How Can Strong Relationships Shape Your Career? Aon’s Victoria Marsh on Building a Network That Lasts
You've attended the event, had a few good conversations and added some new connections on LinkedIn. What happens next?
How do you turn someone you've met once into a professional relationship that lasts? How often should you stay in touch? And how do you build a network without every interaction feeling like you're asking for something?
Making connections is relatively easy. Building relationships takes more effort.
A strong professional network isn't simply a list of people you know. It's a group of relationships that can help you learn, understand different parts of your industry, exchange ideas and discover opportunities throughout your career.
The difference is what happens after the first conversation.
Follow up while there's still context
If you've had a useful conversation with someone, don't leave the relationship in the room.
Following up doesn't need to be complicated. A short message referencing something you actually discussed is usually more meaningful than a generic connection request weeks later.
You might continue a conversation you started, share something relevant to what you discussed or simply suggest grabbing a coffee if there was more you wanted to explore.
The aim isn't to immediately get something from the relationship. It's to create an opportunity for the conversation to continue.
Before moving on from an event or introduction, ask yourself:
→ Who did I have a genuinely interesting conversation with?
→ Is there anyone I said I would follow up with?
→ What could I reference that makes my message personal rather than generic?
A room full of new contacts has limited value if none of those conversations ever continue.
Don't wait until you need your network
Networking can become something people prioritise when they need something: a new role, some advice, an introduction or help getting through a particular door.
That's usually the wrong time to start building the relationship.
Strong professional relationships develop over time and don't need to have an immediate purpose. Staying in touch when there is no particular ask makes it much easier for people to support one another when there eventually is one.
That doesn't mean checking in every few weeks for the sake of it. Maintaining a relationship can be as simple as sharing something relevant, congratulating someone on a new role, making an introduction or picking up a conversation when your paths cross again.
It also means thinking about what you can contribute.
Professional relationships are much stronger when they aren't built entirely around what someone else might be able to do for you.
Use your network to learn, not just to find opportunities
One of the most valuable things a professional network can offer is exposure to knowledge and perspectives you wouldn't necessarily encounter in your day-to-day role.
Speaking to people working in different roles, specialisms and organisations can help you understand how other parts of your industry operate, discover different career paths and develop a broader view of the market around you.
That can be particularly useful as your career develops. You may not be looking for another job, but a conversation could introduce you to a specialism you've never considered, challenge how you think about an issue or help you understand the skills you might need for your next step.
Consider the network you're building:
→ Does it extend beyond people who do the same job as you?
→ Who could help you understand a different part of your industry?
→ Who could you learn from, even if there is no immediate career opportunity attached?
The value of a network isn't limited to who can help you get your next job. It can shape what you know and what possibilities you're exposed to throughout your career.
Keep the relationships that matter going
Not every person you meet needs to become a long-term professional contact.
But when you do build a strong relationship, don't assume it will maintain itself.
Careers change. People move organisations, enter different specialisms and take on new responsibilities. A relationship formed early in your career could still be valuable many years later, although potentially in a completely different way from when it started.
Maintaining those relationships doesn't require constant contact. What matters is that the relationship extends beyond a single interaction.
Over time, a network built this way becomes more than a collection of contacts. It becomes a source of knowledge, perspective, support and opportunities that can develop alongside your career.
Building relationships throughout a career in investments
For Victoria Marsh, Business Development Manager at Aon, building strong and long-lasting relationships has been an important part of her career in investments.
Victoria describes the investment industry as small and well connected, which means there is a significant amount professionals can learn from and share with one another.
In her own career, relationships have helped her develop her investment knowledge, broaden her understanding of the market and learn more about different types of institutional investors.
Her advice to people looking to build a long-term career in investments is to actively create those opportunities to connect: attend industry events, reach out to people on LinkedIn for a coffee or conversation and be prepared to move outside your comfort zone.
But perhaps the most important part is what happens afterwards: keep the relationships going.
Those connections can continue to provide knowledge, support and opportunities as your career develops.
Watch Victoria share her advice on building strong professional relationships and why they have mattered throughout her career in investments.
Three relationships worth investing in
Building a stronger network doesn't have to mean meeting dozens of new people.
A useful place to start is with the relationships already around you.
This month, consider reaching out to:
→ Someone you've recently met but haven't followed up with yet.
→ Someone you've lost touch with who you previously had a valuable professional relationship with.
→ Someone whose work you're genuinely curious about and who could help you understand another role, specialism or part of your industry.
The objective doesn't need to be getting an introduction, finding a job or asking for a favour. Have the conversation, learn something and consider what you can offer in return.
The strongest professional networks aren't built when you suddenly need them. They're built through relationships that continue long after the first conversation.
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