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1. Clark, D. 3 Ways to Make the Most of Your Alumni Network. Harvard Business Review. October 9, 2019.

2. Sea, N. 6 Wrong Ways to Network Online and How to Do it Right. Randstad Risesmart. February 23, 2108.