The Power of Connection: Building Your Network and Influence as an SE

What does it take to advance as an SE? We recently partnered with Better Career to explore one of the most underestimated accelerators of professional growth: the power of connection.

Networking isn’t just about collecting contacts, it’s about building influence that transforms your career trajectory. Here’s what every SE should know about leveraging connections, both inside and outside their organization.

Why Internal Networking Is Your Foundation

Inside your company, your network directly impacts your ability to deliver results:

Getting deals done faster: Building trust with AEs, support teams, and product teams helps you move quickly and deliver more value. Small gestures matter, like bringing donuts to the support team when you visit HQ. These moments build trust that pays dividends when you need help closing deals.

Creating advocates: Promotions don’t happen in isolation. SEs who cultivate strong advocates, especially among sales leaders, tend to rise faster. Your success depends on people championing you when you’re not in the room.

Driving cross-functional collaboration: Strong relationships with Product, CS, and Engineering make you a more effective and connected SE, capable of solving problems others can’t.

The Bridge to Industry Visibility

While internal networking lays the groundwork, external connections open doors to unexpected opportunities. Your external network helps you:

• Learn from peers in other organizations and understand how the SE function is evolving
• Advocate for yourself around compensation, role expectations, and career growth
• Access opportunities before they’re publicly posted

Visibility pays off. One SE who volunteered to speak on a webinar was fast-tracked for a role that doubled her salary, all because she put herself out there.

The key is intentionality. We often mistake effort for inauthenticity, but putting in effort is actually how you build real connections.

Start Small with Thought Leadership

You don’t need to be an influencer to build visibility. Start by sharing your perspective on what you’re learning day-to-day. Post takeaways, lessons, or stories from your work. It doesn’t have to be polished; it has to be genuine.

Content creates what we call “pull networking” — instead of always reaching out to people, they start coming to you because of what you’re contributing to the community.

What to Avoid

As you build your network, steer clear of these common mistakes:

• The generic “pick your brain” message: Always personalize your outreach. Reference specific work you admire or what you hope to learn.
• One-sided asks: Offer something in return, even if it’s just gratitude or your own insights.
• Negativity when job searching: Focus on what excites you about the next opportunity, not what you’re leaving behind.

Getting Started: Build Your Networking Plan

Ready to take action? We’ve created two practical resources to help you get started:

The SE Networking Guide: A five-part framework for building visibility and connection, including tactical tips for using LinkedIn intentionally.

The Networking CRM Template: A tracker to help you log contacts, personalize follow-ups, and set monthly networking goals.

These tools help you add structure to your networking efforts — tracking who you’ve met, what you discussed, and following up in ways that feel authentic and intentional.

Your Next Move

Networking isn’t a side project, it’s career infrastructure. For SEs, it builds influence inside your company, visibility across your industry, and momentum for your next big opportunity.

The best time to build your network was yesterday. The second best time is today.

Next Steps:

• Watch the full session recording
• Download the Networking Guide and CRM Template
• Take one action this week: comment on an SE’s post, attend an event, or reach out to someone new

Your next opportunity, advocate, or mentor could be one authentic connection away.