Beyond Better

Maybe the most essential activity through this journey is networking. You hear it all the time, whether you are training to be a psychologist, you’re an entrepreneur or a tech start up, “put yourself out there.” It sounds cliché but it’s cliché for a reason. Building relationships and having a network of people who root for you is indispensable. This network of people might comprise of lecturers/professors, peers from uni, colleagues at work, coaches, physiotherapists, educators, senior psychologists, other trainees, people in your community, the list goes on.

I have said before, you can learn something from everyone you meet. You never know who someone is or what someone knows.

I am aware that networking takes a level of courage and confidence that not everyone has. To be straight forward, start working on that confidence right now. Your ability to walk up to someone, shake their hand and introduce yourself can be the small, yet life changing, difference between realising your dreams and mediocrity. Below I have listed a few ways you can start to develop confidence for networking.

Building confidence to network

• strike up conversations with strangers
• practice a firm handshake
• have a ‘go to’ introductory line for when the time comes
• Do your research if the meeting is expected. Find commonalities in interests or personality that will help initiate the conversation or keep it flowing
• Maintain good posture/body language e.g., chest upright shoulders back, open posture

Fortunately, I am quite a confident person and use this to my advantage for situations exactly like this. I still get nervous and the thought of walking up to someone to introduce myself does make me cringe, but it will set you apart. There are less people who will network in this way than there are more. You become part of a small percentage of people who have showcased their self-assurance and drive. In my mind this increases your likelihood of leaving an impression on someone than if you stood in the corner and hid. Making an impression leads to opportunities you wouldn’t have had otherwise.

There will be many times when you need an in. You want to contact a specific person, get access to a club, land a client, be recommended for a role, ask questions and seek support etc. Through networking you could be in a better position to achieve some of these things. By building professional relationships with others you naturally create a web that ties you to different people, in different ways. For example, if I have an ethical concern I might turn to my supervisor for advice. If I am feeling discontent or confused about my professional development I might seek advice from a candidate who has already been where I currently am. If I am looking to get into boxing but don’t know much about the sport I might arrange a chat with a boxing coach I met at a conference once. However, without taking the time out to keep up with supervision sessions, regularly spending time and attention learning about other candidates and their journeys or offering a coach my business card and expressing an interest in boxing, I wouldn’t have a network to consult. As a result, my development is likely to be slower or reach a ceiling a lot quicker than it needs to.

Below I have listed a couple of things to note when networking

Ways to network

• Find someone who is in the role that you want on Linkedin and connect with them
• Show genuine interest in a persons achievements/work
• Attend conferences and local talks
• Be prepared with business cards or something similar
• Ask to observe athlete sessions
• Leverage social media
• Be memorable- how will you stand our from the crowd?
• Communicate well
• Let the other person speak
• Enter the interaction with the intention of learning something

As with most things, the more you practice the above, the more proficient you will become.

Now go… put yourself out there 😉

---

Stay locked in and subscribe to receive notifications when the next post is published