THE BEST NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES AREN’T ALWAYS SITTING IN YOUR CLOSEST CIRCLE

When you’re looking for your next senior role, your strongest connection might not be the person you know best.

We often talk to senior professionals about networking during a job search, and there’s a natural tendency to focus on the people we already know well. Former colleagues. Previous managers. Long-standing industry contacts.

They’re the easiest people to reconnect with — but they may not be the people who expose you to the most new opportunities.

However, research into LinkedIn networks has found that connections sitting further outside our immediate circle can be particularly valuable when it comes to discovering new opportunities. Why?

Because they’re connected to different people, organisations and conversations.

Your close network often overlaps with your own. They may be seeing the same roles, hearing the same market conversations and talking to many of the same people. But think about the person you worked with five years ago. The former colleague you’re still connected to but haven’t spoken to recently. The person you met at an industry event, exchanged details with and never quite followed up with. Those relationships can open a completely different part of the network.

We see this regularly in senior recruitment. Sometimes the right candidate doesn’t come through a close contact at all. They come through a connection one or two steps removed — because someone heard about an opportunity, thought of someone else, and made an introduction.

So when you’re thinking about your networking strategy, don’t just ask: “Who do I know well?”. Also ask: “Who might know people I don’t?”

Your network isn’t just the people closest to you. It’s the wider web of relationships around you — and sometimes, that’s where the unexpected opportunities are found.