How to Network during Lockdown

Promote your Career while Staying Home

As the lockdown extends further, many people are naturally feeling frustrated with feelings of isolation and missing the diverse interactions we normally get chatting with colleagues and friends.

If you are looking for a job, then read the strategy listed at the end!

If you work in larger firms, the reminder that mid-year reviews are looming might have filled you with further dread about how this forced stay-at-home is impacting your career. Some of you might even be looking for new opportunities and feeling desolate at the lack of networking opportunities.

So here are some easy ways to advance your career and network with people, even if you are cooped at home all day!

1] Call People

This one is a no-brainer, yet hardly anyone is doing it! Call people — it is far more powerful than emails, Whatsapp or text messages!

Call friends, family members and colleagues you see online on messenger. Everyone is home and free to talk for at least 5 minutes! This pandemic is the perfect opportunity to renew old friendships; you can break the ice by just asking how they are doing! The pandemic is one common ground that you have with the whole world! :)

The daily grind has made us lose track of many cousins, college classmates and others who were previously close to us. Call them up and find out what they have been up to — you might be pleasantly surprised.

Remember, this tip is just to expand your sphere of networking contacts to help you long term. So do not go in with any short term agenda or “ask” except to know them better.

If you feel hesitant to badger your colleagues, then ask them via IM or email if they are free to chat for 5-minutes. If they say yes, then ask them how they have been faring; have job priorities changed; is someone in their family affected? For example, many bank employees have more hectic work hours as firms scramble to field calls from affected customers, process stimulus checks and waive payments.

2] Social Media Lifeline

With travel banned altogether and social distancing laws, everyone is on social media. Make the most of these online communities by leveraging platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, etc. This is also a great opportunity to build your presence on new platforms or experiment a little. Maintain a balance between engagement and self-promotion.

LinkedIn — Do you wish people on their birthdays or congratulate them on work anniversaries. Just carve out 10 minutes a week or log in twice a week to look at your notifications and send 1-line messages. LinkedIn has built-in messages too, so there is minimal typing involved. If they respond, you can choose to carry the conversation further (or not). If you are connecting with new folks, please send out personalized invitations, even a short line addition does wonders for acceptance rates.

Girlboss — I had created a profile but not used it much! Big mistake! This is a fantastic site for women and I’ve already learned so much and made valuable new connections. Open only to women though. Try it!

Twitter — Personally find this extremely useful to learn new advances in tech, stimulating new ideas for my blog, keep up with local news and occasional motivational quotes. Cultivate your tribe here for the long haul.

Medium — It does not matter whether you are a writer or not, this platform is just bursting with amazing content. My $5 paid subscription is one of the best investments I have made so far.

Content Promotion — If you have products, books or services to promote, this is a good time to reach out to leads (warm and cold). Just be mindful to follow the 10:1 rule. For every link/service that you promote, post 10 responses or content that is truly valuable to others without having any ulterior motives.

3] Virtual Networking

You may not be able to step out from home, but a lot of events have gone 100% virtual. These include prestigious conferences, meetups and even Happy Hours! Even the temple and churches in my neighborhood are offering live-cam “online” services.

For example, Technical.ly PHL hosted a FREE virtual summit on May 7th with an incredible lineup that included CEOs, venture capitalists, startups and sessions on hiring! ODSC East conference will be conducted completely online without any changes to their networking, training sessions, demo expo or hiring events.

Attend such events. Many offer group chats where you can see the names of other participants. Connect with them after the session.

Or pose a question on Twitter or LinkedIn to check who else is attending, and connect with them beforehand. The steps are no different from what you would do before an in-person event. You just need to gather courage to reach out to strangers.

4] Create Opportunities

Do not see anything interesting in your locality? Create one. You can start off with just 4 or 5 friends or teammates and expand as you learn the ropes of hosting and scheduling. The best part, the host or initiator gets all the kudos and be seen as a “leader”!

Many libraries have book discussion and other clubs that have become dormant. If you have used zoom or are tech-savvy, offer to help recreate those sessions online. Search for activities that you do like, and see which clubs exist. If you are more into physical sports, perhaps you can rally your team to discuss exercise techniques to practice at home or discuss your favorite game or player. Be creative, the goal is just to get connected with others!

This is also a great time to reach out to colleagues on partner teams just to say hello and schedule 15 or 30-minute conversations to learn what other teams normally do, learn how other lines of business function and how everything fits together. Just remember to be respectful, and do not feel offended if the recipient brushes off your request. Just move on to someone else or request if someone else on the team can help you out.

5] Skill Upgrades

Now that commute times are down to zero, put that time to good use and upgrade your skills. Take a basic programming course or prepare for a certification. Or build that blog you have always been talking about.

Sites like Udemy.com and Coursera.org are excellent venues to find low-cost courses that add value to your resume and can increase your salary potential. You can also add the certificates to your LinkedIn profile and resume to boost your merit in the eyes of future employers.

Sharing these accomplishments with your network is another conversation starter!

Things will get better eventually and job markets will become sunny again. When that happens, these efforts will position you to great advantage!

6] Job Search Candidates

If you are a recent grad or someone who got laid off due to this pandemic, then stay positive. The job market is tough at the moment but this status quo will not last forever.

Short plug — If you are looking for a role in the field of Data Science, then I am offering my ebook “Data Science Jobs” for at a reduced price $0.99 during the entire month of May, to help affected folks!

Meanwhile ,there are tons of things you can do to improve your odds of landing a job quickly:

a. Online profile — make sure your resume and online profiles (LinkedIn, portfolio, website and others) are stellar. Your resume should clearly indicate the skills and value you bring to employers rather than a boring summary of courses or facts about past titles or experiences. Your headline will determine how many folks reach out or respond to your requests.

b. Leverage Social Media — Twitter, LinkedIn groups (not the “jobs” tab!) and niche job boards are excellent alternatives to look for roles. You can also connect directly with the job posters to get faster feedback on your application. It can get manual, but the returns are much higher than applying mindlessly via online application systems.

c. Don’t overlook startups and non-profits. It may feel like no one is hiring, but many small businesses, non-profits and local firms are still open to good talent. It is easier to connect with folks at local firms.

d. Build your skills — Going back to the above point.

Conclusion:

All in all, be imaginative! Teleconferencing, Skype and Zoom has made it very easy to meet scores of new people and expand your sphere of influence.

Just because you are home doesn't mean your career is on hold. You just need to take the first step!