Is it better to have more hard skills or influential connections to get ahead at work?
I’ve been reading allot of articles discussing strategies to get hired and promoted at work and they all seem to have one theme in common “networking”. It’s like your skills and industry knowledge take a back seat to your popularity and likeability in the office.
Networking is extremely important for growth within a company as you build your reputation and become part of a team. You are also building relationships that can not only help you at your current job but also when you move on to another company and role.
It's a careful combination of the 2. Skills alone wont get you noticed without a good word of mouth. Doesn't take much... eat lunch in the cafe instead of at your desk and you'll be surprised with the connects you can make.
Networking within the office is always a wise thing to do- in order to get promoted you have to be acknowledged right? However, with that said, I don't think someone who is a social butterfly in the office but has minimal hard skills would be promoted over the hard worker. I think that the two work well together. Network with your skills so that people know you can be the go to person.
Hi Don,
Firstly apologies for the long reply but these are my two cents worth. Hope it helps.
I started off my work life thinking that pure skills and knowledge would make me a successful individual in my industry and being in a very technical industry I didn't think that was an assumption that was too naive. And that is not untrue for some individual. The best of them do make it to the top and the worst of them are known as the 'person to go to'. So both scenarios are respectable. But one thing they had in common was that they were in the later part of their careers.
But being an ambitious (impatient) person myself, I compared those individual to their peers (similar no. of years of experience) who are much more successful and found that they might not be known best for their skills and knowledge but have at least one aspect of networking they are good at (connecting themselves with the right people, highlighting their successes to people within their or other people's department, working in cross departmental tasks...) on top of an above average skill or knowledge in the industry. I have also seen the ones who only relied on their networking skills and seen them fizzle out in the last few years. They weren't the 'star players' they made themselves out to be.... So it is a balance. In my opinion, a strong foundation in industry skills and knowledge and then the network to follow.
Networking can sound bigger than it is. These are just some of the simple 'baby steps' you could take. I am sure you can find more than enough info on the standard things to do from professional recruiters' websites.
As mentioned in some of the replies already, even a simple lunch with the your colleagues and the boss might do.
Or just asking for feedback, for development needs or just saying what your aspirations might be (type of work you would like to do rather than a particular role) to your manager on a monthly or occasional basis helps. It is a folly to assume that your manager/other managers know what your aspirations are. The best of them might have a hint and have you in mind for the next open promotion but most would have the person who has spoken to them about in their minds. So it is often handy to be that person :)
Joining extra curricular activities like technical talks within the company, open presentation within other groups or joining courses available to you often help with this.
With LinkedIn and similar forum likes these, connecting with old high school friends can be another way you could lay the foundations of your network. You'll never know if your next progression will come within or outside your current company. You've nothing to lose.
Though it took me years to realize these things and most of it came from when I left the first company I started working for, it has been valuable.
And in the last 10 years, I've come to realize it is equally as important if only to leave another option always open if things don't go well. You'll never know what the future holds, all you need to do is ensure you have the foundations laid in case of any uncertainty or leverage them when things aren't going your way.
I hope your career progression goes well and I wish you good luck!