When it comes to improving your employment prospects, advancing your career or increasing your income, the skills and experience you have gained over the years will get you a long way.

But most of us will have discovered that a timely tip-off or personal introduction from a friend can often open doors that were previously locked.

Cultivating a strong network of business contacts has always been vital for those who want to get on in life ­ and now the internet has provided the ultimate upgrade to that rumpled Rolodex or frayed Filofax.

Social networking websites aren’t just for making new friends; you can also tap into resources that will boost your working life, whether you’re looking for a new job, fresh business opportunities or just to catch up with old colleagues.

In this feature we’re going to show you how to use websites such as Facebook to get ahead and how to introduce yourself to the specialist professional networking sites that are becoming the secret to many people’s success.

You could be forgiven if the phrase ‘business networking’ conjures up visions of dreary cocktail parties with cheesy nibbles and cheesier grins. But your first aim in business networking should be to make the most of the people you already know.

It’s not just for people in office environments, either. Whatever you do for a living, it’s a good bet that other people working in your field are involved in an online social network.

Get connected
Sites such as Facebook are little more than a structured set of connections. You start out joining one group (the site itself) and, through inviting people to link to your profile, begin to overlap with their friends.

On Facebook, the word ‘networks’ relates to regions, schools or workplaces. Many sites also provide the opportunity to join groups. These groups may be focused on a common interest, such as a hobby or a shared experience; living in a certain region, for example, or attendance at a particular school or workplace.

Joining these groups enables you to overlap with people you have something in common with but whom you may not actually know. That’s the simple beauty of social networking and it’s a principle that can be used to develop your working life.

If you’re already using Facebook, then it’s easy to link to a network or group relating to a specific workplace. Click on the arrow next to the Networks button at the top of the home page and select Browse for Networks then click on the Workplaces tab that appears. Start typing in the name of the company and, if the network or a similar name already exists on Facebook, it will appear in a dropdown menu.