Is Networking More Important Than Technical Skills for Career Progression in STEM?

In my recent past corporate life, I conducted a survey with the scientists in the Technical department where I worked. One of the questions I asked was “What surprised you the most about transitioning from academic research to corporate life?” Their biggest surprise by far was the importance of networking and relationship building, over and above the science.

I can fully understand this, because as a fresh-faced bench scientist in the early part of my career, I do remember being incredibly passionate about the technical report that I was writing. And how, if I could just publish this report, it was going to change the world! (despite the opposing views of my critics).

The experimental data and report writing consumed me for a period of three months, and after having finished it, I was very pleased with the results. Imagine my surprise when I realised that not only did my line manager not really care, but neither did many of the other people on the business side outside of my ‘scientific bubble’… The reason? In their eyes it was not actually going to change the world. There was an interesting piece of science at best, but nothing that was really going to generate revenue and income for the company, which was where the interest truly lay. But, as I was not connected with many people on the business side, I was oblivious to what was important to them and the wider company.

This was a hard lesson to learn, but the harsh reality is, that like me at that stage, many STEM professionals prefer their technical work over self-promotion. There’s a perception that "networking" means superficial socialising, but in reality, it’s about building meaningful professional relationships, and as scientists we ignore this at our peril.

But should STEM professionals actively work on networking, or should their skills speak for themselves?

I know what the answer should be, but then there is still some small part of me that still thinks “If only they had fully understood my work back then, and run with the conclusions, it might well have changed the world!”

I’d be interested in your views…