Working the room

Networking is essential to career success, and while technology is part of the mix, it’s important to keep the human touch.

Networking: it’s a word that strikes fear into some people. Walking into a room full of strangers, business cards in hand, waiting to make smalltalk. However, it doesn’t need to be so difficult – becoming a better networker can be done with practice, patience and even smart use of tech.

Networking is the most successful way of finding a meaningful job and attaining career success. It’s essential to career success according to 80% of professionals, and almost 100% believe that face-to-face meetings build stronger long-term relationships. Additionally, 41% want to network more often.

And it’s true that technology has become a part of the networking mix. Largely thanks to Covid, most of us are now used to some kind of ‘get to you know’ Zoom sessions that have supplanted the traditional face-to-face element.

Exercising the networking muscle

But the importance of face-to-face hasn’t completely disappeared. So how can you improve your networking skills? Jamie Veitch is a consultant, project manager, trainer and mentor to businesses. As a seasoned worker of the room, he warns not to think of networking in terms of what it can do for you and your business. Instead, “Go with the motivation to learn and listen.“

Which means: “attend events with speakers or topics you’re interested in,” he says.

“Then whether you’re shy or extroverted you’ve always got something to discuss with other attendees. Then I’d say, bring curiosity to every encounter, and rather than treating conversations as places to put yourself forward, really listen instead of interjecting to sell. And be an introducer: can you put people you meet in touch with people you know?”

As a serial investor, a big part of Scott Mackin’s work relies on connecting people – investors, start-ups, banks, lawyers, accountants. He agrees, and says to keep it simple. “Ask questions and actively listen. Be kind. Connect people to others that may be helpful for them.”

Grace Hardy set up her own accounting firm three years ago and has prioritised networking as a way of developing a client base and professional knowledge. She says it’s key to keep things organic: “Networking is about genuine conversations, not forcing contact for no reason and not necessarily to sell.

“Then I’d say think about shared goals. The best reason to collaborate is a shared objective. If you want different things that relationship is probably not going to be productive.”

Her final principle centres around building knowledge. “Everyone has their own expertise and building a network of people who can teach each other is more beneficial than an echo chamber of identical skillsets and personalities and this can help benefit your clients as you can help them in other areas of their business, eg insurance, legal etc.”

A hybrid approach

Therefore, AAT has designed its new flagship event, AAT Connect, as a hybrid between online and in-person.

AAT’s lead marketing manager Deborah McIsaac explains that AAT will build on a solid foundation of AAT events: “Traditionally we’ve had an AAT professional member conference for all of our 50,000 professional members,” she explains.

“So they’ve gone to a conference place in a hotel and stayed over, and there’s been sessions throughout the day. And then during COVID, we transitioned to a digital-only version, and people really liked that, really engaged with it. Now we’re introducing a hybrid.”

The drive behind this approach, with pre-event groups set up online to encourage connections to form before members arrive, is to encourage members to marry their digital networking via LinkedIn with face-to-face meetings.

“There was a fear during and after Covid that the skill of in-person networking had withered away,” McIsaac says. “So we’re saying to members this matters – and you can’t do everything through LinkedIn.”

“What networking’s about now is knowing your own goals and finding a community that can help.”

“In addition, when you connect with peers it helps you to be better, helps you to understand other people’s stances on things, it helps you to debate how to do things. It’s about enriching yourself as a finance professional through the community.”

Keep it real

The importance of organic and authentic interaction is also a big part of Pri Hancock’s approach to networking. She’s a veteran of CFO roles and is currently Head of Finance and Partnerships at CyanoCapture. “I am truly interested in what other people have to say, in meeting new people and understanding their perspectives and life stories,” she says. “As a result, I walk into a networking situation telling myself that it’s all about having fun and spending an enjoyable few hours with fellow humans.“

Having understood how perceptions have changed around networking – how it works, what it’s for, what good looks like – McIsaac is keen to point out that AAT Connect has been put together to open up networking to a new cohort. “We’re seeing a down-shift in the age of our new members, to their early 20s. So we’re looking at people who have probably come into the job sector at the weirdest possible time for networking.”

“As a result I think there may be a slight fear of our networking for that group. Not everybody has the skills to chat, not everybody feels comfortable going up to people and asking these questions, so there’s something unique about this format of this event in that it’s not so strict, it’s not so traditional, and some of the more traditional or formal things can be left aside.

“Ultimately this is about connecting in a way they want to connect”.

AAT Connect takes place in London on Friday 8 November 2024

Christian Doherty is a business journalist and freelance writer for AAT.