//

Your guide
to virtual
networking
Tips and resources for teams
navigating a new world of work
Contents
Networking statistics ................................................................................................................................3

What does networking look like now? .......................................................................................4

Meeting new people ................................................................................................................................5

Maintaining existing relationships .................................................................................................8

Virtual business development ...........................................................................................................9

Nurturing client relationships: tips from an expert ..........................................................10

Quick tips & resources ..............................................................................................................................12

About Talent ...................................................................................................................................................13

Get in touch ....................................................................................................................................................14

Networking The benefits to networking are immense. From
helping you land your next career opportunity

by numbers
to maintaining your business relationships,
expanding and retaining your network is key.

85%
of jobs
70% of people are hired for a
role at a company where they
are filled through have connections.

79%
networking

of people
77% of recruiters use LinkedIn
as part of their recruitment
believe networking efforts.
is useful for career
progression

35%
of people

acquired a new
opportunity through
a casual LinkedIn
conversation Source: LinkedIn - various studies
What does
networking look
like now?
With the pause button pushed
on the entire world, establishing
and maintaining professional
relationships is proving to be a
somewhat difficult task right now.

With conferences and industry

events being postponed and
cancelled in a domino-like effect
globally, our opportunities to
connect face-to-face are dwindling
by the second.

However, not all hope is lost. We

live in a digital age after all! With
a multitude of communication
technologies at our fingertips, we
have the ability to connect with
people far and wide, all with the
click of a button.

Our networking doesn’t have

to suffer just because we can’t
leave our house. We can expand
our network and nurture our
connections, all without leaving the
four walls of our own home.

How, you may ask? Well we’re here

to help. Here are our top tips on
how you can virtually expand and
maintain your network in 2020.

4
Meeting new people
Meeting new people is essential to The content you create will engage others and
broaden your network, but how can you allow you to interact with people beyond those
go about this when your opportunities you already know.
to interact with others are few and
far between? It’s a challenging task, Here are some ideas on how you can
however, thanks to technology, there are provide value:
ways that you can forge these meaningful
connections without physically meeting. Write an article
Here’s what we suggest:
Collate all your thoughts into an article to
1 // Provide value publish on LinkedIn, addressing the issues
you’ve found others in your field are currently
It can be difficult to establish professional facing. It’s a great excuse to engage with your
relationships during this time of flux, especially network, as you can reach out to see what they
as offices are closed and industry events are struggling with.
cancelled. So what opportunities do you have
to approach those who are not within your Start a blog
internal network? This is where providing value
comes in. The worst thing you can do right Become an expert in your field and start your
now is try to sell. own blog. There are a number of platforms
you can use for this, from Wordpress to Wix to
With feelings of uncertainty and anxiety rife Weebly, and they’re free. It’s great to have one
across organisations, what you want to do place where all your content is stored. Keep
is provide support and value. To do this, you your comments on and encourage two-way
should leverage digital networking platforms, discussion.
such as LinkedIn, to generate content of use.
Share any tips you may have for managing a Also, make sure there is a way your readers
remote team, keeping your workers engaged, can interact with you personally – either by
or any other insights you may have to provide providing an email address or connecting your
hope for the future. You want to be a voice of LinkedIn account.
optimism right now.

5
2 // Engage with others
LinkedIn will become your best friend when
networking remotely. You can connect with those
in your same profession or industry, and even with
those who share similar interests. A great way to
expand your professional network is to engage with
the content others are creating. If there is a thought
leader in your field and you really resonate with the
content they are delivering, then you should reach out
and let them know. This could be the start of a great
professional friendship. You can also comment on
and engage with others’ posts, bringing yourself more
exposure. Otherwise, there are a plethora of groups
on LinkedIn that you can join to interact with like-
minded professionals and expand your network.

3 // Attend virtual events

You can’t attend any physical conferences right
now, but you can still engage with others in your
field through technology. There are a number of
webinars and virtual conferences that you can hop
into, and they make networking easy. How simple is
it to quickly find a speaker on LinkedIn and strike up
a conversation? Provide your thoughts on what they
discussed in the webinar, and have some questions
ready. You may just find that you have a lot in
common.

You can also connect with other virtual conference

attendees through online channels. If you have similar
interests or work in the same industry, then you would
have a lot to discuss. You can also learn of what is
working well for them in their company, and share any
suggestions you may have based on your experience.
Remember, now is the time to be supporting your
peers. The spirit of community should be strong.

4 // Be genuine

Be genuine in your attempts to connect with other

professionals. If you go into it with a selfish agenda,
only trying to extract something of value for yourself,
then you will have no success in establishing strong
connections. The key takeaway? Don’t reach out only
when you need something. Treat these connections
as you would a friendship. You don’t make friends just
so you can ask for favours.
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5 // Stay in touch

So, you’ve managed to form all these new // Hop on a video call. By hearing their voice
connections. Now you want to make sure you and seeing their face, it adds a human
actually maintain them. The key to successful element to your interaction, especially if you’ve
networking is being authentic in your never met in person before.
interactions.
// Agree on a time. Connect at a time that
Reach out to your new contacts to see works well for both of you. If you operate in
how they are going and to see if they are different time zones, don’t try to schedule a
struggling with anything. If you know they call when it’s 12am in their city. Be respectful
are having trouble virtually interviewing of their time.
candidates, then provide some insights
about what your company is doing. You may // Connect across multiple platforms. Your
even stumble across an article that clearly interactions don’t need to be limited to
addresses their problem. If this is the case, you LinkedIn. You can connect across a number
should share it with them. It shows that you of communications platforms, such as email,
care. WhatsApp or Zoom. Find which platforms
work best for both of you.
You can also maintain these connections by
engaging with their LinkedIn posts. A simple // Host a virtual discussion. Use video
comment or like can go a long way in showing technology tools to engage your new contacts
your support and nurturing this relationship. in a virtual discussion. You can learn what
each person is doing in their organisation to
The key here is to be present and to put in the deal with the disruption that COVID-19 has
effort to keep these connections going. Here caused, or to simply share your thoughts
are some of our suggestions for how you can on topics of interest. This will help you in
achieve this: developing a support base that you can
continue to engage with going into the future.

7
Maintaining existing
relationships

Relationships last when you maintain 2 // Create value

them, so what can you do to nurture your
existing connections to keep them by Interact with your current network and see if
your side for the long haul? Here are our they have any common issues or questions
suggestions: that they are looking for advice on. You can
use this to create your own content to share
with them – free of charge, of course. You
1 // Take a human approach don’t want to be profiting off a bad situation.
You want to be engaging in this spirit of
When networking, both with your internal community and support. Email your network
network and the broader professional any content that you feel will be of use and
community, you should not be going in for that will help solve their most pressing issues.
the sell. Now, more than ever, we need to be
prioritising real, human relationships over 3 // Keep in contact
anything else.
Stay in regular contact with your existing
Reach out to your colleagues to see how connections. This is essential if you are to
they are going and to see if you can support maintain these relationships. Check in with
them in any way. Determine if there are any them regularly and engage with what they
resources you can provide to help them, or post online. Just like you would nurture a
whether you can simply lend a listening ear. friendship, you should be doing the same with
This goes beyond a superficial connection. your professional relationships. It’s important
Being authentic in your approach means you to keep these relationships going strong,
can forge some of your strongest working especially during this time of uncertainty.
relationships.

8
Virtual business
development
You have a great network of clients that you have
built up over the years, but how do you develop
these relationships when you can’t physically
interact? Here are our top tips for maintaining these
business connections remotely:

1 // Trust is key

Establishing trust is paramount. Be responsive and reliable.

Your client will have faith that you will deliver results and
will want to continue to work with you.

2 // Use technology

Use face-to-face technologies, such as Skype or Zoom, to

stay in contact. You can integrate a human element, and
mitigate the risk of any miscommunication that may occur
when emailing.

3 // Check in regularly

Check in, not out, with your clients. Schedule in meetings

so you can see if there is anything you can assist with.
Through being present, you’ll remain front of mind for
future work.

4 // Small gestures count

Show your clients that you care. Congratulate them on a

successful project, deliver them a lunch, or send them a
gift. Celebrate wins with them and show genuine interest

5 // Build your brand

Ensure you have a consistent brand voice and align

yourself with practices that enhance your reputation and
image. This will help you in being a trusted brand that your
clients will want to engage with into the future.

6 // Offer value

Deliver free content of value to your clients. It will

demonstrate that you know what you’re talking about and
that you genuinely care.
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 ∞
“Just because meeting
in person isn’t an option
at the moment, this
isn’t a reason to stop
your networking efforts
altogether.”

- Talent’s Thomas
MacKenzie

Nurturing client relationships:

tips from an expert
Talent’s Sales and Business Development coincide with this date, accompanied by a
Recruitment Specialist, Thomas MacKenzie, congratulatory note. I would suggest taking
provides his top tips for developing your the time to personalise this as much as
business relationships during this time possible. You want to demonstrate that you
care, and without physically being able to
// Maintain activty levels. Without face- meet, this is a great way to do so.
to-face meetings, now more than ever, it’s
important to keep activity levels high. Make // Plan in advance. When speaking to your
sure you dedicate time each day, even just 30 clients, ask to book a tentative face-to-face
minutes, to call your previous customers and catch up for a few months down the track
existing client base to ask how they are going. when circumstances return to “normal”. Book
You will gain market knowledge by doing it in the diary so they are locked in. That way
this and it’s an excellent opportunity for you you will have a full schedule when you return
to demonstrate you genuinely care. It’s also a to work, and can hit the ground running!
great chance to ask for referrals.
// Create structure. You should develop and
// Show you care. Instead of taking your maintain a structure. Keep a lead spreadsheet
clients out for a lunch (which really isn’t an running that tells you who you’ve reached
option at the moment), you can have a nice out to and when. You can then run follow-
bottle of champagne or some food delivered ups based on this data as well as get a better
to their front door. If you know they have a big understanding of what is and isn’t working.
event coming up, or something that warrants Using this information, you can adjust your
a celebration, you can organise delivery to strategy as needed.”
10
In terms of expanding your network, sharing a bit of content, best practice, market
MacKenzie has some great suggestions: advice, a referral, etc. Whatever it is, you want
to be demonstrating your support for others
// Keep talking. “Just because meeting in right now. My general rule of thumb here is it’s
person isn’t an option at the moment, this best to focus on “giving” rather than “getting”.
isn’t a reason to stop your networking efforts You’ll be amazed at how a simple tweak in
altogether. You should keep talking to people mindset can impact your output and the way
by utilising the channels available to you, you come across to others.
whether this is through phone, social media,
Zoom, email, or text. Right now, people are // Engage with content. My next suggestion
cooped up inside and have never been more is to engage with people’s content on LinkedIn.
open for a bit of variety in the people they This can be as simple as asking questions or
talk to. Checking in to see how someone is requesting they elaborate
managing or adapting to a new way of work on a point in their post. “Your
is an important way to show your care for You can even take it one engagement
your clients and touch base. You may find the step further and write your
should be
conversation goes a little bit longer now! own post in response. This
will help in bringing you
authentic and
// Use your tools. Use the tools available more exposure as well as genuine”
to you to broaden your network. Lusha, for an opportunity to interact
example, is a great tool you can use to obtain with people beyond your internal network.
contact details you wouldn’t necessarily Remember though, your engagement should
already have. Be smart about how you use be authentic and genuine. You are interested
this information and make sure you add it to in forging strong professional relationships, not
your database. This information is invaluable making these connections just so you can ask
and can help you to connect with people who for favours.
would have otherwise been much harder to
reach. // Get in touch. Australia has a great sense
of community and I have found that people
// Stay genuine. You must ensure that you are even more open to providing referrals
are genuine in all your networking efforts. right now. If you can see you share mutual
Some people are hurting right now, so it’s connections with someone on LinkedIn,
important not to come across as self-serving. get your mutual connection to refer you in
Take a genuine interest in the people you for that initial conversation. This is a great
are speaking to and they will remember you way to expand your network and form new
when everything returns to normal. Try and relationships. This approach will also ensure
add value even if it won’t necessarily give you you stand out amongst all the other people
a win in the short term. This can involve sending bulk InMails!”

11
Quick tips
// Develop a plan. Networking involves time
and effort. If you want to be consistent in your
approach, then it’s a great idea to allocate
some time during your week to nurturing and
forging these connections.

// Be real & be human. Treat networking as

you would making friends.

// Loosen up. Keep some of your

communication light-hearted. It doesn’t need
to be serious all the time.

// Show your appreciation. If you value

someone’s work, compliment them on it. It’s a
great opportunity to start a converstaion, plus,
they will appreciate the praise.

// Give and take. Don’t start networking

with the agenda of only getting something
out of it for youself. It’s a relationship. That
means you both need to provide value and
support to each other.

Resources
Conferences around the world have stopped
running in their physical form, but thanks to
the internet, you can still attend virtually. Here
are some virtual tech conferences and webi-
nars running currently:

// Virtual Tech Conferences

// Gartner Tech Webinars

12
About Talent
Talent is a global technology and digital We will continue to innovate with this focus
recruitment specialist. We are the largest and respond to the shift towards freelancers
independently-owned and operated people and the changing workforces of the future
placement and solutions business in Australia through Talent Engage. And through our
and New Zealand, with over 300 employees. charity Talent RISE, changing the lives of
young people who have experienced barriers
We are on a mission to redefine recruitment to employment by providing education,
by creating the most rewarding and training, life skills and opportunities help them
empowering experiences for those we work gain independence and purpose through
with, bringing the human element to the employment.
forefront of everything we do.

HRD Magazine

GALLUP TOP PERFORMING

COMPANY
Exceptional Workplace
Diversity & Inclusion
Award 2020 2018, 2019

LARGE RECRUITMENT MEDUIM RECRUITMENT CORPORATE SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION TO THE

AGENCY OF THE YEAR AGENCY OF THE YEAR RESPONSIBILITY AWARD NZ HI TECH SECTOR
SEEK, Australia 2018 SEEK, New Zealand 2018 APSCo, 2018 NZ Hi-Tech Awards, 2019

13
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redefining // recruitment