Men are more successful than women at business networking online, according to business network LinkedIn LinkedIn developed an online professional networking 'savviness' ranking. Globally and in the UK, men are savvier online professional networkers than women.
LinkedIn defines online professional networking savviness as a ratio of two things: the ratio of connections that men have to connections that women have; and the ratio of male members on LinkedIn to female members. "Having the right connections can make a difference when it comes to sealing a deal or landing a new client," said Nicole Williams, LinkedIn's connection director and author of the book, Girl on Top: Your Guide to Turning Dating Rules into Career Success (Center Street, 2010).
"Women can sometimes shy away from networking, because they associate it with schmoozing or doling out business cards, when in reality, it's about building relationships before you actually need them. Networking in person can be intimidating, so women should look at a site such as LinkedIn as a place they can go to cultivate their networking skills," Williams said. But LinkedIn's data got even more interesting when it was sliced by industry. What one would think would be a female-savvy industry (the cosmetics industry, for example) is actually a male-savvy industry.
This means, despite the fact there are more female professionals in the cosmetics industry, men in the cosmetics industry tend to be savvier online professional networkers than women in that industry. In the agriculture industry, it is the female professionals that are savvier networkers than men (even taking into account the fact that the male-to-female ratio is higher in those industries). LinkedIn's data analytics team believes this could be because the minority sex has to network harder than the dominant sex to break into those industries. Top UK industries where women are savvier online professional networkers than men 1. Agriculture 2. Think tanks 3. Executive office 4. Alternative dispute resolution 5. Philanthropy Top UK industries where men are savvier online professional networkers than women 1. Supermarkets 2. Legislative office 3. Military 4. Veterinary 5. Medical practice
