5 Ways to Grow Your Professional Network

5 Ways to Grow Your Professional Network5 Ways to Grow Your Professional Network2After many years working in one industry, youve decided that you want to try your hand at a completely new career. But when you flip through your LinkedIn profile, all you can find are contacts from your old field. So, how can you grow your professional network?It can be tricky to create a new cluster of contacts, especially when your career to date has been focused in only one or two areas. But there are ways to grow your professional network, build your contacts to ensure a smooth transition to your new career, and possibly make your job search a little more streamlined.Here are five ways to grow your professional network.Connect with family and friends. Although you may be hesitant to share your job search news with friends and family, they can be your most trusted source to finding legitimate contacts. Not only can they connect you directly with people who you might have a tougher time reaching out t o, but they can also be a fantastic reference, putting in a good word for you that gives you an advantage over the competition.Attend networking events. Sure, you might consider them snooze-worthy, but networking events are designed to get you in front of industry leaders and help facilitate introducing yourself to key players to make a lasting connection. You may very well meet a potential hiring manager- or even find your next mentor- at one of these events as well. No matter what, youre guaranteed to grow your professional network through events like these.Get schooled.If youre looking to break into a new industry- and score some new skills, too- try taking some classes. You can try to find some courses at your local college or even online, too. If you become chummy with your teacher, most likely he or she can reach out to their contacts within your area of interest, too. Taking classes also opens new doors to meeting like-minded individuals who share similar interests as you- an d who may know of job openings, too.Get social. If you thought your social media profiles were just to be, well, social, think again. Be socially- and professionally- responsible by cleaning up your Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google+ profiles. After all, the overwhelming majority of hiring managers will scour the Internet looking at your social media presence to determine whether youll be a viable job candidate- or not. Once you make sure that your profiles are in presentable shape, you can easily use social media in your job search.Reach out to former colleagues. If you left your previous position on good terms, you should reach out to your former boss and colleagues to see if they can offer a reference. Let them know of your job search success to date and ask if they can recommend anyone in your chosen career field to speak with. fruchtwein likely, they will know people for you to speak to- or will have contacts in common who can make that connection. Be sure to f ollow up your meeting or phone call with an email of thanks or even a small token of your appreciation- especially if you end up getting a job due to their help.Growing your professional network is not an overnight process. With slow and steady efforts, youll soon have a job search contact list that is sure to help you get your foot into the door of a company that youd like to work forReaders, how have you tried to grow your professional network? What tips and tricks can you share? Let us know in the comments section below