Networking: Unlocking Career Opportunities for Students

How Early and Effective Networking Can Transform Your Career Path

Vincent-Leander Bertz from IU’s Career Office shares valuable insights into how students can leverage networking early on to shape their career journeys. He highlights the importance of going beyond high-profile connections, focusing instead on building genuine, mutually beneficial relationships in everyday settings. Whether it’s a sports teammate or a member of your community, these connections can offer diverse perspectives and lead to new opportunities, creating a network that supports your career growth.

The Traditional View of Networking

When most people think of networking, they imagine connecting with C-level management, HR managers, recruiters, alums and influencers. While these high-profile connections can be valuable, focusing on them can be limiting.

Networking is about building a supportive system of where information and services can be shared among individuals and groups with common interests. A purely transactional approach often puts people off because it lacks the essential elements of mutual benefit and genuine, shared interest. Real networking goes beyond a transactional view of human relationships to create meaningful connections.

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Expanding your networking horizons

It's easy to overlook the idea that networking can (and should) include the people you talk to every day. Students can connect with people they do sports with, someone from their book club, a friend of a friend who met at a party, neighbours and members of their social or religious community.

These seemingly informal connections can provide diverse perspectives, introduce you to new opportunities and cultivate a robust, supportive network. Networking is about sharing diverse ideas between individuals and groups with a common interest, not just cynically targeting high-profile contacts.

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Avoid these common networking mistakes

One of the most common errors in networking is treating it as a one-sided transaction. This reactive and slightly egocentric approach is often ineffective because it rarely establishes a genuine connection. Networking should be a mutually beneficial relationship where both parties find value in the connection and can ask themselves question such as where's the common interest is and where the sharing might be. By building genuine relationships based on common interests, students can create a network that offers continuous support and opportunities while avoiding the pitfalls of transactional networking.

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The benefits and challenges of relational networking

Relational networking comes with a host of pros and cons. On the positive side, it builds confidence, provides access to industry trends and insights, broadens your network, increases knowledge and expertise, improves communication and boosts interpersonal skills. It is also a way of building collaborative partnerships that can lead to mutual growth and success and last, but by no means least, it enhances career opportunities.

However, it can also be time-consuming and requires commitment, patience and thorough research. This means it is slow to start and takes time to become effective. Despite these challenges, the long-term benefits of a well-nurtured network are invaluable. Your effort today can pay off multifold in your future career.

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