Section 12: Professional Networking
Networking allows you to establish and build professional connections.
A diversified network is a powerful way to build relationships, connect with mentors, and spur conversations to learn from others.
Aside from job search features, LinkedIn is a great tool to digitally connect with others across the globe. Whether it's former co-workers, mentors, thought leaders in a particular field, or potential future employers, it's all on LinkedIn.
Your network can become one of your greatest assets when it comes time to pivot into the next chapter of your life. The problem is that we often wait until it's too late to start expanding our network.
Relationships take time to build trust and confidence. If you wait until your final few weeks in the military to start doing this, you'll find yourself behind the curve. Ideally, you would start expanding your network months, even years, before pivoting to something new.
Think of networking like healthcare provider options (in-network and out-of-network providers). The in-network ones are the connections you've built in the military. Out-of-network ones are the vast expanse of who you can connect with outside of the military.
We tend to do a great job building the in-network portion, but fail to dedicate time to building the out-of-network ones. This creates a siloed effect, where we know all about navigating the military side, but very little about the world outside of the military.