If you only network with athletic directors, SIDs and people who can hire you, you're doing networking wrong.
I understand why people do it.
You're looking for your first job. Or your next job.
You see someone with "Director" in their title and think, That's someone I should know.
You see an athletic director and think, Maybe they could hire me someday.
You see a graduate assistant, intern or fellow student and think, They're trying to get started just like me.
So you spend most of your networking energy trying to connect up.
I think that's a mistake.
Some of the most valuable relationships you'll build during your career may be with people who can't offer you a job today.
Your Peers Are Part of Your Network
The graduate assistant working beside you matters.
The intern you meet at a conference matters.
The student from another school who sends you a LinkedIn request matters.
Your classmates matter.
Professors matter.
Former classmates matter.
The person working their first full-time job at another school matters.
Not because of the title they might have someday.
Because they're people worth knowing today.
They are experiencing many of the same things you are. They're learning. They're making mistakes. They're meeting people. They're figuring out what they want from their careers.
And they're building networks of their own.
That's where networking becomes powerful.
Careers Don't Move in Straight Lines
Here's something I've learned from working in college athletics for more than two decades:
People move.
A lot.
Today's intern becomes tomorrow's graduate assistant.
The graduate assistant becomes an assistant director.
The assistant director becomes a director.
The director becomes an associate athletic director.
Some leave athletics and go into agencies, professional sports, higher education, corporate communications or completely different industries.
You have no idea where someone's career will take them.
And they don't know where yours will take you.
That's exactly why someone's current title shouldn't determine whether they're worth your time.
Stop Asking, "What Can This Person Do for Me?"
This is where networking gets sideways.
Someone gets introduced to an athletic director and immediately wants to send a résumé.
Someone connects with an SID and immediately asks about job openings.
Someone meets an established professional and starts thinking about how that person can help advance their career.
That's not relationship building.
That's prospecting.
There's a place for being intentional about meeting decision-makers. If you're searching for a job, you absolutely should know the people making hiring decisions.
But that cannot be your entire networking strategy.
Instead of always asking:
"What can this person do for me?"
Start asking:
"What can I learn about this person?"
What are they working toward?
What are they good at?
What challenges are they facing?
What can I learn from their experiences?
Can I introduce them to somebody?
Can I encourage them?
Can I help them?
That's how relationships start becoming something more than LinkedIn connections.
Network Across, Not Just Up
Early in your career, there's tremendous value in meeting people at roughly the same stage you are.
You can compare experiences.
Share job openings.
Talk about interviews.
Recommend tools.
Make introductions.
Celebrate when somebody gets an opportunity.
And sometimes, you can tell each other the things you're hesitant to ask someone 20 years ahead of you.
Then something interesting happens.
You grow together.
Five years later, those people are scattered throughout the industry.
Ten years later, you may have friends and trusted colleagues at dozens of schools, conferences, organizations and companies.
You didn't build those relationships because you calculated what everybody could eventually do for you.
You built them because you stayed connected.
Your Network Shouldn't Look Like an Organizational Chart
If everyone in your network has a bigger title than you, I would question whether you've actually built a network.
A healthy professional network should go in every direction.
There should be people ahead of you who can teach and challenge you.
People beside you who understand what you're experiencing.
And eventually, people coming behind you whom you can encourage and help.
That's a network.
And as your career grows, your responsibility changes.
Someone helped you.
Now you help somebody else.
Someone answered your email.
Now you answer someone else's.
Someone took 20 minutes to talk with you when they didn't have to.
Someday, you're the person who needs to find those 20 minutes.
That's how a profession gets stronger.
Don't Judge Someone's Value by Their Title
I want young professionals to understand this early because it can change how they approach networking.
Don't walk into a room looking for the most important person.
Talk to people.
Be curious.
Ask good questions.
Remember names.
Follow up.
Stay connected when you don't need anything.
And don't overlook the person standing beside you because you're too busy trying to get the attention of the person across the room.
You never know where either career is headed.
More importantly, that shouldn't be the reason you build the relationship anyway.
Good networking isn't collecting important people.
It's building meaningful relationships over time.
So here's my challenge:
Look through your network this week.
Who have you been overlooking because they couldn't immediately help your career?
Who is at a similar stage as you?
Who haven't you talked with since college?
Who is starting out and could use the same encouragement somebody once gave you?
Reach out to one of them.
No résumé.
No job request.
No hidden agenda.
Just start a conversation.
Stop building your network based on people's titles. Build relationships with good people.
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