What Is Networking and Why Is It Important?

Over half of 2023's prospective MBA students cited building their professional networks as the primary motivation for pursuing their degree.

So what is professional networking and why do some of the country's most ambitious professionals think it's worth thousands of dollars and two years of their careers? We'll answer those questions, explain how to network in business and answer some other common queries about this powerful career-building tool.

What Is Networking?

Networking in business is building, maintaining and using mutually beneficial relationships in a professional network. Your professional network is a group of social connections that often starts with your coworkers and extends outward through your industry.

Today, networking can take many forms: attending professional conferences in your field, getting to know coworkers and connecting with professionals on social media platforms like LinkedIn.

Why Is Networking Important?

Eighty percent of professionals consider networking important—and for good reason. Building a strong network can have surprising and far-reaching effects on your career. It can affect the jobs you take, how much you earn and your personal happiness.

Leveling Up Your Career

Networking makes finding new job opportunities faster and easier. According to a 2019 paper about the informational benefits of networking, professionals using LinkedIn had better access to information about new job opportunities. They saw more jobs because of their network and learned about them more quickly than their peers who networked less.

The career benefits of networking go beyond just finding new opportunities, though. Research published in the International Economic Review showed that networking could improve career prospects in the long term. The authors put it best when they said: "Better-connected workers climb the job ladder faster."

Workers often learn about promising job opportunities through their professional contacts. Jobvite's 2022 Job Seeker Nation Report found that 56 percent of people would share positive experiences applying for work with their professional networks. Only 24 percent would not.

Build a network of people from all over your industry to learn about more new job opportunities. Maintain that network as well. Talk your connections and make contributions on platforms like LinkedIn to get the maximum career benefits out of networking.

Building Skills

Good professional networks include people from all levels of your industry—beginners all the way up to top executives. That means networking is a great way to find a workplace mentor, someone who has been in your shoes and can show you the path to success.

Mentors can teach valuable soft skills like teamwork, communication and leadership. They can also sharpen your technical skills, helping you do your job better.

The flip side of this equation is also important. One of the best ways to hone your skills is to teach others. A mentee—someone you mentor—can help you solidify your existing skillset and give you the leadership experience and confidence to climb further up the corporate ladder.

Janet T. Phan, Founder and Executive Director of Thriving Elements, recommends three steps for finding a mentor:

1. Respectfully ask for a low-commitment meeting with a prospective mentor, such as a short video call or coffee.
2. Nurture the relationship. Talk about things outside work and get to know your mentor as a person.
3. Maintain the relationship. Show your mentor that their mentorship is working by offering updates on your progress.

Earning Higher Salaries

A multi-year study by Hans-Georg Wolff and Klaus Moser from the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg measured the career benefits of networking.

They found that networking within your organization and outside of it were both associated with higher overall earnings. Maintaining professional networks also led to higher salary growth. For that reason, they recommend a balanced approach to networking.

"A strong focus on building contacts may lead to many superficial contacts but may prevent individuals from establishing relations with a minimum amount of trust that is necessary to obtain resources from these contacts," Wolff and Moser said.

In short, don't just focus on building your network if you want to increase your salary. Make sure you maintain the relationships you have—especially at your current organization—and use your contacts to develop your career. That could involve asking for letters of recommendation, learning from mentors or asking for additional responsibilities.

Enjoying Your Career

Wolff and Moser also found that more professional networking led to higher job satisfaction.

"Individuals who engage in networking behaviors are more satisfied with their careers," they said.

Wolff and Moser didn't speculate why networking might improve job satisfaction, but Wolff returned to the subject with another coauthor, Judith Volmer, in a paper published in Frontiers in Psychology. Volmer and Wolff showed that daily networking was associated with greater job satisfaction and overall career optimism.

But what does daily networking look like? Volmer and Wolff break it down into three things:

1. Adding new people to your network.
2. Getting to know those people, both as professionals and outside work.
3. Using network contacts for career advice.

Doing at least one of those things every day constitutes daily networking. According to Volmer and Wollf, it can help workers gain better access to career-building resources. Those gains can "spiral," leading people to feel better and better about their professional prospects.

The key to career happiness might just be to stop trying to be happy and start networking.

How to Network

Modern professionals have many opportunities to network. Gathering connections from multiple sources and practicing good networking habits is the key to building a strong professional network that will elevate your career.

Talk to Your Coworkers

Professional networking started in the office breakroom for most people. However, as more companies adopt remote and hybrid work environments, networking with coworkers is becoming more complicated.

When possible, talk to your coworkers in the office, at company events, or over lunch. Learn more about their personal lives, work and professional goals, and share things about yourself.

If you're working in a dispersed organization, join conversations with tools like Slack and Teams. They don't have to be about work—join the channel for cat and dog pictures if your company has one and you enjoy that. The important thing is that you're building relationships with your colleagues.

Create a Good LinkedIn Profile

We picked LinkedIn as the best job-searching app for networking because of its impressive profile-building features. It remains one of the best ways to meet new people and maintain your existing network.

If you haven't already, sign up for a LinkedIn account and start filling out your profile. Make sure to include your work experience and educational background so the platform can connect you with other people you might already know.

Build Your Online Presence

Once you complete your LinkedIn profile, start interacting. If you have something to share, make a post. You can also like and comment on others' posts to put your name in front of potential network connections.

LinkedIn is a great starting point, but it doesn't have to be the end of your online networking efforts. Many professionals also communicate over platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram. Find out where other people in your industry are chatting and find your way into those conversations.

Find a Mentor or Sponsor

According to Brandy L. Simula, Ph.D., an award-winning consultant, speaker and executive coach, "mentorship is primarily about guiding and advising, while sponsorship involves taking direct action to advocate to help a sponsee advance."

Finding either a mentor or a sponsor is a big step in building your professional network. The individual will make an excellent connection who can do wonders for your career, but they can also introduce you to others throughout your industry and beyond.

To find a mentor or sponsor, build network connections with people more experienced than you. One easy way to do this is to reach out to your supervisors and learn more about the career moves they made.

Attend Industry Conventions

Depending on your industry, you may have the opportunity to attend large events full of other people with similar careers. These are excellent opportunities to meet like-minded professionals face-to-face.

Conventions often include mixers and other events where you can network. If they don't, or you can't attend, it's fair game to reach out to people you encounter during the convention.

Did someone give a talk you enjoyed? Connect with them on LinkedIn and tell them about it. Did you have a good chat with another professional waiting in line for an event? Exchange contact info so you don't lose that connection.

There are several ways to learn about events in your field:

• Look for announcements on social media, like LinkedIn or Twitter.
• Ask your network contacts what events they've attended.
• Follow news boards in your industry for updates on future events.

Join a Professional Association

Professional associations are groups of people from the same profession. They work together to advance their careers and the standing of their field.

Examples of professional associations include:

• The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants
• The American Nurses Association
• The American Society of Civil Engineers

Joining a professional association in your field is an excellent way to find other people traveling the same road as you. Your peers in the association can share advice about making career moves and help you develop relevant skills.

Performing services for your association, like writing an article for the quarterly newsletter, is a great way to get noticed.

The quickest way to find an organization to join is to search the internet for "professional association [your profession or industry]." If you can't find useful information that way or you can't decide what association to join, ask your network contacts for advice.

Become an Excellent Networker

Networking is a skill. You can get better at it by practicing the following:

• Give something in return. Your network isn't just about boosting your own career. Make sure that you help other people when they're looking for new opportunities.
• Make connections count. Don't ignore the connections you make. Stay in touch with people to keep your professional relationships healthy.
• Focus on areas where you thrive. You don't have to do every kind of networking. If you're good at LinkedIn, stick to that. If you like attending conventions, stick to that. Don't overextend.

Networking FAQs

Networking is complicated. Here are some common questions that come up for professionals building connections.

How Do You Network If You're Shy?

• Start small. You don't need to talk to everyone all at once. You can start by learning about your immediate coworkers, who you probably already talk to frequently.
• Use low-pressure networking platforms, like LinkedIn, where you can take things at your own pace.
• Get comfortable with discomfort. It won't be easy, but the potential benefits of networking make some discomfort worth it.

If you're worried about imposing yourself on others, remind yourself that networking is a two-way street. You bring something of value to your connections when you network. You aren't just asking for favors—you're engaged in mutually beneficial relationships with other like-minded people.

How Is Online Networking Different?

Online networking isn't tied to a specific time or location. You can build connections with people in faraway cities and completely different time zones.

With online networking, your potential network is vastly larger than it would be in person. However, these relationships can be harder to maintain if you don't see your connections very often.

How Do You Start Networking?

Starting networking is simple. Talk to the people you work with. Get to know them as people and learn about their careers.

From there, you can start branching out and connecting with others in your industry. If you keep at it, networking will start to feel natural.