What have you done in the last few months to strengthen your professional network?
Your interviewer is curious about your experience and how strong your professional network is. How you answer could offer them insight into how effective you are at networking and how active you are in your industry. In other words, they want to know how passionate you are about your field.
"I am very focused on building my professional network. For the past six months, I have enjoyed membership at the local Chamber of Commerce. I have also joined a consultants mastermind that meets once every quarter to share tools and resources and client success stories."
"I am active in my local and online consultants community. I recently started a LinkedIn group for Management Consultants in my city, and we will have our first meetup next month. Networking is a huge component of gaining business, and I plan to stay focused on those activities for years to come."
As PwC says on their website, "Can you leverage the power of the PwC network? Do you build and maintain strong and authentic relationships within your professional network and develop new ones outside of it, develop a clear vision of your portfolio and a laser-focused value proposition?" Do your research and study their priorities and company culture. Pay attention to their language, embrace it, and incorporate it into your answer. Show them that you are already a "PwCer" at heart.
"Always a PwCer: Our people can pursue professional paths that excite them -- whether that's inside or outside our firm, and we will invest in the incredible community of individuals who have worked at PwC."
Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.
Anonymous Answer
Honestly, I haven't reached out to people yet. But I am looking forward to my online course on project management which has weekly meet-up sessions and I am waiting to meet more professionals through that channel.
Marcie's Feedback
Perhaps you can reword your answer so it focuses less on your lack of action in this area? See below for an example of a way you could potentially re-write it.
To date, most of my professional networking has been done at work with my immediate colleagues. While I haven't actively reached out to outside professionals yet because I've been so busy with work, I'm eagerly awaiting the start of an online course on project management that I know will allow me to connect with others who share the same work interests as I do. The class includes weekly meet-ups that will help me to connect with others and build my professional network.
Anonymous Answer
I consistently am building my professional network-- I find this essential. I do this routinely through LinkedIn in reaching out to others who are new, or colleagues that I haven't bumped into in a while. This is also the space where I show my thought-leadership. In addition, I also volunteer for key organizations, like XYZ to connect with possible clients and spread awareness of what I'm able to deliver. I also am part of the Boston Green Group, and the International Society of Sustainability Fellows, follow key accounting leaders' work and continue to actively build a strong network in sustainability through my Harvard program there.
Amanda's Feedback
It sounds like networking is important to you and you've found ways to do so online and in-person through volunteering or membership in professional associations. If you also attend workshops, conferences, or other programs, this is a good place to mention them as it further illustrates the reach f your professional network and commitment to the field.
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