Tips for virtual

Introduction

Although we have been using virtual reality for many years to communicate and establish connections, the digital transformation of companies has advanced rapidly due to the situation caused by the covid-19.

Our way of working has also changed, teleworking has come to stay and with-it new ways of networking.

If until now we took advantage of breaks at work to establish links and congresses and conferences to establish new contacts, how can we network now that remote work and social relations through screens are more and more frequent in our way of working?

Once this lesson is completed and approved, learners will be able to:

1. Take advantage of social networks in terms of establishing employment or collaboration relationships.
2. Know how to present themselves and prepare to attend a virtual event to get the most out of it.

 LinkedIn: take advantage of social networks.

Without a doubt, the social network par excellence for networking is LinkedIn, where you can access professional profiles with your same interests and make contacts that you would not have been able to meet personally in any face-to-face networking meeting.

Additionally, LinkedIn will help you stay up to date with the latest trends in your industry.

Some tips that can help you get the most out of this social network are:

• Keep your profile updated: complete all the profile fields that the social network allows you, every time you attend a new course or change your job, include it in your profile. Having the updated profile will make you have a better positioning on the network.
• Choose a professional profile photo: the first impression is important, don’t forget that you are in a social network focused on networking and job search, use an appropriate photo for it. You will also have to consider your professional sector.
• Ask for references: contact those people you have worked with (colleagues and senior manager) and ask them to endorse your experiences.
• Make good contacts: the important thing is not to have many contacts, but to have the right ones, which can help you grow professionally. LinkedIn has a good search function that can make it easier for you to find people according to the sector, professional profile, interests, etc.
• Share valuable content: do not be passive! Take time to generate your content and share it with the community, this will make other LinkedIn members interact with your publications, and the possibilities for them to contact you will be expanded.
• Join Linkedin groups: these groups are organized by professional categories, you can request access to the group that interests you, remember that it is important that you participate in the conversations that are taking place.
• Congratulate birthdays and professional improvements: the social network notifies you of birthdays, job changes and promotions of your contacts, this offers you the opportunity to reach the person, and establish a more human relationship with them.

In addition, other social networks through which you can make new contacts are Facebook (where you can also join groups like those on LinkedIn) and Twitter (through which you can start following those contacts in your sector with whom you are interested in interacting).

How to attend Virtual Networking events:

The different existing platforms for the development of virtual events have meant that there are no borders and that we can attend all kinds of conferences live, with participants from anywhere in the world.

Although it is true that in these types of events you cannot introduce yourself to the attendees and give them your card, instead of, you can prepare your attendance in such a way that these events are useful to expand your network of contacts:

• Prepare your presentation, so that, in a concrete and fast way, you can explain your professional career and what has led you to participate in that event.
• Prepare the questions you would like to ask about the topics to be covered. If you don’t intervene in the event, nobody will notice you, and you will have lost an opportunity to make contacts.

Not only the speakers of the virtual event are important, but also establishing contact with the rest of the participants can be interesting. Write their names and find them later through your social networks.

Conclusion

New technologies, without a doubt, reinforce and expand the possibilities of networking. The Internet allows us to break borders, and contact professionals from all over the world, which will enrich our way of working and make growing our job opportunities.

Here you have the contents of the lesson in PDF: