WiST Webinar Put Yourself Out There: Networking 101
Nowadays, working in my slippers from a makeshift office, it can be difficult to remember the days when proper networking was commonplace. Messy hair? Camera off. Sticking the kettle on? Mute mic. But now that we’re entering the post-pandemic era, it’s important that we remember to network - why we do it, what we gain from it, and how to do it effectively. But how do you go about networking after 2 years of minimal contact with professionals? Let’s face it – it’s easy to get lazy, especially when you wear pyjama bottoms to all your important Zoom meetings.
To help get back into the swing of things, and out of sheer interest, I joined the Networking 101 webinar for women in STEM to see if I could be inspired to change my bad habits. Right off the bat, the guest speaker for the session, Sam Wheeler from Big Lemon, spoke about very relevant aspects of networking. In particular, she highlighted the need for a strong connection between humans and technology as we move into the ‘future of work’. Our reliance on tech will emphasise the need to be constantly adapting and refreshing our skills.
The conversation quickly moved to tackling the importance of nonverbal communication, which according to Sam, makes up 55% of overall communication (something I had never really given much thought to). With this in mind, it is thought that impressions are made within the first 7 seconds of meeting. This got me thinking – I’d be interested to know how impressions in person vary from those made online. Personally, I struggle to make a real connection with people I haven’t met in person!
To give a brief overview of the other subjects that were touched on during the session, Sam also spoke about challenges that we might face in STEM (and elsewhere), such as imposter syndrome. To address such challenges, it’s important to consider the commonality of the issue, and to never feel as though you’re restricted by your skillset. It’s always possible to adapt your skills to include new ones that will make your life easier. One point that stuck with me was that it’s possible to stay true to what you want to do whilst allowing your ambitions and goals to adapt over time to reflect your own growth.
Networking isn’t necessarily something that should be restricted to formal settings in which you expect to come away with all the strong connections you’ll ever need. It’s more about just getting out there wherever you can and (literally) showing up for yourself without expectations.
This made me reflect on how I have approached networking in the LegalTech space thus far. I've always thought of it as something that is best left to in-person events, but, in reality, there’s so many other ways I could have been making connections. Using social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter to find interesting networks and groups, picking someone’s brain over a chat and a coffee – networking can be done in whatever way you feel most comfortable doing it, and that’s something I’ll definitely keep note of going forward.
While the event wasn’t the general-tips-for-networking event I had initially expected it to be, I did leave inspired – not only to consider the way I communicate with others, but also to go out and start building my own networks in whatever way I can, that may come in handy to my future self.
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