Who you know has always been as important as what you know regarding career success. The relationships you build with the right people don’t just increase your access to industry insights and knowledge.
The trouble is that building genuine emotional connections with others isn’t always easy in today’s digital world. To create a thriving network, you must know more than just how to connect with someone in person. You’ll also need to master the art of forging virtual relationships.
Here’s how to build better connections and use your network to your advantage throughout 2025 and beyond.
Building the Foundation for a Robust Network
Building a robust engineering network is like building anything—it all starts with laying a solid foundation. This means creating a digital presence and personal brand that speaks to potential connections across various virtual channels.
Assessing Your Current Digital Presence
Start with assessing your current online presence. When someone searches for your name online (whether it’s a colleague or potential employer), what will they see? Do you have a strong LinkedIn profile with a bio that outlines your skills and engineering accomplishments?
Are you active on important industry forums and professional community channels, sharing information about your work or the latest trends in your industry? Do you have a personal website where people can learn more about you and your professional history?
Think carefully about your digital presence’s elements and how they work together. For instance, having an excellent LinkedIn presence is no good if your profiles and the content you share on other channels like Twitter (X), Facebook, and Reddit send a very different message about who you are.
Remember, around 28% of large organisations employers say they’ve rejected a job candidate because of their online activity.
Building an Impactful Personal Brand
Once you’ve assessed your current online presence, think about the kind of “brand” you want to portray online. Your personal brand is the unique combination of skills, personality traits, and experiences you present to the professional world.
Start by identifying your core strengths and values. Are you a data-driven problem-solver or a creative visionary? What makes you an attractive candidate to engineering employers, such as what you’ve achieved in your previous roles? What makes you a valuable connection for peers to interact with? For instance, it could be your commitment to sharing the latest industry news.
Identify the core elements of your personal brand, from your tone of voice and the language you use in content to your unique selling points and even your “visual” brand – how you present yourself in profile pictures and similar content.
Developing Your Online Profiles
Now that you have a clear view of your existing digital presence and the message you want to send with your personal brand, it’s time to start developing online profiles. This means choosing which platforms you’ll use to connect with peers.
Social media giants like LinkedIn and Twitter (X) are excellent starting points for engineering professionals. LinkedIn is ideal for connecting with business leaders, colleagues, and thought leaders. Twitter is great for fast-paced interactions and industry-specific conversations about trending topics.
Beyond social media, consider virtual forums, industry-specific communities, and platforms tuned to your specific engineering role. When you know which platforms are likely to link you to the right people and accelerate your career progress, develop a plan for optimising your presence on each. For instance:
LinkedIn remains the gold standard for professional networking. Begin by perfecting your profile: use a professional photo, craft a compelling headline beyond your job title, and write a summary highlighting your values and accomplishments. Include relevant engineering specific keywords to increase discoverability. Regularly post insightful content, share industry news, and engage with others’ posts to stay visible.
X
X is a powerful tool for real-time engagement. Refining your bio with engineering keywords and hashtags highlighting your expertise. Follow thought leaders and participate in trending conversations using industry-relevant hashtags. Post concise, impactful content, such as commentaries on industry developments, to make your profile engaging. Engage directly with others by retweeting or replying to their tweets to foster connections.
Industry-Specific Platforms
Platforms like GitHub (for developers), Behance (for designers), or ResearchGate (for academics) allow you to share work, receive feedback, and engage with niche communities. Regularly contribute content, comment on others’ projects, and participate in discussions to demonstrate expertise and build relationships.
Professional Communities
Forums and groups on Slack, Discord, or industry-specific sites are excellent for targeted networking. Offer value by answering questions, sharing resources, or starting discussions. Consistent, thoughtful participation helps you stand out and build lasting professional relationships.
Engagement Strategies: Connecting with Peers
Building genuine relationships with professionals requires an intentional approach to engagement in the digital age. Here are some of the best ways to develop more substantial, meaningful relationships with your virtual connections.
Authentic, Personalised Communication
Building strong engineering relationships through virtual channels often starts with reaching out and connecting with peers through personalised authentic messages. Don’t just send connection requests randomly with generic messages.
Build rapport from day one by referencing a shared interest or something you admire about the other person. Consider offering various communication methods, such as messaging channels or conferencing platforms like Zoom or Microsoft Teams.
Engaging in Online Communities
Professional communities, whether LinkedIn Groups, Slack channels, or niche forums, are great for building strong engineering connections. Participate actively by discussing, sharing insights, and supporting others’ contributions.
LinkedIn Groups, for example, offer targeted spaces to discuss industry trends and challenges. Consistently contributing value, whether you respond to a post with a thoughtful comment or send a link to a helpful resource, will help you earn the respect and appreciation of your peers.
Use Content to Capture Attention
Sharing valuable engineering related content is a powerful way to engage with peers and showcase expertise. Curate high-quality articles, write thought leadership pieces, or create short videos addressing industry trends. Tagging peers in relevant posts, quoting their work, or crediting their insights is a good way to build goodwill and boost engagement.
Encourage interaction by asking questions or inviting opinions on your content. When someone comments on something you share, respond promptly and thoughtfully.
Make the Most of Virtual Events
Virtual events and engineering specific webinars are excellent opportunities to expand your network. Actively participate in chat discussions during events, ask thoughtful questions, and connect with speakers or attendees on LinkedIn afterwards.
Another great strategy is to share your key takeaways from the event on social media and tag relevant participants – asking them to continue the discussion.
Relationship Maintenance: Preserving Connections
Digital relationships, just like in-person ones, require ongoing nurturing and maintenance. Make sure you assign time in your schedule to build on your relationships and make them stronger. You can consider using strategies like:
- Digital follow-up systems: Use digital tools like a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) app, a dedicated spreadsheet, or even LinkedIn’s contact features to track your interactions. Record notes about your conversations, shared interests, or milestones to personalise future follow-ups. Schedule reminders so you periodically check in with your peers.
- Scheduled virtual meetings: Virtual coffee chats provide a relaxed setting for deeper conversations. Use video platforms like Zoom to reconnect, discuss engineering projects, or catch up on industry developments. Keep these meetings informal and brief—around 20–30 minutes – and focus on shared interests to strengthen the bond.
- Constantly delivering value: Strong relationships are built on reciprocity. Offer value by sharing resources, introducing contacts, or providing feedback. For instance, if a connection shares a challenge, suggest an article, tool, or contact that could help. When they share accomplishments or achievements on their profiles, commend them.
Remember, consistency is key here. Set time aside at least once a week to respond to messages, comment on the posts of valuable network connections, and plan strategies for future discussions.
Strengthening Connections in a Digital World
As we progress into an increasingly digital-first era, ensuring your networking skills extend beyond simply building relationships in person is more important than ever. Knowing how to forge strong, authentic relationships with engineering peers online and attract opportunities with the right personal branding and online presence is essential.
Take actionable steps to optimise your online presence, engage thoughtfully with peers, and activate your network when opportunities arise. By staying proactive, you’ll boost your chances of developing a network that propels you towards future success.
All the best
Steve
At Coalesce we have been supporting engineering candidates for over 28 years; if you would like our input into the latest engineering networking strategies for the digital age, then give us a call on 07512 821708 or email us here.