How to Network While Working From Home
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Here's your Money Briefing from Monday, November 2nd. I'm J.R. Whalen for The Wall Street Journal. Networking can be key to finding a new job or building a list of professional contacts. But social distancing in the time of COVID-19 means those valuable face-to-face meetings, perhaps at a bar or a conference hall or even a golf course. have all been moved online.
And what happened in this case is when you're out of the loop and you're sort of separated from everyone, you're isolated working from home, and we're in an environment where the economy is really uncertain, it's really important to stay connected because literally none of us knows what might happen to our industries or our jobs.
So can you network just as effectively from home? Well, check in with our lifestyle reporter Ray Smith for some answers. Plus, we hear from a Columbia University Business School professor with some tips for getting your virtual message across.
How has the pandemic changed traditional face-to-face networking?
That's after the break.
For millions of Americans looking for their next job or just trying to beef up their Rolodex, networking is vital. But the pandemic has changed the rules of networking. It's gone from almost exclusively face-to-face to sitting in front of our computer screens. So how can you succeed in the world of online networking? Our reporter Ray Smith has been looking into it, and he joins us now to discuss. Ray, thanks for being here. Thank you for having me. So, you know, networking has its own built-in challenges. There's a bit of a schmooze factor involved. And you kind of have to have, you know, the gift of gab. But now it's all online. You talk about culture shock.
Pre-pandemic, people were already virtually networking. But the difference now, post-COVID, is that it's become the primary way to network.
Can you network just as effectively from home and why does it matter?
Before, it was just supplemental or secondary to in-person networking.
Now, how has networking taken on more importance since the start of the pandemic?
It's a useful tool to develop one's career in terms of one's career track. And what happened in this case is when you're out of the loop and you're sort of separated from everyone, you're isolated working from home, and we're in an environment where the economy is really uncertain, it's really important to stay connected because Literally, none of us knows what might happen to our industries or our jobs. And rather than waiting until something actually happens, it's just good to network and keep on people's radars during this really economically uncertain environment.
For some tips on being a good networker in the age of social distancing, we're joined by Dan Wang. He's assistant professor of management at Columbia University Business School. Dan, thank you for being with us.
Thanks, JR. It's a pleasure to be here.
So, Dan, first of all, how have the fundamentals of networking changed in the transition from face-to-face to online?
One thing that I think moving online does is that it creates a space for people to be, I think, at once more strategic about whom they actually talk to. And the other thing that it's done is that it's given folks more options as well. And so even though there's a proliferation of different types of platforms that engage people in networking in new ways, such as through mentorship type relationships or by expanding one's network, one thing that I think these platforms have done is they've allowed people to find their niches more efficiently as well. And so although the face-to-face communication aspect is certainly something that we all have gotten used to, the substance of that communication hasn't really changed.
I think what people have now is more choice, but with that comes with another set of dilemmas, which is, well, how do you want to spend your time when it comes to networking?
What kind of preparation should go into virtual networking?
I think preparation is vital. In fact, when I teach students, executives, as well as others who come to Columbia Business School for programs about networking, I emphasize that even in the non-COVID times, when it comes to networking, preparation is the single most important thing that you can do in order to get the most value out of forming new connections and sustaining old connections as well.
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