Public Health SPOTlight Podcast
Sujani Sivanantharajah, the founder of PHSPOT.org sits down with public health heroes of our time to share career stories, inspiration, and guidance for building public health careers.
The message she hopes to share through these conversations is that building a career is not only about climbing up the ranks, but about crafting a life that you want, around your unique needs, and one that gives importance to your mental health, wellbeing, and building relationships and friendships: you can only do good in the world if you take care of yourself.
Through PH SPOTlight, you will connect with peers you have never met before, and build relationships in a deep and meaningful way.
Public Health SPOTlight Podcast
Effective Networking Strategies for Public Health Professionals
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Networking isn't about schmoozing with random people or handing out business cards—it's about building genuine relationships rooted in curiosity, generosity, and mutual benefit that can transform your public health career journey.
What we talk about in today's episode:
- Up to 80% of jobs are filled through networking connections rather than job boards
- Your network already exists—start by auditing connections from school, past jobs, and online communities
- Approach informational interviews with genuine curiosity and specific questions after doing your research
- Be active in online communities like LinkedIn groups or the Public Health Career Club
- Follow up consistently and look for ways to provide value to your connections
- Everyone has something to offer regardless of career stage—fresh perspectives are always valuable
- Networking doesn't require extroversion—one-on-one conversations and quiet consistency work just as well
This week, take one small action: reach out to someone you admire with a genuine, specific question about their work and see where the connection leads. Join the Public Health Career Club at phspot.org/club for more support in building your public health career.
Join The Public Health Career Club: A global membership community where public health professionals connect, learn, and support each other in building meaningful and impactful careers.
Go from feeling confused, alone and overwhelmed, to feeling confident and in control of your life and career!
Welcome to PH Spotlight, a community for you to build your public health career with. Join us weekly right here, and I'll be here too. Your host, sujani Siva from PH Spot. Hey there, and welcome to another episode of the PH Spotlight podcast, a space for public health professionals like you and me to be inspired, to share their stories and to learn from each other. I'm your host, sujani, and I'm so glad you're tuning in.
Speaker 1:Today we are going to be talking about something that has played a huge role in my public health journey huge role in my public health journey and that is networking. And I talk about networking, building relationships, wherever I get an opportunity. If you follow me on LinkedIn, you've probably seen me write a ton around networking and the importance of building relationships, and today we are going to be talking about effective networking strategies for public health professionals. And now, before you kind of you know, roll your eyes or turn off this episode or get that knot in your stomach, because you know you don't love networking and you know I think many of us get that feeling with the word networking, because we think about this idea of kind of like schmoozing with random people or needing to hand out business cards at a conference or needing to be an extrovert or quote unquote, work the room. To be an extrovert, or quote unquote, work the room. And you know, I've kind of taken my own approach and my own strategy to make it work for me and to make it work with my strengths and interests. And what I do want to start off with is that effective networking, and especially, you know, in our field, in public health, it's about building real, genuine relationships and it's about learning, it's about supporting others, finding mentors, collaborators, even friends, and I think it's one of the most underrated tools for career development. And I think the problem or shying away from networking is not unique to public health. I've facilitated discussions in other industries, other events, and it seems like the theme is quite similar People just don't love the idea of networking. So I hope the strategies that I give you and what we talk about today can kind of make it seem a little bit easier and make you even excited about networking and building your relationships.
Speaker 1:So in this episode I'm going to walk you through why networking matters, how to do it in a way that feels authentic, and give you some practical strategies that you can start using today. Whether you're a student, you're early in your career or you've been in this field for decades. I think networking and building relationships is not just for those early in our careers or later in our careers. I think everybody needs to do it, so it's an episode for everyone. So let's dive in.
Speaker 1:So, first off, why does networking matter? Why is it so important? So, as you know, public health is deeply relationship driven. Whether you are starting a program, you are writing a grant, you're doing research, you're working with the community, you're applying for a new role, who you know often influences what you're able to do. And it's not about favoritism, it's about trust, it's about credibility and collaboration, right. And so some studies show that up to 80 percent of jobs are filled with through networking, if we're just kind of talking about finding jobs or your next opportunity. And it's not just through job boards. So think about that right, where the majority of opportunities never even get posted and they're shared amongst people who know each other, right. And so networking opens doors. It helps you hear about new projects. It's not just finding the new role. Even within your organization, you talk to different people, people you don't necessarily work with on a day to day basis, and they come up with a new project idea. They're trying to form a team and you know you've you've talked to the manager or somebody on that team and they just think about you, naturally. So it definitely opens doors, it gives you opportunities, um, it helps you find collaborators, even if you're the one kind of putting together a project and you need a good team. You often, you know, can identify individuals very easily if you've been building those deep relationships within your organization and it just makes the work that you do feel less alone when you can have that community and individuals around you, right alone, when you can have that community and individuals around you, right. But here's a thing is that networking shouldn't be thought of as something transactional. Right, it's not about what you can get, it's about a connection you're building. It's about building those genuine relationships, about building that trust, that credibility, that collaboration, so that when the time requires you to reach out to that person, there's already an established foundation there. Okay, so that's the first part.
Speaker 1:Second part I want to kind of talk about is reframing networking. Right, I want you to think about it as not a transactional thing but more of a relational thing, right? New for the first time how do I sell myself. How do I ask this person for a job? Like, take those questions out of your head and try thinking okay, why do I admire this person and why do I want to learn from them? Right? Or who's doing work that I find interesting? Or, if you've already identified that person, why is it that I find this person interesting, right? Who do I want to build a relationship with over time? If you've identified the person, it's about asking yourself what is it about this person that I really admire and I find interesting and why do I want to build that relationship over time? So, rather than thinking about networking as a one-off thing where you are going to go and ask somebody for something, think about a much more longer term relationship where there's mutual benefit to both parties and you can genuinely create a sort of professional friendship. If you will Right in that mind shift, it makes a huge difference. You're not trying to.
Speaker 1:I think the discomfort that we get sometimes networking is we think that, you know, I feel like I'm just going to this person to ask them for something, or I feel like I, you know they may think I'm using them, but rather than that, you know, kind of turn it around and think about, like, okay, I'm trying to connect with this person who shares my values and interests and goals, and how can I make this interaction enjoyable for both of us? Right? So when networking is rooted in curiosity and generosity, it feels a lot less awkward and it becomes something that you want to do, not just something you feel like you should do. So, for example, I love going to just random events, networking events to try to get to know people, because that ends up being the motivator for me. It's like, ok, I just get very curious about people's journeys and I just want to know you know, how did they do what they did? There's really often nothing that I'm looking for when I talk to this person. You know, maybe there's a long-term vision I have on a project I'd love to collaborate with them, like decades down the road maybe, but the initial interaction often is me being very curious and genuinely interested in that person's life. So try that mindset shift and and see if that makes it a lot more I want to say, tolerable, but also enjoyable for you, right? So I want networking to be enjoyable, okay. So yeah, we talked about why networking is important and we talked about the mindset shift.
Speaker 1:So now let's jump into how to do this thing called networking effectively. So I'm going to share some strategies and steps you can use. And so, whether you're starting from scratch, like you've never, um, jumped into meeting somebody, or reaching out and and, uh, meeting somebody, uh, brand new, um, hopefully these uh tips are going to help you or maybe you have been doing a little bit of networking and you want to get more intentional about growing your network, I think these strategies will also help you. Okay so, number one, start with people you already know. So your network already exists. You just might not be thinking of it that way. Even if you are brand new in public health and this is the first time you're kind of like stepping into public health from day one, I guarantee you there are people in your network that you can leverage and tap into to try to grow your public health network.
Speaker 1:And so think about former classmates, people you went to school with, past colleagues. Maybe they never worked in public health, but somehow you find some sort of a connection. So, brainstorm, go back as far back as you can. So classmates, colleagues, professors or mentors, people you met at events. I remember one time I went to a conference and there was somebody I had met and I remember hitting it off really well with this individual and years later I ended up finding that she was working at this cool organization. I reached out to her to be like hey, do you remember like we sat beside each other at this event? So really think back to kind of your whole journey and where you've gone and who you've met um, people in linkedin groups or online communities. Maybe you are like always commenting on somebody's post and they always reply back to you and you guys always have like really great conversation in the comments. Like that's a great person to also reach out to and should be added to the people that you already know quote unquote already know.
Speaker 1:So think about this, and I sometimes call this like your network audit. So people you went to school with, people you worked with, professors, mentors, people you met at events, people you socialize with online these are all great individuals to start with. So your network already exists. You just have to look and be a little bit intentional about it and what you can do is you can reach out and reconnect and check in, and I think this is one of the easiest groups of people to network with and you can say something as simple as hey, I've been thinking of you because, you know, such and such topic came up. I love to hear what you're working on these days. Do you have, you know, maybe 15 minutes, 30 minutes? At some point this week we can jump on a Zoom call or, if you live in the same region, maybe grab coffee or lunch or something, right? So this is a group that's very easy to reconnect with because there's that common it's like common history that you both have.
Speaker 1:Number two is another way, another strategy to kind of network Um, and that's leveraging informational interviews. Um and uh. So it's one of my favorite tools, and I also think, though, that you have to do it in a mean, like you need to offer them something huge or anything. It's mostly being respectful. I think that's where it has to come from. So informational interviews essentially they are short, intentional conversation where you are the one asking questions to learn about someone's career path or their work or their organization someone's career path or their work or their organization, and it's not about asking for a job. It's purely to learn about their journey to build a relationship, and it's really like assessing if this is somebody that you'd like to continue having a relationship with right.
Speaker 1:And when I said, ensure that this has value for the other person as well, it surely will, because I think majority of the people love helping people out. They love talking about their work. So I think if you root this request in curiosity and respect and you've done your research, it will be valuable for the other person. Respect and you've done your research, it will be valuable for the other person. So when you approach someone respectfully, you want to tell them why you're reaching out.
Speaker 1:Keep it short and I guarantee you they'll usually say yes, and I think the one piece about doing some background research that I find important is if somebody has talked about their journey on several podcasts or blog posts or on LinkedIn or Instagram and they're often sharing all that information already you reach out to them and have a vague request that says, hey, I'd love to learn more about your career path or I'd love to learn more about what you do for that individual, it doesn't really come off as a genuine curiosity in their work, and I get this type of requests a lot, and I think that's why I'm reflecting on this a little bit. So when people send me a generic request like that and I will get lots and lots and lots of those. It's hard for me to filter through those and say yes to everyone Because you know, when I try to do this in a scalable way, where I write about my journey on LinkedIn, I share it through the podcast, and so for me it's not an immediate yes or a pull for me to be like, yeah, let me tell you about your journey because I'm already doing it. But the individuals who have something very specific that they ask me and I can tell that they've been following my work, they're respectful of my time they acknowledge that they kind of know everything about me because I'm fairly open and I've shared all of that. They've done their research. That that shows me they've done their research and the request that they have is very, very, very specific. It often makes it easier for me to say yes. So that's what I mean by make sure you do your research so you know about the person enough to ask them for that 15 to 20 minutes and it ends up being valuable for them as well as for you.
Speaker 1:Ok, but I think the majority of the people that you reach out to probably won't have a podcast or won't have a blog or they don't write too much about their journey. So I'm thinking like the general rule of thumb, to just ask people for their a little bit about their career journey works, but just make sure you do your work, do your research right. So look them up on Google, see if there has been any bios written about them, just anything you can find. So you are aware that these are some things that they've already done, they've shared, and it's nice for you to mention that in your reach out to say like, oh, I read your blog or I read your bio on this website and I love to learn more about X, y, z. Like something very specific, right, so right. So you know. A message can look something like hey, I'm sujani and I came across your work on linkedin and I'm really interested in what you're doing at organization x. I'm currently exploring career paths as a senior advisor and I'd love to hear more about your journey. I really want to learn how to make this role as a senior advisor valuable for the people I'm advising as well as for me, especially jumping from being an epidemiologist into a new role. So something very, very specific helps them say yes, right away, right, and then you then ask would you be open for a quick 15 minute chat sometime next week? Short, kind, clear, and that's all you need for kind of a reach out for these informational interviews. Okay, so that was the second strategy.
Speaker 1:Third strategy is to be active in online communities. So, right now, third strategy is to be active in online communities. So right now, we live in a digital world, which is amazing for networking, and if you're part of our community like the Public Health Career Club, that's one great example for you to show up there, comment on posts, share your thoughts, ask questions, support others, because this community that we've created, the Public Health Career Club, has been intentionally created for public health professionals to meet other people, to get support from their peers, to build their careers, to just helping each other out right. So if it's the first time you're hearing about it, do check it out. At phspotorg slash club, as of this year, enrollments into the Public Health Career Club is always open, so we no longer close it down. We have two tiers the light membership and the premium membership, so do check it out.
Speaker 1:Other online communities and platforms you can leverage are LinkedIn, whether it's on your feed, kind of writing and engaging in comments of other people's posts, but also LinkedIn groups, where they're intentionally created for certain things, for certain things Lots of great public health groups that I've seen on LinkedIn. So if you search for that, you can find that Slack groups are also great. There are other, you know, paid or unpaid groups for public health professionals, or maybe you're in like data science or you're in tech and public health. So look for these kind of groups and just try to find where your professional peers are hanging out, Right. So you want to make sure that this is the right group that you want to connect with, and being active there is very, very important, right. So just being part of the group is not enough. You need to be engaged, you need to connect with people, you need to do a little bit of work, right, and so networking doesn't always have to be one-on-one. You can engage in conversations online. That it builds visibility and it can then lead to deeper connections later.
Speaker 1:I remember I'm part of this Slack group and there was a question somebody had asked and it was about I think it was about kind of juggling work and after becoming a mother and I kind of provided my input, which then had a few other people jump in and add their thoughts and we had some back and forth happening in that conversation and then we had an online like a virtual event and the individual who's facilitating that event was also part of that conversation online and we were able to take that conversation from the chat into our virtual Zoom conversation. And it was really cool because we had already all established some sort of a initial relationship through those back and forths in the comments and then seeing each other on Zoom made it a lot easier. Seeing each other on Zoom made it a lot easier. So it just shows the power of networking online, or even like all the amazing people that I have been able to connect with on LinkedIn because of the content that I put out, and then they engage in my comments and then we become friends and then we jump on Zoom calls and I've been able to meet a few of them in person when they've visited, like where I live, where I visited, where they've lived. So that's also, you know, shows how powerful the online world can be and I have so many friends that I've made through online networking and a lot of them I still haven't met in person, but I still feel very connected to them.
Speaker 1:Ok, so that is strategy number three. Strategy number four, kind of, is related to all three of the strategies that I've talked about. You know, you can reach out to individuals in your existing network. You can ask people for informational interviews, you can be active on online communities, but then there's a very important part, which is following up and staying in touch, and this part is often missed, right? So you meet someone, have a great conversation and then you never talk again and that's not a relationship, that's just a one-off conversation, right?
Speaker 1:So instead, a few things that you should be doing is the obvious one is sending a thank you note or a message after you've had your conversation and then keep them posted on how things go right. So, if they gave you advice, can you give them an update as to whether you took that advice or you didn't take that advice, and how did it go? You don't have to text them every day, but I think periodically, just to let them know like, hey, you know, you told me about this and I actually jumped in and I tried it, and this is how it's going right. You can even share an article or an event they might like. So maybe in your conversation they mentioned that they are looking for opportunities to develop some sort of skill, and you come across an article or a course or an event or a conference, you know, you go, hey, like I just saw this and it reminded me of the conversation we had here you go.
Speaker 1:That's another great way to like follow up and stay in touch or have some sort of like a regular check-in to. You know, in your calendar, just put it in every few months, make sure you say hello to this person because you love the conversation you had and it is somebody that you like to build that ongoing relationship with, right. So relationships, whether they're the professional ones, personal ones, they need maintenance and that doesn't mean just sending newsletters or constantly reaching out. It means like connecting with them purposefully. Okay, so this is strategy number four you need to follow up and stay in touch. And number five is give as much as you get right. So be generous. And it goes back to what we just talked about. Number four um. If there's something that they mentioned that they're working on, um, see if you can be helpful and be resourceful and share things with them, right, whether it's a job posting.
Speaker 1:Introduce somebody in your network, to them celebrate their work, and I think the misconception is that you're early in your career, maybe, and you feel like you don't have value to offer, and I think that's not true. Everybody has something they can offer. You just have to find that and often, if you listen carefully during your chats with this person, they will give hints as to like areas that they need help with. Maybe you're great at social media or you know about funding opportunities, or you can recommend great tools for the other person. So just be creative and see where your strengths are and where this person may need that help. Okay, and when you show up with generosity, not just curiosity, I think curiosity helps for that initial uh, meet, um, show up with generosity and you and you becomes um, someone that people want to know. They want to continue that relationship. So you need to make it so that it's a it's a two way thing, right? You're not the only one who's wanting this relationship. You want that other person to also want that relationship. Okay.
Speaker 1:So those are kind of my five strategies or tips for networking, effective networking, and before we wrap up, I just want to touch on very quickly some common fears that I hear all the time and I hope just quickly talking about it and I think I've probably mentioned um, all of these uh throughout today's podcast episode. But I think it's helpful to just kind of call it out and and briefly about it. First one is people say you know, I'm shy, introverted. Networking isn't for me. Totally hear you, I am somebody who did not love talking to people. If you followed my podcasting journey, you know that I started podcasting because I was horrible at speaking in public, speaking to people, so nervous. So I hear you, but remember that networking doesn't have to be loud or public One-on-one conversations, emails, quiet consistency that's networking.
Speaker 1:Second kind of common fear is that I don't want to bother people and I want you to know that you're not. Of common fear is that I don't want to bother people and I want you to know that you're not. If you're respectful, you're brief and you're kind, most people are happy to help, and if they can't, they'll just simply say no and that's okay. Okay. And then another and final fear is people often think I don't have anything to offer and we just talked about this. This is not true. Everyone brings something to the table Curiosity, kindness, fresh perspectives. That's a big one. These are all very valuable in every field. So get curious about your strengths, things that you can offer, and I guarantee you that a fresh perspective is often always valued. Okay, so let's recap.
Speaker 1:Networking is not about relationships, sorry. Networking is about relationships, not transactions. You should probably start with who you know, so you do that network audit of people that you know and then branch out from there. Use tools like informational interviews, online communities and consistent follow-up to ensure that your networking efforts are effective and efficient. Be curious, be generous and be yourself. It will be appreciated.
Speaker 1:And networking isn't just about advancing your career. It's about feeling connected, learning from others, building the support system that lasts because when you do need it, it's there for you. Right? You're doing all of this groundwork, this initial work, for when you will eventually need it at some point. Right, but make it fun for you. Make it something that energizes you. And I think one of the best things of networking is knowing that you have a supportive community around you that you can lean on, that you can reach out to when things get tough. And if there's anything that you take away from today, it's that it's essential for your public health career. It's essential for you as a human being to have that support group or that network around you, because you can't do it alone and you shouldn't.
Speaker 1:So I hope this episode inspires you to think of networking a little bit differently and maybe even get excited about it, right? So here's a small action step for you. This week, after you listen to the podcast, I want you to pick one person you admire, someone you follow online, someone from a past class, someone in your organization, and reach out to them. Just do the one with this new mindset and see how it goes right, and let me know if you listened to this podcast episode and you did reach out and you did take this small action step, and let me know how it went. I would love to hear your story. So thank you so much for spending time with me today.
Speaker 1:If you found this episode helpful, please do leave us a rating or review and share it with someone in your network. And if you're not already part of the Public Health Career Club, definitely join us. It's a space built for connection, for support, for growth in your career career. And, like I said, there are two membership types you can find out more about on our website phspotorg slash club and until next time, keep showing up, keep growing and remember your network is your net worth, not just in opportunities, but in community. Okay, talk soon. And you've been listening to the PH Spotlight podcast. I'm Sujani and I'll catch you in the next episode.