The desire to connect with people who are important to you runs deep, even beyond the living. This explains why genealogy is one of the top two hobbies in the United States after gardening. Connecting and organizing our living connections should be at least as important, but formalizing the findings is too often just not done.

Having a list of contacts, especially professional ones, becomes critical when it becomes time to look for a new job, and for almost every worker, that time comes more often than expected.  People no longer work for one company for their whole career, retiring after 50 years with a pension and a gold watch. The US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics says that an individual may change jobs 12 times in their career.

The impact of the Pandemic is going to be a tipping point in how searching for a job will be in the future, and the past statistics will not do justice to what the average worker will face in coming years. Currently, 85% of jobs are found through networking, so it seems clear that if not now, eventually, the process of developing and making a list of names for a professional network will need to be done.

Forward-thinking employees will keep track of their coworkers, supervisors, senior managers, industry leaders, and people who have made an impression on them all through their careers. We can find these names and contacts easily in our address books, and day planners in most cases. Once we have a written list, we should actively decide who we want to invest in to build a long-term relationship categorize the list to the top, middle, and lower tiers and then focus on developing those relationships. You'll need to work to establish yourself as a good contact as well.

The top category will be your most influential group, maybe your top 10. These are people we contact consistently a few times a year, in person, by email, or in other ways. When we invest in them, we ensure we are not forgotten because we pay it forward by being a good contact for them.  Co-workers, supervisors, customers, suppliers, and competitors are key names for your Professional Network.

As we go through the day, when some interesting fact or observation comes to our attention that makes us think of one of these contacts, we can email or call them. Following up and reaching out reminds your professional contact of you and your skills. Ask about them when you do this and commit to your professional relationship investment. Be a contact worth having for those you value.

Acquaintances and Friends can be in the second group of prioritized contacts. Some from this group may even be on the Christmas Card list. They are important contacts maintained at a different level from the top 10 or 20 groups.  This list could include past and present family, friends, neighbors, church friends, and coworkers.

Unless you are at the entry-level of your work, then your career value is related to your past work experience. If you are busy wishing you could start your career in a different direction, you are likely in for some disappointments. The work-related network contacts will be able to see you best about what you have done.

Pick people for your contact lists who inspire you and whom you admire. Even in a professional network where we have chosen the people we want to stay in touch with over the years, it is possible to have unhealthy relationships that hurt us. Our lives are happier, healthier, and even longer when we have close, solid, and positive relationships. Pick people you have learned from, and when reaching out to those on your lists or anyone, be positive and don’t invite negativity. Everyone who you receive contact from deserves a thank you and some feedback. Some first-time contacts will be ones you will want to add to your permanent professional network.

Face-to-face old-fashioned networking is better than emails. If you genuinely like people and the feeling comes naturally to you, then you already know how to network and are most likely already a part of a network. Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie, written back in October 1936, included a list of “Six Ways to Make People Like You.” He states that becoming genuinely interested in other people is the key: “You can make more friends in two months by being interested in them than in two years by making them interested in you.”

In addition, while being interested in others is important, you ought to value and treasure those relationships. If you believe, as I do, that the only thing you will take with you or at least have at the end of your life is your knowledge and relationships, then it will be easy. Carnegie’s other five suggestions were to smile, remember the person’s name, be a good listener, talk about the other person’s interests, and make the other person feel important. When we are both good listeners and genuinely like people, others will respond better to us.

Sooner or late, we will need to reach out to our professional network, and these thoughts are not intended to suggest that the process is a manipulation. Trust will not exist if your motives are suspect and not sincere. If you don’t really value the relationships your contacts with them can backfire on you instead.

Everyone we meet is part of our life network. Still, the professional networking I refer to here includes those we turn to when we change jobs or seek information about our professional interests.

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