The Value of Networking
This weekend I assisted in a networking workshop for parent's weekend. It was an informative workshop given by an alumn of our college who had previously worked in retail and then went on to work in professional recruiting. She provided some valuable tips for students and illustrated how they can begin tapping into a network of college alumni to assist them in their own career development. Many colleges have alumni that offer career advice, expertise, and provide a better understanding of the career field in which they work. This is an invaluable resource that many students don't take advantage of while still a student in college.
She recommended that students begin networking early in order to take advantage of all of the people out their who are willing to assist them in the career planning process. She told students the importance of doing research on the alumni's line of work and developing a connection by talking about their own career goals and aspirations. Many parents attended the program without their son or daughter and they wanted to know how they could get their child to better understand the value of networking as they begin to build on their career. There are also alumni at many colleges who offer internships and/or jobs to students throughout the year in various locations of the country. Why not take some time to contact the Career Services Office at your college to see what networking tools they might have available?
This is excellent advice. Many colleges offer training in networking, but in addition, there is a wonderful book that can be used at any stage of your career. It is called Make Your Contacts Count by Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon.(AMACOM 2007) of Contacts Count. This book breaks the networking process down, which is particularly helpful for college students. It shows readers how to approach people they don’t know and how to answer the “what do you want to do?” question. Understanding how to network can make it easier to approach alumni and establish a relationship with them. I used to be a director of a chamber of commerce and watched our members struggle with networking, so it can be a challenge at any age. I loved this book so much that I became one of the Contacts Counts presenters.