I view professional networking as a practice of relationship building that will enable me to construct and refine my professional identity and understanding of self, as well as experience a sense of reciprocity and collectivism in my professional life (Raj et al., 2017, p. 772, 773, 778). It is through communication, collaboration, and connection with other professionals in the field that I have become passionate about public libraries.

Through networking, I will take advantage of opportunities to progress my career, continue expanding and enriching professional views through the sharing of ideas, gaining pragmatic, social, and emotional support for roles and new opportunities, working creatively through problems and challenges, learning from others, and finally, in gaining a stronger sense of where my own strengths lie and how I can best contribute to the profession.

In framing networking as a skill and not a personality trait (Howerton-Hicks & Maleef, 2015, p. 15), I allow myself room for making mistakes, giving myself the space and time to grow more confident and get more comfortable with networking, and become more process-oriented in my approach to building soft networking skills such as active listening and earning the trust of my peers and of my community.

 

References

Howerton-Hicks, L. & Maleef, T.Z. (2015). Network like nobody’s watching: Demystifying networking as a skill for the librarian and information professional community, Information Outlook, 19(4), 15-22.

Raj, M., Fast, N. J., & Fisher, O. (2017). Identity and professional networking. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 43(6), 772-784. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167217697299