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Consider the following: one individual has graduated from college with similar skills, a valid degree from a recognized college, and has a strong resume filled with relevant practical experience. Another individual has graduated from the same institution and has almost an equally valid degree, but he/she developed good relationships with other students, faculty members, alumni, and mentors. This is when we see the network effect begin to work.
Grades matter. Certifications matter. But if you’ve spent any time in the real world, you already know — they don’t always tell the whole story.
Some of the most qualified people are still waiting. And some people with half the credentials are three steps ahead, because they knew the right person, had the right conversation, or simply stayed in touch when everyone else moved on.
That’s not luck. That’s networking.
A strong network quietly does things a resume can’t. It turns a classroom batchmate into a referral two years later. It turns a webinar into a job lead. It turns a casual conversation into a collaboration you never saw coming.
Importance of Networking in an Individual’s Life
According to Zippia, 85% of jobs are filled through networking, leveraging personal and professional connections.
This statistic reflects the dire importance of networking. Be it a student or working professional, everyone is now focusing on one thing that is making yourself ‘visible’. Such is the growing importance of network effect. Here are some of the reasons on why you should network:
1) Get Access to Hidden Opportunities
If you think every job, internships, or even freelance opportunities are posted online, then you could be wrong. There are many vacancies which wouldn’t be posted online for which networking can help.
2) Faster Learning from Peers
If you are looking for wisdom from the experiences of other people, networking is an excellent way to gain interview tips, keep up with industry trends, and learn real-life career advice that is typically not taught in the classroom.
3) Creating your personal brand through increased visibility
By networking and being involved with your peers, alumni, mentors, and other professionals in your field, you create higher levels of visibility and develop your personal brand. This increased visibility may result in referrals and being recognized by other people.
4) Building Skills Through Collaboration
Collaboration with your peers will produce many of your best projects and may even generate startup ideas. Your networking efforts will assist you in finding and working with people in your network to develop your skills.
5) Create a long-term career.
Your network creates long-term value in your career by providing you with job opportunities and industry change through mentorship and common experiences. You will find various ways to utilize your network to support your career goals.
An Interesting Read: Learning as a Lifestyle: Why 2026 is the Year of Skill-First Education
5 Steps to Effective Networking
Here are the 5 important steps to effective networking students and working professionals must consider:
Step 1: Network up, down, left, and right
Don’t just look up. Connect with people above you, beside you, below you, and across related fields. You never know where the most useful conversation will come from.
Step 2: Be the person who helps first
The best networkers aren’t the ones who ask the most — they’re the ones who give the most. Make introductions, share opportunities, and offer advice. Trust builds slowly, but it builds.
Step 3: Relationships over contacts
A thousand LinkedIn connections have no value if none of these people actually really know you. Concentrate on creating and sustaining fewer but stronger relationships through sincere and meaningful conversations and mutual interest.
Step 4: Just be yourself
The most memorable networking moments come from honest, natural conversation — not a rehearsed pitch. Lead with curiosity. Ask real questions. People remember how you made them feel, not your job title.
Step 5: Stay in touch — long after the first meeting
Meeting someone is just the opening line, not the whole story. Check in every now and then, share something they might find useful, and congratulate them on a win. It doesn’t have to be a big gesture. Most of the time, it’s the small, consistent ones that people actually remember.
Read More: The 85% Rule: Networking for Real Career Growth
Does the learning environment really matter for networking?
A good learning environment sets the stage, but it can’t do the work for you.
The opportunities are there: conversations, collaborations, shared deadlines, and group projects. But whether those moments turn into real relationships? That’s entirely on the learner.
Networking comes down to the small things — asking a question after a webinar, following up with a batchmate, staying in touch even when there’s no immediate reason to. Online or offline, the ones who build strong networks aren’t always the most talented in the room. They’re just the most consistent about showing up.
How Online Manipal stands out
Through cohort-based learning, you’re studying alongside working professionals from different industries, cities, and roles. The exposure you get just from your own batch is something you can’t manufacture.
Events like Ekam and Panorama bring those digital connections into a real room, real conversations, real faces, and real relationships that actually stick. Furthermore, after graduation, you don’t just leave with a degree but walk into a 2 lakh+ strong Manipal alumni network, full of people at every career stage who have sat exactly where you’re now.
Weekly industry webinars keep you connected to the professional world in real time, and initiatives like Launchpad put you directly in front of recruiters, not just as a resume, but as a person.
It’s not networking as a checkbox. It’s networking woven into the whole experience.
Read to Know More: What Makes Students Drop Off in Online Programs and How Online Manipal Stands Out?
Conclusion
Networking was never really about where you studied. It’s about how you show up, in conversations you almost didn’t start, in rooms you weren’t sure you belonged in.
The right environment opens doors. But it’s your initiative, your follow-through, your willingness to just reach out; that actually walks through them.
Skills make you capable. The right people make you faster. But none of it moves until you do.
So, ask yourself — are you waiting for the perfect network, or are you out there building one?
Reference
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