Every year, millions of people choose to migrate to other countries for many purposes. They may want to leave their home country to find a new job, to continue studies in school or university, to join their family members abroad, or they may do so for social, political and environmental reasons. But for whatever reason that you want to become a migrant and start living in a foreign country, you need networking. In fact, as a migrant who may be miles away from home country, you will have plenty of reasons to believe that networking is a must-to-do for you.
What Is Networking and Why Does It Matter to Migrants?
Networking is the means that can provide the kinds of connections needed to make migrant’s lives easier. Linking yourself to others via virtual or real social means is how networking is generally defined. Investopedia defines networking as the exchange of information and ideas among people with a common profession, common nationality, common language or common interests, usually in an informal social setting [1]. But networking is done for one purpose, ‘interaction’, and this interaction is necessary in many ways; when you have an extended network of people similar to you in various ways, then you will surely be better able to meet your various needs as a migrant. The very means to network is called “networking service”. According to Wikipedia, networking service (also social networking site or social media) is an online platform which people use to build social networks or social relationships with other people who share similar personal or career interests, activities, backgrounds or real-life connections [2].
Generally, networking is necessary to develop relationships and connections with people similar to you in various ways so that you can have more opportunities to advance your career. But networking is not just related to job opportunities. As a migrant, you surely have many other concerns upon arriving to your host country including moving to a particular destination, finding housing, opening up a business of your own, accessing to services, meeting more easily your daily demands such as shopping, going to a doctor, going to a restaurant, and even find compatriots to socially interact with to reduce homesickness are all dependent on your social network that you have created, and the more extended this social network is, the better you can respond to your above-mentioned demands.
What Are Different Types of Networking Services?
a- Online Services
When we think of social networking services, names such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and some other famous platforms come to our mind. Facebook is arguably the most popular social media platform. This American online social media and social networking service provides a way for users to build connections and share information with people and organizations they choose to interact with online. But there is more to this social media platform. For instance, Facebook has also become a perfect platform for B2C (business to consumer) marketing, providing very targeted advertising opportunities based on user’s likes and associations. One way to professionally benefit from Facebook’s enormous user base and to grow your professional network is to participate in Facebook Groups. Facebook Groups is a feature that allows Facebook users to connect, discuss and network with each other within the context of a common interest or topic.
When it comes to business networking, LinkedIn is outstanding as it has been created exclusively for this purpose. This American business and employment-oriented online service provides an online location for people to engage with other professionals, join groups, post blogs, and share information. And, of course, it is a place to post a resume that can be seen by prospective employers, to search for jobs, or to identify job candidates. In other words, LinkedIn allows job seekers to post their CVs and employers to post jobs. LinkedIn is the largest professional network, but there are many others. Some cater to particular subsets of people, such as Black Business Women Online. Others have a different focus, such as Meetup, which encourages its members to meet in person off-site or virtually through online video conferences [3].
Instagram is another free, online social network platform that is a great way to expand your business’s reach and engagement with your customers. Since its inception, Instagram has proven to be a powerful marketing tool for businesses looking to expand their presence and the visibility of their products. Other popular online platforms that offer networking features include Telegram, a messaging system that can be used for advertising and finding as well as expanding the circle of your acquaintances in the networking process.
WhatsApp is another platform for networking, which just like Telegram, has some networking features as well as features that will let you use this platform for marketing and advertising. In fact, according to Nielsen’s Facebook Messaging Survey, 67 percent of mobile messaging app users said they expect to use chat more for communicating with businesses over the next two years. What’s more, 53 percent of respondents say they’re more likely to shop with a business they can message directly [4].
b- Offline Services
Besides online platforms, there are various offline ways of creating and expanding your social network that may be useful for migrants. The fact is that most of the times, migrants face different sets of obstacles to integration: language barriers in accessing public services; lack of information; discrimination and prejudice from native-born communities complicating their access to jobs and social inclusion are among these obstacles. Cities have planned during recent years to respond to such challenges faced by migrants through integrated inclusive urban strategies, when possible soliciting active engagement from all communities. These strategies go beyond providing services adapted to migrants and include building connections where people live, linking different groups and communities, and fighting against risks of polarization and populism. In Amsterdam, the Netherlands, and under the lead of the Municipal Department of Social Affairs, the city started the “Amsterdam Approach” program in 2016.
It’s an integrated approach to ensure that migrants receive early guidance with regard to employment, education and civic integration in the form of holding regular meetings and gatherings both with the people of their own community living in the city as well as the locals who are members of the program. In Berlin, the Welcome Centre (Willkommenszentrum) works as a central consulting unit, which offers all newcomers advice about a wide range of services and legal issues regarding immigration and integration. It also provides an in-person environment for migrants of the same community to meet on a regular monthly basis.
The services are available to all migrants regardless of their legal status (including irregular migrants) In Barcelona, Spain, SAIER (Servei d’atencio a Immigrants, emigrants i refugiats – Attention service for immigrants, emigrants and refugees) is a hub for migrant populations (including irregular and EU migrants). It offers personalized advice in 12 languages across several services (social work, legal advice, regularization services, housing, etc.) and also arranges monthly meetings between the new migrants and people of their own community who are already living in the city, which is a great help for newcomers to expand their network. In Ottawa, Canada, and as part of the Community Connection strategy, the city supports newcomers in developing a sense of belonging, while enabling mainstream institutions and community members to better understand the contributions of newcomers and the challenges they face. The aim here is to build bridges between newcomers and host communities and to form networks within the various dimensions of Canadian society and promote migrants’ contribution [5].
Community building activities like celebrating festivals from different regions or youth both with locals and people of the migrants’ communities, development activities like sporting events and competitions among people of the same community and language, are common features of the above-mentioned programs all to help migrants build their own network and live a better life in their host country.
Trustply Platform, A Unique and Effective Networking Service For Migrants
Though the above-mentioned social networking services are useful, using social networking, be it online or offline, is not just confined to being in contact with family and friends and colleagues, finding old and new friends, sharing videos and photos, or to business and career purposes. Especially for you as a migrant, having a social networking platform that can offer you something more than what the above-mentioned services do is a necessity. Trustply is that very platform that you, as a migrant, will need. Like other networking services, Trustply will help you create and expand your social network, but unlike others, this online platform has created an environment for its users to experience a different and new way of networking, which is especially beneficial, or better say, customized for migrants. As a migrant who is not familiar with many things in the new home, you will surely need people of your own community who already live in the host country, not just for reducing the feeling of homesickness, but also for meeting your routine needs. This is mostly because migrants feel more comfortable communicating with people of their own community than with locals of their host country. Therefore, sharing the same nationality, which means sharing the same culture, the same social and historical background, the same sentiment, and of course, the same language, is a privilege that can be used to help migrants have a better life, especially during their first years of their migration.
Imagine you just arrived in Canada, for instance, and after a while, you need to go to a barbershop, to a restaurant, or you may need some services at home like having a leaking pipe, which makes you need a plumber to come and take care of your problem in your house. Likewise, you may get sick for any reason and need a doctor to visit you. For all these routine requirements and many more, you, as a migrant, need a network that first of all, include people of your own community, people that you have no problem communicating with. This is what Trustply has recognized and used in its method of networking.
In Trustply, businesses are classified based on the owner’s nationality, so that when an Italian migrant to Canada, for instance, want to call for a plumber, a doctor, a tutor, a carpenter, a mechanic, etc. he/she can call for one from his own nationality and by doing so, avoid many communication problems that might come in the way. Trustply is therefore a great place for businesspersons to advertise their businesses as well. Good news is that for advertising a business in Trustply, you don’t need to pay and this service is all free of charge. For more information on the Trustply networking service, visit Trustply.com.
Sources: investopedia.com | wikipedia.org | investopedia.com | hootsuite.com |oecd-ilibrary.org
