What is networking?
Networking involves creating a network of professional contacts that may be of interest to your professional field, generating new professional opportunities or facilitating the acquisition of new clients, among other objectives.
The evolution of networking
These options remain valid and useful today, but they can be complemented by new digital channels that allow networking without needing to share the same physical space or geographic location.
Among these new digital channels, we find:
- Specialized social networks like LinkedIn, where professionals can connect with each other through a global directory of people worldwide.
- A dedicated Alumni app or website for members of a community, such as the UNIFIT Alumni platforms.
Why is networking important?
Building networks, forming alliances with others, and collaborating with them is and will continue to be increasingly important, both personally and professionally, as it allows us to:
- Strengthen professional relationships
- Generate new professional opportunities
- Create potential synergies or collaborations
- Listen to and learn from others
But networking isn’t just about making contacts; it’s about cultivating lasting relationships with people and organizations that can nurture your professional growth.
And it is precisely in this context of lasting relationships that your institution or educational center plays a key role:
Your alumni community should build lasting relationships between your institution and its alumni, as well as among the alumni themselves.
Networking for the Alumni Community
According to a Salesforce study conducted at various universities, networking is one of the main reasons why alumni join an alumni community.
This is because, despite living in a hyper-connected society, connections aren’t being made:
- 36% of participants stated they don’t know how to connect with other alumni from their institution.
- 34% stated their institution doesn’t have an alumni community that allows them to connect with other members.
So, if you want to build a strong alumni community, networking is undoubtedly one of the key elements to consider.
How can I promote networking in my educational center?
Make it easy! Provide your community with a platform where they can network.
A space where everyone who is or has been part of the institution can find each other and build their own network.
A space to build community and foster a sense of belonging to the group and the institution.
And all this with a digital solution that allows them to stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the Alumni community and create a lasting connection.
The solution for your Alumni community
At UNIFIT, we offer customizable and adaptable digital solutions for the Alumni community, tailored to your needs:
- Alumni App: To instantly energize and build loyalty within the alumni community, with an easily implementable SaaS (Software as a Service) solution, as you can see in this post.
- Alumni Website: The platform to build your community based on your needs.
- Alumni App and Website: The complete solution to create a powerful community for your university or educational institution.
All of UNIFIT’s digital alumni solutions will allow you to meet various needs in:
- Communication: with push notifications, news, events, etc.
- Networking: with a directory, chat, alumni profile, etc.
- Administrative services: with a job board, online store, digital ID card for the educational institution, etc.
If you would like to learn more about our solutions for the alumni community, please contact us, and we will explain them in more detail.
