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Know Thyself: Emotional Intelligence and Your Viability as a Job Candidate.
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Know Thyself: Put Your Best You Forward.
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Tracking the Habits of Elite Networkers
January 6, 2009 | Author: Promise Phelon | Filed under: Career Change, Job Hunting, Mentoring, Moving Up, The Networking Habit
When you retrace the steps of highly successful people, you see a similar pattern. It’s not the path they follow, where they go, or the speed they travel.
It’s that they’re not traveling alone.
They make friends along the way that help them stay on track: They network.
UpMo’s Networking Study
At UpMo, we decided to study the relationship between success and networking. We looked at what we can learn from professionals, particularly those earning $200,000 or more, in terms of how they build and leverage networks.
Today, we officially launch the results of our study, titled Professional Networking and Its Impact on Career Advancement, sponsored by Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business Management.
By interviewing more than 600 professionals, all grads of MBA programs, we discovered intriguing data about the networking habits and perceptions (and misconceptions!) of successful people.
The good news is that these habits can be adopted by anyone at any stage of their career. Given the state of the economy, there’s no time like the present.
First, some background on the study, then we’ll reveal six key takeaways.
Study Background
Age range: Study participants ranged in age from 25 to over 60 years old. The largest group of participants (36%) was between 46 and 60.
Salary breakdown: Participants’ yearly salaries ranged from under $60,000 to over $200,000. The largest group of participants (39%) earned between $100,000 and $200,000. Seventeen per cent earned more than $200,000.
What’s In It for You? Key Takeaways:
1. Networking Affects Income
What we found: Fifty-eight percent of respondents believe a person skilled at networking could see a “significant, substantial or dramatic” impact on income — even up to a 100-percent increase.
What it means for you: The participants in our study would be considered above-average networkers; the majority believe, based on their experience, that there’s a relationship between networking ability and income potential. Regardless of where you grew up, where you went to school or where you work, it’s within your power to build relationships that will help get you where you want to go. Anyone unsure of how to start networking, or who wants to improve their skills can use our Network Readiness Evaluator, and look at the resources listed at the end of this post.
2. You’re in Good Company on LinkedIn
What we found: LinkedIn, by far, won the popularity contest for online networking management tools. Sixty-five percent of participants, in unsolicited responses to an open-ended question, cited LinkedIn as the tool they use most often for networking. Among respondents, LinkedIn is seven times more popular than its nearest contender, Monster (which is a job board, not a social networking site), cited by nine percent.
What it means for you: While we’re not suggesting that LinkedIn (or any other social networking site) should be anyone’s sole means of networking, it makes sense to pick a site that’s attracting successful people. Based on our study, successful people like LinkedIn.
3. There are Networkers and then there are Elite Networkers
What we found: There’s a correlation between “elite professionals,” those with salaries exceeding $200,000, and the value placed on networking. Elite professionals were more likely to: cite networking as important to their careers, network frequently, create and maintain networks, and leverage networks in job searches. We zoomed in on the elite-professional demographic to identify individuals who had attained a level of VP, CxO or above: the “elite networkers.” In post-study conversations, we identified distinct habits, skills and practices among elite networkers.
What it means for you: If you adopt the attitude of elite networkers, you look at networking as part of your job, not just your job search. You regularly keep up with contacts, and find ways of developing the relationships and identifying mentors. Those who make a habit of relationship building are better able to leverage these relationships for career advancement.
Survey respondents were asked to assess their skills in 6 areas using a 5-point scale, with one representing “very poor” and five representing “highly skilled.” They were most comfortable with maintaining contacts, less comfortable with adding connections or getting introductions.
4. Networking is an Investment
What we found: The elite networkers in our study were more likely to perceive a correlation between networking and personal or business income. Therefore, they were more likely to see networking as an investment in their success. They schedule specific time to network, but also integrate networking into their daily activities.
What this means for you: The data suggest that making contacts in all kinds of circumstances, and being able to connect the dots between them, is not only a great skill, but a lucrative one.
5. Networking Misconceptions
What we found: We asked participants to choose one of six variables (see chart above) that determines the value of their networks. They picked “depth of personal relationships” over “number of contacts” by 33 percentage points and over “willingness to recommend” by 20 percentage points.
What this means for you: This is one point where UpMo respectfully disagrees with the majority of the study participants. Well-established relationships are valuable, but in terms of career options and advancement, it’s better to cast a wide net and have more people in your network who are willing to recommend you. Anyone interested in this concept should check out The Strength of Weak Ties, by sociologist Mark Granovetter.
6. We’re not Natural-Born Networkers
What we found: Fifty-eight percent of respondents said a graduate-level course in networking would be beneficial or invaluable to career development. When asked if their companies provide internal resources to assist in the development of networks, the vast majority of respondents—80 percent—said no.
What this means for you: Networking is not included in formal education or part of corporate culture, but elite professionals see it as an indispensable ability. Think of it as forming mutually beneficial relationships, rather than going to events and handing out business cards. Effective networking takes time and practise, but anyone can do it. To get started, use free tools like UpMo’s email templates and Network Readiness Evaluator. There are many books on the subject, including Smart Networking, by Liz Lynch.
Related resources:
Networking for People Who Hate It
How to Write an Email that Generates a Useful Response
Contacts, Colleagues and Comrades: Know Your Network
Where is My Network When I Need It?
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11 people have left comments
Thanks for this article which was pointed to by a friend through Twitter. I will post to my blog for jobseekers that really need to hone skills on networking. I have not seen data likethis before so it is very useful when you can cite numbers.
Dorothy Beach, MBA CIR
Recruiting Researcher
FrontEndRecruiting.ning.com
Invite me to LinkedIn - Linkedin.com/in/Sourcer04
Great stuff! I’m going to be doing a keynote speech for a career event at Michigan State in a couple of weeks — may I use data from this and cite you?
[...] of the greatest professional assets is who you know and who knows you. According to a study of over 600 MBA grads, with 56 % earning over $100,000, “Fifty-eight percent of respondents believe a person [...]
Great comments.
This data has been very interesting-especially as we explore further those elite habits and compare them to the majority of professionals. We’re producing more research looking at trends of career advancement. Keep your eyes open, and if you’d like early access or briefings, connect with our head of methodology & research lisa strand. lisa [at] upmo.com
[...] of the greatest professional assets is who you know and who knows you. According to a study of over 600 MBA grads, with 56 % earning over $100,000, "Fifty-eight percent of respondents believe a person skilled [...]
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a good study,I will make more effort on studying networking,and taking part in it.
I am a personal believer in networking with 8000 contacts on LinkedIn. It will be interesting to observe the trends of networking and if sites like LinkedIn and Facebook will pose a social divide such as computers and internet being a technology divide to those who do not use it. I have blogged about this here.
http://daddyparentingtips.blogspot.com/2009/03/tip-116-understanding-networking-habit.html
RE: ‘I have an 8000 person network’. WRONG! With 8000
people in your network, the VAST MAJORITY likely do not know who you are nor would they do anything for you. SEE the data above.
It is common sense that the strength of the relationship is directly proportional to the value of that person (again see above). So with 8000 people, if you spoke with them for 10 minutes this would take you approximately 1,333 hours or 55 days. This also translates into 33 40 hour ‘work weeks’ that you would dedicate to speaking 10 minutes….
So while it is nice in marketing because most believe
that ‘more is better’, for real people, this advice
WASTES TIME. It is not a numbers game, it is a game of quality.
You will be surprised the speed and ease of getting things done with a network of 8000 with 80 quality individuals vs a network of only 80 quality individuals. Most of the other 7920 in the network would have an open mind for unlimited posibilities and usually respond positively because they believe in the necessity of paying forward and encouraging one another with positive sentiments and not with negative words. :)
Hi,
Excellent resources. I’d like to forard this article to the Black Gone Geek online community at
http://blacksgonegeek.collectivex.com
Thanks,