Know Thyself for Powerful Networking

​Before you can find your "dream job" or meet the people who can be influential in your career, you must have a solid understanding of yourself, your likes and dislikes, and why and how you make decisions. Chances are, you're still developing this understanding and it will evolve over time. Use our list below to see how you can clearly know and share your aspirations.

Take an assessment. Uncover your strengths, understand your natural communication style and learn your decision-making tendencies. Being able to articulate these helps others offer advice or guidance on your career journey.

Also, understanding how traits and characteristics vary allows you to better understand those with different styles, which empowers you to build productive relationships.

This is a small sample of the tools you can use:  

• 16 Personalities
• Scientific Survey of Character Strengths from the VIA Institute on Character
• CliftonStrengths
• Enneagram
• DiSC

Create a LinkedIn profile. Tell others more about yourself by creating a profile. Choose a photo with a friendly expression. Try these strategies to catch hiring managers' attention:

• Use keywords that explain your strengths, skills and passions.
• Request a connection with intention.
• Respond immediately to an accepted connection request. Say thank you or send a calendar invite for a conversation.

Be yourself. Be genuine and authentic, and you'll connect with the individuals who can help you the most.

Network with purpose. By knowing your values and preferences, you can be more intentional about who you network with rather than playing a numbers game.

Know when to call it quits. Networking and relationship building takes follow-up even when a person doesn't respond the first or second time. But watch for clues that someone isn't interested in connecting, such as no response to three or four e-mails, and move on when the effort isn't yielding results.