Networking: Genuine Relationship Building or A Means to An End?

In the middle of last January, I was fortunate enough to participate in a sophomore-based program hosted by the Undergraduate Practice Opportunities Program (UPOP) called UPOP Week at MIT. It was a week-long training session focused on helping sophomores develop their teamwork and public speaking skills, while also teaching them how to network and build a proper resume for employers to view.

I thoroughly enjoyed my experience throughout UPOP Week, from bonding with my team members in group activities, to listening to guest speakers detail their professional journey after graduating from MIT. Each event help put skills such as leadership, collaboration, time management, etc., into a holistic picture of how to excel in the workplace. At the end of the week, we were provided an opportunity to “network” with employers from a variety of industries. I happily took advantage of this time to meet with prospective companies and their representatives, and truly get a feel for the culture and the work I would perform if they were to hire me.

Now, coming into this “networking session”, I already had an internship confirmed for that following summer, so I had zero expectations that connecting with any representatives would lead to an internship offer. I just wanted to learn more about their work and how they arrived at where they were today.

Focusing on the conversation itself with a recruiter instead of what key things I need to say in order to score an interview really made my chats with company representatives more genuine and deep. I felt that truly got to know their story of how they came to the company that they were representing and how they felt about their role and such. The aerospace industry that I'm hoping to break into is very "network-heavy" in terms of companies knowing who to talk to initiate and close a deal.

Networking – “interact with other people to exchange information and develop contacts, especially to further one's career”

Doesn’t that seem that definition come off across as cold and self-serving? Networking as described and used today, strongly implies that the person or people you chat with only have one purpose: to further your own career. I understand that in this world, it tends to be more of who you know instead of what you know, but I still want to prioritize building relationships with those in my line of work versus using people as a means to an end.

I don’t want to come across presenting a false dichotomy when it comes to networking – it is within the realm of possibility to build a meaningful relationship with someone who’s a bit more connected than you are, and walk away with the confidence that when an opportunity opens up, you’ll be the first person to be notified.

But the talk dominating networking heavily focuses on the end goal – crossing the stepping stone to the next part of your career, rather than putting the person and their story first.

My type of interactions with others in the workplace or during conferences could be described as “ people-oriented networking” whereas traditional views of meeting key players in industry focus on “ goal-oriented networking.”

I find that when I am “networking”, the most rewarding times are when I have zero need for what the other person could offer me (I would still be grateful if they did offer an opportunity, of course), but I’m focused on the person, not on the goal of a career stepping stone. I’m a people-oriented person, I find their individual story more important than the opportunity that could arise from just speaking with them.

As a soon-to-be senior entering the workforce within two years’ time, I want to be able to become more confident and comfortable with my style of “networking”, seeing as it clearly bucks the main trend. I know my intentions for meeting others may not be the same as the person I’m talking to, but I refuse to put any arbitrary goal ahead of a person’s story that I’m listening to.

What are your thoughts? Is the goal/career-oriented way we “network” in practice appropriate for the workplace? Or should we continue to focus on the individual or group of people we are speaking to, regardless of what potential opportunity could arise from our conversation?

#StudentVoices