Today’s class made me realize the power of networking. I’ll admit, before this class, I didn’t like this idea of networking as it made me feel odd to start an friendship/ a simple conversation with someone for the sole purpose of getting a job. I thought it was a cold approach at first. This class thought me that networking it a must. Of course I can always stay stubborn and try to land job opportunities on my own but I realized that someone who networks will always have a higher chance of getting that job then someone who is independent and relying on their resume to speak for it self. Networking is a skill and I need more practice in obtaining that skill. Having a shy, quiet, but observant demeanor kind of makes it hard to put myself out there and make contacts with future peers but I’m going to start trying.

Since I have the email format now, I plan to use it one day in the future. Maybe after 1 or 2 years after graduation. It never hurts and the least someone can do it say no or just ignore my email. But yes, I learned the power of Networking today. I even realized the power of LinkedIn. One of my classmates thought me the tricks on how to properly use LinkedIn. She has over 500 connections. Basically, the trick is to send a “hi I would like more information on you job” type of message and then building a conversation so the connections are actually familiar with you instead of being a stranger that randomly adds them.

The idea sounds superficial but the method actually works. As my classmate is a living proof. She has gotten job offers just for being connected with one person that the hiring manager also have as a connection. Anyways, what I learned is networking is important and that I really need to start building a networking circle to fall back on when finding job offers get hard.

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