All the networking tricks I learned in college

I love to talk. I mean really, I could talk to anyone or anything forever – the silence makes me uncomfortable. When I was younger, I would get in trouble for talking too much, but recently it’s proved to come in handy.

The summer before my freshman year of college I applied to a summer program offered at my university. Through the program I made so many friends, whom I’m still in contact with now, and became friends with the professor leading it. Since I was able to maintain a friendship with my mentor, it gave me an edge into my first college opportunity – research during the school year. For many students, it’s challenging finding a mentor and securing a research position by their first semester of college, so I realized something I had done was correct, but I didn’t have a name to it.

Then during my sophomore year, in a class of nearly 200 students, I befriended an assistant professor and would frequent office hours with her. I just enjoyed talking to her, I didn’t think much of it, but as luck had it she needed a research intern at her project at the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum that upcoming summer and thought to invite me to the opportunity. Of course, I had to take it! Soon, I realized this trend wasn’t simply because I was lucky but it’s because I was able to form a personal relationship with people from professional settings – these people were part of my network.

The summer after my junior year I applied to an opportunity my freshman year biology lab instructor sent to me and  was able to travel to Cape Town, South Africa in an all expenses paid trip. Needless to say it was a life changing experience all thanks to networking.

Networking is important to create connections for people to recognize a student’s ability outside of their existence simply on paper – outside of their resume and transcript. At a professional event I went to earlier this year at my university, they defined a network as follows:

At the event, I learned how important networking is for opportunities not only in college, but after college as well. Having mentors and leadership influences in your life helps you grow as a learner and helps you excel in obtaining knowledge. At the Networking event  I was also given tips by some alumni mentors on how to develop networking skills such as:

Show genuine interest in conversation- repeat the person’s name to remember it

Listen carefully and respond appropriately

Avoid sensitive subjects

Be professional, but be yourself

Ask open-ended questions to enhance your connection and conversation

At the event, there had been some alumni I connected really well with and followed up with after the event, and received resume critiquing and helpful advise from. Here’s an example of one of the mentors’ reply to my follow up message post-event:

Networking is a technique disciples of all knowledge use and benefit from. Try your luck with it and see how it goes! I mean hey, if all else fails, you’ve got nothing to lose! Not to mention, if it does work out great, you have wonderful things for your resume!