The Art of Building Professional Connections to Advance Your Career

From volunteering to attending conferences and cultivating relationships with colleagues, networking needs to fit into your plan to advance your career.

“There really is value in developing professional connections,” says ASCP RISE Committee Chair   Jonathan Genzen, MD, PhD, FASCP, who also served as a past chair of the ASCP Fellow Council. “It’s good to have peers whom you can chat with when a crisis arises, or when you have questions on your career trajectory.”

It’s important to maintain mentors both within the work setting as well as outside the organization, he advises.   

“There are several types of networking. I have found going to professional society meetings, in particular ASCP, are incredibly valuable because you get the chance to expand your knowledge,” he adds. “The other is in volunteering with professional organizations. Working together with colleagues on a shared task of trying to reach a goal creates a wonderful team dynamic. It also gives you a chance to observe other leadership styles and understand the different roles that your colleagues have at other institutions.”

For some, networking may initially seem challenging or uncomfortable. For Dr. Genzen, the transformative moment came when he went from attending annual meetings to contributing to them as a faculty member and in volunteering professionally. He started interacting with new groups of colleagues and receiving valuable feedback from them. “I met a lot more people that way. Getting out there and being active has been important for me both personally and professionally,” he says.