It is an old and familiar story. You move to a new city and you find the perfect job. The job is great and you get along well with all your co-workers, but something is missing. Although you enjoy hanging out with your colleagues you begin to realize that rehashing the day’s events over a few drinks each evening is not the way to go if you wish to succeed. This is good, because it indicates a hunger for more on your part, which is a great way to prevent stagnating in your current position.
Of course, although this is good it does beg the question of what you should do. If you want to progress beyond your present circumstances it is a good idea to come to grips with networking. Business networking events are very useful for a variety of reasons, but you do not need to be stuck with the wrong types of people at the wrong types of events. Unfortunately finding the right events is not always easy. Nevertheless, the good news is that it is not impossible to do.
The first thing you have to remember when seeking out networking events such as these is that they are intended for various people involved in various kinds of professions. There are networking events for managers, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and more, which means that not every event is going to be suitable for you. You need to find the networking events that are relevant to not only the kind of industry in which you work, but also for the position that you hold in the business. For instance, if you are a manager you are not going to benefit much from attending an event that is aimed at staff in lower levels.
When you have ascertained the types of events that you should be part of, your next step should be to take a closer look at some other details, such as where the group meets for their events. If you cannot travel to the events then joining a national group would not be advisable for you. On the other hand, if traveling is not a problem, then national events can be very advantageous. Do not stress out if you cannot make it to national events, though, because there are bound to be many other events that are suitable for you and which are located more conveniently for your purposes.
Assuming you need to focus more on local networking events, check with small business news, libraries, and so on, in order to source notices of upcoming events. Spend some time reading through magazines that correspond to the industry in which you operate. It is also a good idea to subscribe to newsletters as well, because they will also provide a wealth of information pertaining to networking events in your particular industry. Another idea is to talk to your co-workers about the issue, because word of mouth can help a great deal. If they have attended any of the events you are considering they will be able to tell you which ones you should involve yourself with.
Before you commit and sign up as a member of the events, request to be able to attend as a guest first. This will prevent you from signing up only to discover that the event is totally unsuitable.