What is networking?
That’s not the question you need to answer in responding to this second required post. Instead, we’ll arrive at some answers in a roundabout way.
First: a few things to read…
What’s wrong with informational interviewing (and why you should do it anyway)
How NOT to benefit from an informational interview.
Demystifying the informational interview
Respond to this post by answering the following questions:
- What are the words that come to mind when you hear the term “networking”? Are they positive or negative?
- Who are two people you know RIGHT NOW that you could approach to ask some questions relevant to your own career planning? That is, people whom you could ask what they like about their jobs, what steps they would recommend you take to get started in their profession, what obstacles they have encountered, etc. (You don’t need to name the people, just give a relevant identifying descriptor; e.g., “My cousin’s wife who works in human resources,” “My roommate’s dad who’s a freelance writer.” “My high favorite high school teacher who quit to manage a band,” and so on.
- What’s scary–or NOT–about networking?
Answers due by midnight on Sunday, April 24.
1. Term “Networking” automatically brings the word “Facebook” with it for me. Then I’ll think of networking as a group of people whose connections I can use to better myself.
2. My current caseworker and my pastor, who has connections to various missionary organizations.
3. Networking is working with people you know or kind of know, so I guess that’s good for the personal part but the main reason to network is to gain professional workforce knowledge, benefits, etc, so you have to be ready for that part too.
1. Networking brings mostly negative thoughts to mind for me. In addition to feeling exploitative and exclusionary, networking just brings up a lot of anxiety for me because it’s hard for me to talk to people a little more formally with the intention of gaining access to resources, information, or opportunities. I almost always imagine talking to strangers or awkward acquaintances, and we’re always wearing uncomfortable clothes and uncomfortable half smiles. It consistently feels like eating my vegetables.
2. I could talk to one of the assistant directors/my supervisor/lovely friend of the women’s center about how she got started in student affairs. I’ve heard her story and we frequently have conversations about happenings in student affairs on campus, but I would love to have a longer conversation with her. I could also talk to the prevention education coordinator of Rape Advocacy, Counseling, and Education Services about how she got started in advocacy.
3. I personally die a little when I watch myself try to connect with strangers in a professional setting. The scariest part of networking for me is feeling completely out of my element trying to fit into a professional version of myself and battling anxiety and self-consciousness.
1) When I hear “networking,” I immediately think about making connections. The idea of networking is both daunting and exciting. Daunting because I find myself socially awkward and have a difficult time putting myself out there; exciting because when I do make a good networking connection, it feels very comforting to know someone in my field of interest.
2) I feel comfortable enough to ask my mentor in my present internship for help and career advice. We’ve worked together this past semester, and I feel like I’ve improved my writing skills in a journalistic sense so I am more interested in a field like this than before. I also feel comfortable asking the coordinator of the Women’s Resources Center for career advice because I am very interested in using my Gender and Women’s Studies major as well. I really don’t know what career options I have as a GWS major, so asking the coordinator would really benefit me and inform me.
3) I think there’s this great emphasis on networking. We are urged to create connections with people to network. So it’s pretty scary when I think about networking and getting no benefit in return. It might just seem like a waste of energy to me (especially because I don’t really enjoy putting myself out there). So not seeing any substantial results sounds quite scary to me.
1. To be honest, networking has a bit of a negative connotation for me– social networking is great, since it allows you to keep in touch with people across the globe, but networking in the professional/vocational sense has always seemed artificial to me. You know, the idea that people only forge relationships on superficial bases and use others to get where they want to be.
2. Two people: my former youth leader who is an alum of this university in Science/Secondary Ed, and my AP Lang teacher from my junior year of high school.
3. Networking isn’t scary (because I’m extremely extroverted and I am naturally drawn to people and talking to them), but I do feel strange/uncomfortable in targeting specific people in order to talk to them so that I can gain something somehow…
When I hear the word “networking,” I feel a mixture of necessity and discomfort. The fact of the matter is, networking can sometimes take on the connotations of a dirty word just because it makes me think of those kids whose parents have high profile jobs/connections that allow them to just set their kids up straight out of college in a gig that seems like they never could have gotten themselves. So, in that regard, “networking” feels like a cheap trick.
However, as parts of these articles pointed out, networking does happen whether you like it or not or whether your intentions are to network or not. Everyone (more or less) that you meet has a job or knows somebody other than you or does something with their lives. This means that you’re inherently “networking” whenever you make a friend who has a job or has parents or siblings or other friends with jobs. Not thinking of it as the cheap, selling out, or dirty “networking” actually makes the process seem far less scary and soul-eating and far more realistic, comfortable, and accessible regardless of how “well-connected” you think you aren’t.
For example, my parents are retired flight attendants and are pretty far removed from what industry I’d like to be in. However, I recently got hired for a full-time job after I graduate. I follow the company on LinkedIn, and the job ad came up on my feed. I was interested, so I clicked, and LinkedIn notified me that I had one connection that could introduce me to someone at the company. It turns out that that connection was one of my really good friends who works as a creative development engineer for a creative/entertainment based campaign building company. I texted my friend right away and told him I was interested in this company, and he said that one of his best friends and former coworkers works as a computer engineer there, and he’d be happy to send an intro email between us. He wrote her a note right away, cc’ing me in, and she, in turn, wrote an email to the HR recruiter at her company cc’ing me in and recommending me for the position via me being recommended by her trusted friend and colleague. This led to a few emails between the HR recruiter and I before turning into a phone screen and then an in-person interview and then a test project and finally an offer.
I still feel that if I had gone the traditional route of sending in my cover letter and resume, I still would have had a good chance of getting a call. I feel that if I had gotten a call, I still would’ve more than likely gotten an offer. Whether or not that’s the case doesn’t really matter. The thing is, I know I was qualified for the job so I’m okay with the fact that I used a connection to help me get my foot in the door faster. And, honestly, most of networking is just that. Taking advantage of a friend’s knowledge or a connection about a specific thing you’re interested in. If they’re your friend and they believe in you, they’ll have no problem helping you out. If nothing would have come of this whole thing, it would have been remembered by my friend as 3 minutes he took out of his day to pen a casual email. Same thing for his friend who referred me. But now they can both feel good about they fact that they not only helped me out, but they helped their company find the right person for the position too.
1. When I hear the term “networking” I think of talking, connecting, good-attitude and time-consuming. I would say these are positive examples because these are traits everyone should have/use daily but for a person who is shy or does not have a lot of confidence doing this, it may seem difficult. I would say I’m in between both feelings.
2. I would say my English advisor because I’ve gone to her many times to ask for advice and she’s been very helpful with internships and job opportunities. Another person would be one of my LLS professors because he has shown to be very successful, welcoming and I feel has so many connections as well.
3. I think the scariest part of networking would be getting rejected or not seeing any positive results coming out of it. I feel networking is very time consuming and like one of the articles mentioned, if you don’t know anyone in the field you are looking to get a job in, then you won’t have any luck. With that, I feel so much pressure to want to try to talk to anyone I could possibly think of.