By Mackenzie Grizzard | Staff Writer
Enjoying college life is absolutely a necessity. These four years are so special and they truly go by quickly. But when you’re finally walking across that stage at graduation and all the celebrations die down, you’re faced with a harsh reality: “now what?”
Early on in our education, we’re taught to continuously prepare for the future. By middle school, we’re told to prepare for high school, and then we spend all of high school working hard to get into college.
College is virtually no different, except you’re preparing for the rest of your life. Even if you don’t necessarily want to have a life-long career, you should still have some sort of plan for what you’re doing with your life. And if you’re wanting to avoid your local unemployment office, you need to start networking.
In simple terms, networking is just making connections for growth in both your personal life and career. A study done by the Harvard Business Review reports that those with stronger professional networks end up with both higher salaries and promotions. It makes perfect sense, because when more people know you, you’re much more likely to be nominated for a higher position.
It’s like in high school, when people would say student government, prom king or queen and homecoming court are all popularity contests. The well-known people always win.
It was networking before we even knew what it was.
According to a Forbes article on networking, it’s essentially a process of building relationships and getting to know the “right” people. And unless you’re set to inherit a company from your family like the “nepo babies” we see on TikTok, you’ve got to start building you network.
Rakesh Soni is the CEO of LoginRadius, a technology start-up now used by hundreds of corporations. In an article for Forbes, he says the No. 1 way to network is to attend networking events. Lucky for you, Baylor hosts events like these twice a year.
Baylor’s twice-annual Career Day is hosted in both the spring and fall semesters and serves to connect students with employers from all over the country. Career Day is open to all majors and has more than 50 different companies for you to discover.
Even if you’re not a junior looking for an internship or a senior looking for a full-time job, attending events like Career Day is crucial for building your network simply because you’re meeting people.
San Diego junior Allison Findley said she received internship offers from three of the largest accounting firms in the nation. She attributes much of this success to the network she’s spent the last three years building.
“The practice of it makes you so much more comfortable when you actually need it,” Findley said. “The more you network with different people, you feel a lot more comfortable when you get to the interview stage.”
Networking doesn’t just have to be face-to-face. You can also do much of it online as well. Websites like LinkedIn and Handshake are great opportunities to look for potential employers. Another Forbes recommendation is reaching out to hiring managers through those sites so they have a face to put to a name when they’re going through stacks and stacks of applications.
Networking is an important skill to possess, and while you’re in college, you should be building it as much as you can. It really just starts with a simple message or a firm handshake.
