What Networking Success Actually Looks Like

The Toxicology Networking Challenge: Wrap-Up

✓ Week 1: Join a Scientific Community

✓ Week 2: Define Your Networking Goals

✓ Week 3: Build Your Outreach List

✓ Week 4: Start Conversations

✓ Week 5: Defining Success and Keeping Momentum

While my intention was for the Toxicology Networking Challenge to last only 4 weeks, I wanted to add a bonus week for us to check in.

My hope is that, by the end of this challenge, you’ve made at least one new connection and feel a little more confident reaching out to fellow toxicologists.

The most common feedback I hear about networking is that people feel like failures when their efforts don’t immediately lead to the outcome they hoped for. A message goes unanswered. A conversation doesn’t turn into a referral. A new connection never follows up.

That’s disappointing, sure, but it’s not failure.

Networking is a lot like investing. Sometimes you see immediate returns—a response, an introduction, a referral. More often, the value compounds quietly over time until an opportunity unexpectedly appears after months or years of relationship-building.

Instead of focusing on outcomes, think of this challenge as building your professional skills.

Measuring networking success by outcomes you can’t control—such as landing a job, receiving a referral, or getting a response—sets you up for regular disappointment.

Referrals, time, and information are gifts freely given. Not everyone will say yes to an invitation or your conversation may not immediately lead to outcome you seek.

I’ve been ghosted by people who accepted a connection request or invitation to chat. Sometimes they eventually follow up, sometimes they don’t. I don’t take it personally. Instead, I give them the benefit of the doubt and hope we’ll get a second chance to connect at a future date.

Sometimes people miss notifications, are busy putting out fires at work, or find themselves suddenly navigating a personal emergency. Missed connections could be due to almost anything, but it’s not a reflection of your worth. It’s okay to feel disappointed, but don’t let that convince you that you should give up entirely.

A more productive way of measuring networking success is by using outcomes that you can control like:

• reaching out,

• following through,

• asking thoughtful/meaningful questions, and

• continuing to show up after disappointments.

Progress comes from showing up repeatedly, even when the outcome is uncertain.

When I was a student, I was commiserating with my best friend about how unexpectedly difficult every step of graduate school felt. She told me that she had expressed the same frustrations to her husband and he responded with, “You’re an egg.”

“An egg?” I thought. “Seriously, dude?”

She went on to explain that from the outside it looks like nothing’s happening. Yet inside, growth is taking place long before anyone can see it. Eventually, a chick emerges but this is only possible because of all the unseen development that came before.

The visible results of networking often take time to appear.

When you first start networking, it may not feel like you’re making much progress initially. As you build your network, you also begin to build a professional reputation. Your reputation encompasses your professional interests, expertise, and personality. When you become known in your network, people start to reach out to you with questions or recommend you to others.

No effort is wasted.

Rather than focusing solely on outcomes, focus on becoming someone who consistently develops skills.

Every conversation teaches you something.

In a recent video, Hank Green discussed how the phrase “how no effort is wasted” influenced his view of previous experiences.

In his video, he uses the ocean sunfish (Mola mola) as an example: millions of eggs are produced, yet only a handful survive to adulthood.

Viewed purely through an outcome-based lens, a few adults from millions of eggs seems like a waste of time. But, without that initial effort, none of the survivors would exist.

The point of this networking challenge isn’t for you to lock in a 100% success rate. The point is to learn new skills and put them into practice.

Like any good investment, these assets compound over time.

Every conversation teaches you something, even when it doesn’t lead to the opportunity you hoped for.

Through a skill-building lens successful networking looks like:

• Learning about a career path you didn’t know existed.

• Discovering a skill gap you can address.

• Becoming more comfortable reaching out.

Choose one action to complete in the next 6 months:

• Attend one event

• Send one message

• Schedule one conversation

• Volunteer for one opportunity

• Follow up with one existing connection

Small actions, repeated consistently, build strong professional networks.

A strong professional network isn’t built in four weeks. It’s built through small, consistent actions repeated over months and years.

Success isn’t getting a job from one conversation but becoming the kind of person who keeps showing up, learning, and building relationships along the way.

Keep showing up.

Thanks for reading From Bench to Beyond!

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© 2026 Lauren Walker. All rights reserved. No reproduction without permission.

Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and reflects personal opinions, not professional or legal advice