Whenever I attend events billed as “networking” events, I realise how inept I am at the kind of small talk that is required at these sorts of things. I tend only to talk to people I already know. That doesn’t really count as networking, does it?
Now I think of it, what is networking? If you read stuff like the Wall Street Journal, it’s all about job hunting and making sure you’re known so that people pass on information about opportunities. If that is the case I don’t know how interested I am in the whole process, really. Given that I work in, and enjoy working in, the academic library sector, and that jobs in this sector are few and far between, and that the hiring process at universities is very formalised and structured, I don’t know how useful “networking” is. I suppose you could hear about possible future openings, but that would be about the sum of it. (And there are other possibly more efficient ways of hearing about jobs.) What am I not getting about this whole networking thing? Please feel free to tell me!
Because I tend to talk with people I already know, such events can be a good way to catch up. Problem is, there’s never enough time to really chat anyway – mostly it’s along the lines of “hi, what’s new at YPOW?” and you might hear snippets of information about people’s personal lives as well (depending on how well you know them). But that’s it.
Yesterday I attended a talk on leadership, entitled “Why would anyone want to be led by you?” It was organised as an event to give librarians networking opportunities while bringing a non-library speaker to talk to us. No doubt my reservations about the usefulness of such events are Just Me – no doubt some people find these sessions very useful, and it’s good that people are willing to give their time to organise events.
As for what the speaker actually said – more on that later.
6 Comments
I have problems with these events too. I’m a real “kitchens at parties” kind of person – I want to be doing, not making chitchat. Even at things like the bloggers meetup, where everyone is interesting, I find it almost impossible to physically move to a seat next to people I barely know and start chatting – although I know it would be fun once I got there.
I see the value of networking as building a group of “experts” who can help me out when I reach the limit of what I know. Everyone is very good at something, and I like being able to dash off an email to ask someone about their pet topic – knowing that they will be only too happy to help. I’m not sure I need a “mix n mingle” physical event to do it – then again, I ran off to a deserted beach for my wedding with just 7 people, so I’m probably not representative of most people.
For me networking has a use when it comes to comparing problems – the more people I know in the Library sector and the more I know about their work, the more people I can approach with a problem or to ask advice about a product or approach I haven’t tried yet. And hopefully, the more people will feel comfortable calling me about something I am doing in my library that they want to try in theirs. Like you, I have no expectations that networking will be good for my career path, but for day-to-day sharing of experiences and knowledge I think it is a useful thing.
I am pretty useless at ‘networking’ events as well. While I am not sure if this is a self-fulfilling prophecy due to my scepticism of their usefulness or due to my fluctuating shyness coming out, but they seem to be limited to meeting the occasional new person (friend of a colleague) or seeing those people I have worked with before and don’t correspond with.
It is usually limited to the perfunctory chit-chat as my skills at cocktail party-style communications don’t overlap with my professional body of knowledge.
I thought networking was Facebook and LinkedIn! Hehe, just kidding.
Heh – I’m better at networking behind a computer screen than IRL but I find if I make an effort to meet people it does pay off. I especially found it useful when I was a sole charge librarian for a small private training institution. I purposely attended a lot of librarian association events to meet others who could give me advice. This paid off at the time, but also when I was looking to leave that job and move into another.
Funnily enough I’m much better at networking at library things than social party type events!!
I’m glad I’m not alone 🙂 I suppose one can build on relationships with others by attending these sessions – but again I am not good at the kind of chat needed for this to happen. jl and Penny, I reckon the net and social networking are excellent for shy/introverted people! As for parties, I usually avoid them…