Networking With a Purpose: How to Build Connections That Lead to Career Opportunities

Many people think networking means knowing more people.

It doesn't.

Most of us already know plenty of people through work, school, family, social media, professional organizations, former employers, and everyday life. But knowing someone and having a meaningful professional connection with that person are very different things.

A network is not simply a collection of names. Its real value comes from the relationships within it and from what people are willing to learn from and do for one another.

That is where networking with a purpose begins.

Networking Should Begin With Learning, Not Asking

One of the biggest mistakes people make when they need a job is beginning their networking with a request:

Do you know anyone who is hiring?

There is nothing necessarily wrong with asking that question, but it may be much too early.

A better starting point is curiosity.

What do I need to understand about this industry?

What skills are employers really looking for?

How has this profession changed?

What terminology do people inside the industry use?

Which companies should I be learning about?

Who else should I talk with?

Those questions change networking from asking people for something into learning from people who know something you need to understand.

That's one reason I have long considered the informational interview such a valuable career tool.

What an Informational Interview Can Do

An informational interview is not a job interview.

You aren't meeting with someone primarily to convince that person to hire you. You are there to learn.

Suppose you're considering changing industries. You can read job descriptions, visit company websites, study LinkedIn profiles, and research the industry online. All of that is useful.

But then talk with someone who has spent ten years working inside that industry.

The conversation can reveal things your online research didn't.

You might discover that a skill you considered unimportant is highly valued. You might learn that your experience from another industry is more transferable than you thought. You might discover that the position you intended to pursue isn't really the best fit for you.

And you may learn about opportunities, companies, people, and career paths you didn't even know existed.

That's information you can use before submitting an application or sitting down for a formal interview.

The Difference Between Contacts and Connections

A contact is someone you know.

A connection is someone with whom you've developed enough of a relationship that meaningful communication can take place.

That distinction matters.

If you have 1,000 LinkedIn connections but couldn't comfortably contact most of them with a genuine question, you don't necessarily have 1,000 useful professional relationships.

The number isn't the point.

The quality of the connection is.

Real networking happens when people exchange knowledge, ideas, introductions, experiences, and assistance. Sometimes you receive the benefit. Sometimes you provide it.

The strongest professional relationships often include both.

Don't Wait Until You Need a Job

Networking becomes much harder when desperation enters the conversation.

If the first time someone hears from you in five years is when you've lost your job and need help, you're asking a dormant relationship to suddenly become an active one.

That doesn't mean the person won't help. Many will.

But there's a better approach.

Maintain relationships while things are going well.

Congratulate someone on a new position. Send an article you think would interest them. Ask how their industry is changing. Introduce two people who might benefit from knowing one another. Answer a question when you're the person with useful information.

You aren't doing these things because you're accumulating favors.

You're building relationships.

Then networking becomes something you do throughout your career rather than something you suddenly begin when you need something.

Are You Talking to the Right People?

A quotation attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt has stayed with me for years:

“Never allow a person to tell you no who doesn't have the power to say yes.”

I think there is an important networking lesson in that idea, although I would take it a little further.

The person you're speaking with doesn't always need the power to say yes.

They may know the person who does.

Or they may help you understand what you need to learn before approaching that person.

Someone may not have the authority to hire you, but they may understand the company exceptionally well. They may know which department is expanding, which skills are difficult to find, how hiring decisions are made, or whom you should speak with next.

So the better networking question isn't simply:

Can this person help me get what I want?

It's:

What can I learn from this person, and where might this conversation lead next?

That is a very different way to build a network.

The Hidden Value of a Conversation

Some career opportunities are advertised. Others develop through relationships, referrals, recommendations, and conversations.

That doesn't mean networking is a shortcut around qualifications. A relationship cannot substitute for the ability to do the work.

But information can help you position those qualifications more effectively.

Imagine two people applying for the same position.

One reads the job posting and submits a résumé.

The other has spent time learning about the industry, understands the company's challenges, knows the terminology, has spoken with people doing similar work, and has a clearer understanding of what the employer actually needs.

Those two candidates may have similar experience on paper, but they aren't equally prepared for the conversation that follows.

That's one of the practical benefits of networking.

Better information creates better preparation.

Your Network Can Also Help People Find You

Networking doesn't operate in only one direction.

The way you present yourself online can help other people understand what you know, what you've accomplished, and where your interests lie.

Your LinkedIn profile, professional biography, website, articles, comments, and other public material create signals about your expertise.

Be specific.

Instead of simply describing yourself as “an experienced professional,” explain what you have actually done.

What problems have you solved?

What industries do you understand?

What responsibilities have you handled?

What skills can you transfer from one role or industry to another?

What subjects do people regularly ask you about?

Clarity makes it easier for someone to recognize a reason to contact you.

Sometimes the next useful connection doesn't begin because you found someone.

It begins because the right person found you.

Generosity Is Part of Good Networking

There is another side to networking that is sometimes overlooked.

What can you give?

You may have information someone else needs. You may know a person they should meet. Your experience may help someone avoid a mistake. You might be able to answer a question that took you years to understand.

Networking works better when we stop viewing every relationship according to what we can get from it.

Generosity builds trust.

And trust is what turns a collection of professional contacts into an actual network.

Build the Network Before You Need It

The best time to develop a professional network is not the day you lose your job.

It's years earlier.

Have conversations. Ask good questions. Stay curious about what other people do. Learn how industries and organizations actually work. Maintain relationships. Help people when you can.

Then, when circumstances change, you aren't beginning from zero.

You already have relationships with people who know you, understand something about what you can do, and may be willing to share what they know.

That is the real purpose of networking.

It isn't about accumulating contacts.

It isn't about asking everyone you know for a job.

And it isn't about using people to get somewhere.

It's about building genuine professional relationships, gaining knowledge, sharing what you know, and creating connections that can lead in directions neither person could necessarily predict when the first conversation began.

About Networking With a Purpose

In Networking With a Purpose: The Informational Interview, Its Use, and Why It Is a Valuable Tool, I explore how informational interviews and professional relationships can help people better understand careers, companies, industries, and opportunities.

The objective isn't simply to become better at “networking.” It's to have better conversations, ask better questions, make better-informed career decisions, and build professional relationships that remain useful long after a particular job search has ended.

Networking With a Purpose by Brent M. Jones is available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback edition