Networking and social media

Become a confident networker and use social media to showcase your professional profile.

As research often involves collaboration with partners, industry and the public, developing your professional network can enhance your research visibility, generate new opportunities (perhaps jobs or funding) and build vital connections to help your career grow. Networking encompasses a range of activities and interactions, from attending an academic conference or career event to utilising social media platforms like LinkedIn and ResearchGate to engage with peers in your field. For researchers at any career stage, networking is a key employability skill essential for your future career development.

How networking can help researchers

Networking is an important part of any research career, supporting the sharing of ideas and knowledge, facilitating collaboration and helping you to establish your reputation in your field.

Typically, networking occurs in two main ways:

• Proactive networking – taking the initiative to contact new connections and develop links that could lead to career or research opportunities. Examples include reaching out to someone on LinkedIn or ResearchGate
• Reactive networking – responding to situations where you can capitalise on meetings or events by asking the right questions and maintaining the connection for the future. Examples include making lasting connections at an academic conference or event run by the Doctoral Academy

You can read more about networking on Student Futures+. We also recommend watching the below webinar from Jobs.ac.uk about networking post-Covid:

Becoming a confident networker

Whilst some might feel energised by making new connections, for others networking and social situations can be a draining or nerve-wracking experience. It’s important to remember that everyone brings their own style to a network exchange; it’s not all about being the most confident or enthusiastic individual in the room. Instead, focus on how you can be authentic and bring your own personality to networking interactions. Being reflective, interested and actively listening to and engaging with others is all you need to make a positive, lasting impression.

To help grow your confidence with networking, we recommend:

• Have a strategy – think about who you would like to connect with and why. What is the purpose of building your network and why do you think it will help? This will help you target your connections more specifically
• Practise – take any opportunities you can to practise your communication skills by speaking about yourself and your research to others. Even if it is colleagues in your research group or academic school or fellow doctoral students, use conversations with them to help build confidence for interactions in the future
• Start with a virtual or online connection – if the thought of speaking to someone new at a conference is too daunting, try dipping your toes in the water with a virtual connection, for example a LinkedIn request or email

Jobs.ac.uk have great tips for academic networking, including a downloadable networking development action plan to get you started.

Using social media as a researcher

Social media is a popular and powerful tool for researchers to share their work, build their network and develop their professional reputation. Different online platforms can support different aspects of your professional and career development, for example X and LinkedIn can help you engage in academic debate online, develop your commercial awareness and build your professional network, whereas ResearchGate can help you showcase your academic research to a wider audience. The Social Academic has useful advice on specific social media platforms for academics, as well as a general guide to social media for academics.

Remember to distinguish between your personal and professional profiles when using social media online. Aim to keep your personal and professional profiles separate, with your personal profiles as private as possible. Read Jobs.ac.uk’s advice on how to balance your social media presence with your professional life.

It is also important to remember that social media can also be a difficult place where debate can be harmful and upsetting. Sometimes accounts exist purely to generate controversy around certain subjects. In some instances, this behaviour is a criminal offence. The university has guidelines for how to deal with online harassment related to research.