Networking 101: Part II

The following article was published in  One Up Your Career - the daily info-vitamin capsule by Unnati to help you growth hack your career.

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by Vanya Shruti

HeyYoungster,

COVID-19 has shrouded the world with uncertainty. We do not know when the lockdown will be over and how long will it take for us to return to normalcy. The only certainty we have is the thing that we can do. Building a strong network will be a safety net that you can leverage in tough situations.

Without wasting any more pixels let us explore arenas to build an effective network as a college student:

• The Alumni Network- Your college seniors are the first building blocks of your network. In order to forge a good relationship with them, take the initiative and engage with them. Attend every meeting, activity, and event that gives an opportunity to interact with alumni or seniors. Ask questions at the end of the meeting. This will build your personal brand as someone who wants to know more. Be the first one to introduce yourself. Every year college organizes alumni meet. Volunteer to be in the organizing committee of such events. Once you graduate make time to attend the event as alumni. It is a good place to meet and interact with the super seniors of your college.
• Connect on LinkedIn - Social media is a convenient medium to expand the network and stay in touch but when it comes to professional networking, LinkedIn is the ultimate platform. Here are a few things to keep in mind while making your LinkedIn profile:
• Your profile picture is the first thing that people notice, so make sure that you put a display picture. Your face should be clearly visible. The image is how others will perceive you so not the right platform to post pouty selfies.
• Do not leave your LinkedIn header blank. Your header differentiates you from the crowd. You can use canva.com to create a header design for free. Avoid putting text in the header instead create a design that talks about the industry you want to get in.
• Often people write their accomplishments in the summary section. Use this space to tell a story about you that intrigues readers. Talk about the skills you possess that are relevant to the job profile you want.
• Create unique content. Write about a subject that interests you or the project you are working on. Strategically create content to attract the right kind of attention. For instance, if you are a marketing student then you can write about an ongoing marketing campaign. Write from the perspective of a student and express your opinion to make the content unique.
• The Networking events - Startup pitch event, industry meetups, and seminars provide excellent networking opportunities. You can attend the event to interact and establish contacts. Some of the events have discounts or free entry for students. How do you network at such events?
• It is difficult to talk to strangers so practice first. Take baby steps and start by talking to professors and students from different departments at your college. This will make you familiar with talking to strangers.
• Do your homework of researching about the key speakers and prominent attendees. Networking events do issue a list of speakers in advance. Find about them and this will give you points to strike an interesting conversation.
• Listen and ask relevant questions when you get a chance to interact with a professional. Most older people like to have a conversation with someone who can ask good questions and they will be happy to share the Gyan they have.
• Collect contact cards and make an excel sheet with name, contact details, and date of interaction. Set a reminder to send a text or an email at regular intervals. I know this sounds a bit too much but this will help in maintaining long term relationships.

P.S - Upcoming networking event.

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