I don’t like to write sitting at my home for some reason that I even don’t know why! But one thing I know for sure is I want to be at a place where there are people around me and I love observing people. That is again one of my favorite things to do to pass time other than when I am not painting. So most of my evenings I drive to nearby Starbucks where I enjoy writing my blog posts and observing people too.

I notice people come there not just for having their fancy cappuccino but also to network and build relationships. Most of these faces are familiar to me now. There is always a group of college students who normally do their group studies and then there is the chess group with people from different generations competing against one another. So literally everyone knows each other for several months or years and it is actually a community there and they are collaborating with each other and having fun.

Network to build relationships

Speaking of Community reminds me of the HR conference that I attended recently – Talent Net Live Fall Conference 2012 . This was my first ever HR conference in US, where a group of talent collaborated for the benefit of HR community in helping them do their jobs better. There they shared their experiences and ideas to a group of people who are under the same HR umbrella. Most of the audience was Recruiters and HR practitioners. I saw people sharing their business cards, connecting with their next clients and building momentum between recruiters and candidates. Most of them, myself included, find it exciting to meet others after having followed them on social media for a while.

Network to build a community

If you are out there for networking don’t make it primarily for your personal benefit. It is a community out there and there are people who would love to help you. All these HR folks come from different places and keep their work aside to contribute for a cause. A cause that would benefit each other by sharing knowledge. So give and take. Share your insights, get into conversation, stay connected with them even after the conference. Be a chain that connects the community stronger.

Network to gain knowledge

One thing that I feel is worth spending my time networking is the knowledge and the lessons that I can learn from these HR folks. Interacting with someone who is from a different industry and more experienced will open up new perspectives for you. I often make a point to talk to them, ask questions and look for the take aways that cannot be achieved from my work experience. And I must say, through out my blogging experience connecting with people in the blogging realm has opened up more career possibilities than before.

I had really awesome time last week at Talent Net Live conference and I have my post ready for next week on what I learned on this conference and the wonderful people I met there. So stay tuned!