Squiggly Careers Podcast: AI Skills Sprint – How To Make Networking Easy with AI

Hosts: Sarah Ellis & Helen Tupper
Date: September 18, 2025
Episode: Day 4 of the AI Skills Sprint series

Episode Overview

This episode dives into networking—a skill that’s often seen as divisive, but absolutely vital for building a resilient, opportunity-rich "squiggly" career. Sarah and Helen focus on how you can use AI tools to make networking easier, more authentic, and suited to your own style—even if you hate the very idea. Practical AI prompts, insightful anecdotes, and actionable experiments fill this episode, with both hosts sharing their real experience using AI to expand personal networks.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Importance of Networking in Career Development

• Networking Is People Helping People

  • Helen frames networking not as "knowing a lot of people," but as "people helping people."
  • Quote (Helen, 01:10):
    “It’s not the amount of connections you’ve got on LinkedIn. … It’s people helping people. … It’s a better place to start from, to think, how can I be helpful?"
  • Networking is a cornerstone of career resilience; 70% of roles come through connections (01:00).

• Authentic Connections and Reciprocity

  • Helping others leads to reciprocity ("career karma"), making authentic relationship building critical for long-term opportunities.

2. Building a "Personal Board" with AI

• The Personal Board Tool

  • Sarah introduces the idea: Surround yourself with a variety of perspectives—Challenger, Questioner, Supporter, Ideator, Connector, and Empathizer—to avoid echo chambers.
  • It's often difficult to access diverse viewpoints (“difference can feel hard to do”–02:35).

• Prompt for AI

  • Sarah’s practical AI prompt:
    “Act as my personal career board. Take on different personas… My current career dilemma is how to make sure I’m balancing enough time learning for myself with spending time supporting other people to learn. What questions or statements would each of these people ask me, and show the data in a table.” (03:01)

• How It Worked

  • Both ChatGPT and Claude generated helpful tables of roles, voices, questions, and statements.
  • The process is highly personalizable, allowing you to tailor the personas or the challenge.

• Notable Example (Sarah’s Board):

  • Challenger persona:
    "If you're not learning for yourself, how can you credibly guide others? What are you avoiding?" (04:36)

  • "For me, really helpful. As someone who isn’t… naturally very confronting… that prompt… hit home." (Sarah, 04:47)

  • Supporter persona:
    "You give so much to others, what would it look like to give that same care and energy to yourself?" Sarah admitted this wasn't motivating for her:
    “Support dismissed. You can leave my board.” (Sarah, jokingly, 05:13)

  • The board helps quickly identify missing perspectives in your real-life network.

• Helen’s Take

  • Helen used the prompt but also asked for a simulated “one-to-one” with a persona, praising how it helped her prepare for tough conversations.

3. AI-Powered Networking Tool: Crystal Knows

• What Is Crystal Knows?

  • Helen describes Crystal Knows as an AI browser extension that analyzes LinkedIn profiles to provide personality insights and tailored communication tips (06:28).
  • Profiles people based on DISC and suggests ways to write emails or engage them.

• Real-World Testing

  • Helen tried it on Sarah (gave labels like "initiator," "visionary," "charismatic," "dynamic"), Adam Grant (helpful outreach suggestions), and her husband (accurate, if sometimes “making some of it up” due to sparse LinkedIn data—07:45).

• Limitations & Cautions

  • Sarah shares reservations—not everything is accurate, and AI shouldn’t replace critical thinking or the core skill of building relationships.
  • Quote (Sarah, 08:42):
    “Don’t outsource your learning and development to an AI or to other people. And don’t outsource your ability to build relationships.”
  • "You can tell when things are written by AI… I would hate people to start sending emails… where you’re like, oh, this is clearly an AI."

• Recommendation

  • Try it, see what works, but always use human judgment. “Just give it a go. See what it tells you. See how useful it is for you.” (Helen, 09:36)

4. Team Actions and Community Learning

• Bringing AI Networking into Teams

  • Use LinkedIn profiles as discussion starters.
  • Share one thing you want to learn, find helpers in the group, and suggest tools or people who could assist.
  • Sharing learning goals encourages quick, reciprocal sharing and makes networking purposeful rather than transactional. (Sarah, 10:00)

• Notable Quote:
  “Everybody starts helping everybody… that’s easier if you’ve got a kind of goal, a learning goal… that’s just a good place to start.” (Sarah, 10:39)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Squiggly stat time: 70% of people’s roles come through a connection.” (Helen, 00:43)
• “It’s about people helping people, not people knowing people.” (Helen, 01:13)
• “Support dismissed. You can leave my board.” (Sarah, jokingly, 05:13)
• “Don’t outsource your ability to build relationships.” (Sarah, 08:43)
• “Everybody starts helping everybody… when you’ve got a goal.” (Sarah, 10:39)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• 00:43 – 01:30: Why networking matters, key stat on career opportunities
• 02:04 – 03:33: Introduction of the “personal board” and using AI to simulate missing perspectives
• 04:17 – 05:54: Sarah’s reflections on AI-generated board and how it differs from real relationships
• 05:54 – 06:25: Helen’s “one-to-one” experiment with AI personas
• 06:25 – 08:33: Deep dive into Crystal Knows – usage, pros & cons, fun experiments
• 08:33 – 09:26: Sarah’s critical thinking disclaimer on AI-driven networking
• 09:38 – 10:53: Practical advice on using AI networking approaches in team and community settings

Episode Tone & Style

• Light-hearted, honest, and practical—with Sarah and Helen’s trademark wit.
• Both hosts openly share what works for them, what doesn’t, and encourage listeners to experiment and reflect.
• Emphasis throughout on authenticity, experimenting, and helping others before counting contacts.

Summary Takeaway

Networking is essential for career resilience, but it can (and should) be reimagined as helping others, not just collecting contacts. AI tools can fill gaps—helping you simulate diverse personal boards or understand how best to communicate with new people—but they’re no substitute for genuine human skills and critical judgment. Use these tools wisely, experiment, and always keep people at the heart of your squiggly career journey.