Seven Tips to Help You ‘Network’ (AKA the Real Way to Get a Job in 2018)

This post is presented in partnership with the National Merino Challenge.

These days, a degree or certification alone can’t guarantee you a job. Sorry. It’s just the hard truth.

In fact, as most graduates are discovering, ‘networking’ might be your best shot at scoring a pathway into your dream career.

(Need a quick primer on what ‘networking’ actually is? Basically, it’s introducing yourself to people already in your chosen industry and making a personal connection, usually at organised events, in the hopes of getting an internship or being thought of when they're next looking for someone to hire.)

But what if you’re no good at networking?

"I had very little networking skills; I’m the biggest introvert," remembers 18-year-old Brooke Watts, winner of the National Merino Challenge’s secondary division in 2017.

Though the NMC gets students from around the country to compete in a range of activities, it also provides entrants with a weekend of networking opportunities alongside dozens of industry leaders.

Still, it took Brooke some time to warm up to this other side of the challenge: "Honestly, I’d stand there with my hands in my pocket, looking around going, 'What am I doing here?'"

Having arrived at the NMC from Molong Central in NSW—from a class of just 13 fellow Year 12s—she was particularly intimidated by the prospect of walking up to strangers and striking up a conversation.

"At the start of that weekend, I was just some nervous little girl standing in the corner," she says.

But since that weekend (which she calls "the best networking opportunity that you’ll ever get") she’s now a networking expert, having picked up skills she can even use in her current pathway, studying Psychology and Business Management at Charles Sturt University in Bathurst.

So, listen up, because Brooke has seven networking tips to help you out, no matter which industry you’re aiming for.

1. Embrace “forced” icebreakers. They’re your friend.

"[At the NMC] they made us stand in a circle and tell everyone what school we were from and what we were most excited about," Brooke says.

"Even though that’s a bit of forced interaction, I was so happy they made us do that, because after that I could walk up to people and say, 'Oh, I know where your school is. I’ve been there.'"

There were even more "forced" interactions at a special NMC dinner, where "they spread you out on tables and they have an industry leader or two at every single table."

However, this gave Brooke a captive audience… and no more excuses to avoid them.

"Once they’re sitting there, it’s quite easy to strike up a conversation," she says.

2. Start with simple questions (and listen to the answers)!

It’s never going to be possible to research every attendee at a networking event. And even if you did, good luck remembering all that info!

Brooke has an easy suggestion to get around all that potential reading: "Just jump in head first."

"Go up, strike a conversation and see what they’re about,” she says, suggesting "simple questions" like, "'Hey, where are you from? What do you do? What’s your job?'"

3. Present yourself well (and remember your audience).

There’s a difference between speaking with friends your own age and striking up a conversation with an industry leader, Brooke says.

"When they speak so proper and so well, it forces you to mature a little bit," she says.

"You can talk to another 17-year-old and you’re both like, 'Oh, I’m so nervous,' but when you’re talking to an industry leader, you’re forced to have a proper conversation and speak [confidently]. You can’t just walk up to an industry leader and be like, [timidly] 'Oh, hi?'"

4. Know when to walk away from a conversation.

"Industry leaders are experts at talking, so they’re happily going to tell you about what they do and ask you lots of questions," Brooke says.

"And by asking questions you learn so much, and you learn all the different areas in the industry."

However, it’s important to use your time well at these networking events and walk away—politely!—if you’re not getting much out of the interaction.

Brooke has an easy rule of thumb: "If you’re interested, you keep talking. If you’re not, you find someone else."

5. Collect those business cards!

You’ve worked up the courage to approach someone, and even had a promising conversation. Congrats! Now, how do you convert that friendly chat into an actual opportunity outside this event?

"A lot of the industry leaders had big packs of business cards with them, and they set a little challenge on the first day of the [NMC], where they said, 'By the end of the first night, we want you to have at least 10 business cards,'" Brooke explains.

"So, if I had a conversation with someone, and I was like, I think I want to follow-up on that, I’d go, 'Oh, I’d love to shoot you an email and talk about that sometime. Do you have a business card that I could have?' And they’ll happily hand it out to you. And if they don’t, they’ll give you their number."

It pays off, too.

"They’re so happy to see these young industry leaders wanting to connect with them, so they’ll happily further that conversation if that’s what you’re interested in," she says.

"I was only in Year 12 when I did it, but I do know of a lot of the university students who had follow-ups going onto workplace prac."

6. That said, don’t feel pressured into giving away your details!

Brooke says you don’t need to give your number and email to everyone you meet (after all, you don’t want to waste the other person’s time by faking interest either).

"If I was a bit unsure and I was like, ‘I might follow up on this one,’ I’d just grab their details," she explains.

"It depended how ‘into’ the conversation I was."

7. Don’t overthink it!

"I was the most scared little teenager at the start of that weekend," Brooke remembers.

"But you just gotta get in and do it, really."

The National Merino Challenge (NMC) is an initiative of Australian Wool Innovation, designed to allow young people to engage with the Merino wool industry by developing their knowledge, skills and networks, and involves presentations and demonstrations from industry professionals. The 2018 NMC will be held at Adelaide Showgrounds on Saturday, 19 and Sunday, 20 May 2018, and is open to years 11 and 12 and tertiary students, Australia-wide. For more information, please visit www.awinmc.com.au

Photo: HBO