Networking can open the door to many new opportunities for you. Whether that means landing a new role, or even finding a mentor to help you excel in your career, there are many perks to interacting with others on a professional level.

If you’ve built up a strong network, you’ll want to maintain this. So what can you do to keep your existing connections by your side for the long haul, especially in the current climate where your ability to meet in person is limited?

Here are our suggestions:

1. Take a human approach

When networking, both with your internal network and the broader professional community, you should not be going in for the sell. Now, more than ever, we need to be prioritising real, human relationships over anything else.

Reach out to your colleagues to see how they are going and to see if you can support them in any way. Determine if there are any resources you can provide to help them, or whether you can simply lend a listening ear. This goes beyond a superficial connection. Being authentic in your approach means you can forge some of your strongest working relationships.

2. Create value

Interact with your current network and see if they have any common issues or questions that they are looking for advice on. You can use this to create your own content to share with them – free of charge, of course. You don’t want to be profiting off a bad situation. You want to be engaging in this spirit of community and support. Email your network any content that you feel will be of use and that will help solve their most pressing issues.

3. Keep in contact

Stay in regular contact with your existing connections. This is essential if you are to maintain these relationships. Check in with them regularly and engage with what they post online. Just like you would nurture a friendship, you should be doing the same with your professional relationships. It’s important to keep these relationships going strong, especially during this time of uncertainty.

Here are some of our suggestions for how you can achieve this:

// Hop on a video call. By hearing their voice and seeing their face, it adds a human element to your interaction, especially if you’ve never met in person before.

// Agree on a time. Connect at a time that works well for both of you. If you operate in different time zones, don’t try to schedule a call when it’s 12am in their city. Be respectful of their time.

// Connect across multiple platforms. Your interactions don’t need to be limited to LinkedIn. You can connect across a number of communications platforms, such as email, WhatsApp or Zoom. Find which platforms work best for both of you.

// Host a virtual discussion. Use video technology tools to engage your new contacts in a virtual discussion. You can learn what each person is doing in their organisation to deal with the disruption that COVID-19 has caused, or to simply share your thoughts on topics of interest. This will help you in developing a support base that you can continue to engage with going into the future.

If you would like to learn more about how to maintain your existing connections, check out our Guide to Virtual Networking. 

At Talent, we’re experts in tech & digital recruitment. If you’re looking for new talent to join your team, get in touch with us today! Alternatively, if you’re a candidate looking for an IT role check out our Job Search for the latest opportunities.

Collating responses from our 400 participants, we’ve got real about what it means to be a woman in this industry. But it’s not just about providing a platform for these women to share their experiences, it’s about creating real and tangible change.

Download our report to uncover practical strategies that you can implement to make a real difference.

Here are some of the key takeaways:

• 44% feel they have been overlooked for promotions due to gender.
• 56% don’t see a clear path for their career at their current employer.
• 45% feel that they are not paid exactly the same as male colleagues at their level.
• 57% believe that family responsibilities either negatively or strongly impact women’s careers in tech.
• 35% cite ‘not having a seat at the table/being included in decision-making conversations’ as the biggest challenge encountered in the workplace.

Download the full report here!

To celebrate RISE Day in 2022, we did things a little differently. In addition to our yearly phone call initiative (in which our global teams volunteer to give advice to young people struggling with barriers to employment), we launched an all-new type of fundraising challenge to step up for RISE (literally!).

Entering the world of work is tough these days – especially as a young person. It’s estimated that there will be 73 million unemployed people aged 15-24 across the globe by the end of 2022, highlighting that our help is needed now more than ever. But, with getting a break and building a sustainable career often feeling as daunting as climbing Mount Everest, we knew we had to truly step up this year to offer the support we strive to deliver.

How did we do it?

Talent’s teams were given the challenge of tackling the distance between base camp to the peak of Everest (a total of 20km as the crow flies). We climbed, rowed, ran and swam in a huge global effort to raise vital funds that will go directly towards helping young people. From hiking up Mount Snowdon to a 20km indoor rowing race, everyone pulled together and took the challenge by storm. And our fundraising target was well and truly beaten…

Our original goal was to raise £30,000 / A$50,000, and we successfully raised a huge £59,959 / A$107,478. We couldn’t be prouder of our teams’ determination and hard work – and couldn’t be more grateful for each and every supporter who helped us reach this milestone.

Here’s to the future

All money raised will go directly towards delivering workshops, providing tailored coaching & mentoring services, and help cover the costs for young people to attend interviews and buy suitable work clothing. Changing lives through meaningful employment is always our goal, and the incredible generosity and support we’ve received will make a real positive impact.

It’s safe to say this year’s RISE Day was a roaring success! And we’re really excited to continue transforming young lives and breaking barriers to employment.

If you’d like to support our initiatives, our fundraising page is still active. Donating to RISE gives you the chance to directly help young people carve their way to a sustainable career, and make a true impact in today’s world of work.

Global Technology recruitment leader Talent has today announced the appointment of Mark Nielsen as its new Global CEO and Yaron Segal as Global CFO, effective immediately.

Since becoming CEO four years ago Mark has achieved fantastic growth and results for the business whilst enhancing employee engagement and culture. During this period, he has been awarded CEO of the Year by CEO Magazine and played a major part in the company being recognised as one of Gallup’s 40 Best Places to Work in the world for the last two years. As part of this newly created role, Mark will be responsible for the core recruitment operations of the global group which encompasses 16 locations across APAC, EMEA and the US.

APAC CFO Yaron Segal will undertake the newly created position of Global CFO to oversee all finance and treasury operations around the world. Yaron joined as APAC CFO four years ago and has introduced great efficiencies and reporting structures to Talent’s financial operations. Yaron will work closely with Mark and Talent Founder and Executive Chairman Richard Earl and the rest of the leadership group to build on the structure and strength of the global business.

Earl said the appointments represented an exciting development in the global growth and diversification of the business and were further examples of a conscious policy to develop and promote within the company.

“Talent’s global sales operations and systems will, without doubt, be strengthened by the appointment of both Mark and Yaron to these positions and I am delighted that they have an opportunity to test themselves at the next level. Their combined management during the Covid-19 pandemic has been exemplary and has helped the business come through largely intact and in a very strong position.”

“Mark is an outstanding leader who has a unique ability to bring the very best out of people through being heavily invested in their wellbeing. Likewise, Yaron has displayed enormous compassion and care for those he works with as well as demonstrating great financial acumen. Together they are an incredible team and I am extremely fortunate to work with both of them. I’m sure they can help us reach even further heights.” Earl said.

Reflecting on his appointment Mark said: “I am honoured to have the opportunity to lead this innovative company and incredible team at a global level.”
“I couldn’t be more excited to see what we can accomplish as we continue to build a truly global business. I believe that with the capability of the amazing people working for Talent combined with the innovative solutions we provide, we will be a major force in the global recruitment landscape.”

Yaron Segal Global CFO said:

“I’m thrilled to be taking on this newly created role as the business expands further globally. Talent is in great shape despite the current climate and I look forward to continuing to build our financial and accounting operations around the world.”

In addition to these appointments, Earl announced he would be ramping up his focus on Talent Engage and Talent RISE and continue to build the company’s brand at a global level.

In light of the rapidly changing landscape of the contingent workforce, Earl will be focusing on the continued development and expansion of Engage, Talent’s community life hub platform for tech contractors. He will also intensify his work with Talent’s charity Talent RISE which offers education, training, work readiness programs and job placement opportunities for young people who experience challenging barriers to employment, as global youth unemployment reaches crisis levels due to Covid-19.