Five Tips For Networking While In College
Networking is a critical part of life, but it is often a very misunderstood practice. Networking is not the process of collecting contacts who can help you out at some future point in time. If this selfish supposition is your stating point, then your network is not likely to grow or maintain itself as a solid support system. True networking is based on balanced exchanges, mutual respect and genuine fondness. Forging real, long-lasting bonds with people is the key to effective networking. Here are some tips for networking successfully in college: 1. Office hours are almost as important as lectures. If you think that officer hours are a waste of your time, you’re a fool. Some of the long-term bonds you can form will be created in the offices of your professors. Get to know these welcoming men and women. Talk about the course material, their research or your career interests. Ask for advice. Be respectful and courteous, and recognize that your professors don’t have a lot of time. A majority of professors love interested and engaging students. Think about how many disinterested bodies they have to try and teach. If you enter office hours with genuine enthusiasm and a thirst for knowledge, you will soon discover that most of your professors are friendly and helpful. Once you have created a working friendship, you’ll have an ally in your field of study who will be there for you for the rest of your life. Don’t forget to keep in touch when you leave. 2. Section is a time to make allies. Section can be grueling, especially if the discussion grows stagnant with repetition, soap-box speeches and general nonsense. When you witness something stupid, like say, a person professing their undying devotion to 19th century proletariat revolution, look around the room. See who else is rolling their eyes along with you. Find like minded, intelligent classmates and target them for friendship. 3. Get to know your roommates, housemates and neighbors. Familiarize yourself with the people around you. Be your own person, but don’t be anti-social. Talk to people. Find out their likes and dislikes. Develop relationships with people you respect, and shy away from associations with distracting, unfocused party mongers. Unless of course, your interests happen to coincide with these people. 4. Be social when it comes to hobbies, interests and events. Meet people who share your interests. Join a club, find a study group or start a band. Connect with others who share your unique set of likes and dislikes. 5. Don’t be a jerk to anyone. Don’t be a chump in section. Don’t try to embarrass people. Keep it civil with your roommate. Just don’t cause too much drama in your network will be better as a result. Remember, don’t have the mindset of “how can this person help me in the future.” Your network should consist of friends and colleagues that you generally respect and would help out in any situation. The feeling should also be mutual. Don’t coddle a bitter professor just because he’s got a name that would look nice at the bottom of your letter of recommendation to grad school. Don’t associate with kids you don’t like. Create real relationships based on trust and mutual admiration. That’s how you build a large network of real friends who would do anything to help you out, and would expect the same type of assistance from you.
Other Articles
Networking Works Whether you are in the game to further yourself personally or professionally, one key ingredient is essential: Networking!I remember some years ago, Joan Rivers gave a commencement speech at Harvard, and the professors and parents were absolutely appalled by her message. It was simple, “It’s not WHAT you know, it’s WHO you know…” that w ...Sexy Business Women And More Great Business Keywords Creating a website for your business is easy but bringing visitors to the site is difficult. Too many business owners try too hard to get their site listed in search results for highly competitive keywords such as "business." Sure, over 1 million people search that word every month but there are over 1 billion websites that compete for that keyw ...Make Comments and Win Recognition Your site is most important to you, but it is also important that you extend your reach beyond your own site and contribute elsewhere. By contribute, I mean writing articles that others can post, joining newsgroups and adding your comments, writing rebuttals for other newsletters and articles. You want to spread out so that your name and experti ...Internet Presence - If You’d Like To Know A Little More About Me, Just Google Me The power of a personal Internet presence was the subject of a conversation I had with a colleague the other day. He was trying to understand what the value of a personal Internet presence was to a non-executive.I asked him if he saw value in other industry colleagues, peers, co-workers, subordinates, superiors, existing or prospective c ...Finding Networking Opportunities Is Easy Business networking is all about forming strong relationships built on mutual respect and trust. Those relationships are the , The basis for the single most important tool that we all need if we want to survive in the competitive 21st century.I'm talking about referrals and today's savvy business professionals know that,just as night R ...Importance of Surrounding Yourself with the Right People I've only been in Ohio 8 months. Making new friends in a new town where you know no one is not easy; however, surrounding yourself with the right people is critical to your ability to overcome adversity. Oprah says it best:"Lots of people want to ride with you in the limo, but what you want is someone who will take the bus with you when t ...Building A Network Of Contacts Is Vital For Success In A Front-Line Sales Role To some, networking means simply meeting or calling someone new for what might be a one-off discussion or event. In this limited sense, networking is only a trading relationship in which two parties seek to discover whether they have anything of mutual interest to talk about. They either make some sort of exchange or quickly move on. This makes ...Wireless Networking, Part 2: Setup and Security The first installment in this two-part series of Tech Tips provided an introduction to the basic capabilities and hardware involved in wireless networking. In the final installment of this two-part series, we will look at some of the basic setup and security considerations that should be addressed. The physical installation of a wireless netwo ...Effortless Networking: Getting People To Follow Up With You Do you have trouble following up with people you meet? Or getting people to follow up with you?You're not alone. This seems to be a common challenge.This usually happens when the proper foundation hasn't been laid.What do I mean by this?Well, when you meet someone for the first time, how do you know t ...Effortless Networking: Conversations - the heart of networking Conversation is at the heart of all networking activity.How confident and comfortable are you, engaging people in conversation?Many people have asked me recently about how to initiate and engage in conversation. In fact, over the past year, this has been one of the most popular questions!Here are som ...Web 2.0 Business To Business Social Networking Despite its now rampant popularity across the internet you still may not at this point have heard of the term “Social Networking” in relation to the internet. Social Networking refers to the development and then utilization of an online community website for the purposes of meeting other people. This type of website began with friendship type ne ...What’s Your Time Worth – or - HOW TO WASTE $12,000 Networking What's your time worth? If you regularly spend time attending networking meetings and/or events, you're making a BIG investment. It may not be a large dollar investment, but think about the time you invest. Time, as they say, is money and there's no better way to waste that resource than following these 4 networking tips: ...On Networking Groups (Part One) I have been trying to think about how I can talk about this subject and address it in a way that would be fair and balanced without injecting too much personal opinion and have decided to first talk about the types of groups and then later on be more specific. It is important to remember that you will have preferences that may not align with min ...How to Increase the Chance of a Match When Networking Networking is a productive activity. But to benefit the productivity to its full extent you should network the way you would organize other activities.There is a difference between networking and selling. Networking might be familiar to selling, but it is different in the fact that sales is dedicated to a specific service (that you offer ...Which Notebook Computer Has Your Name On It? Notebook Computers Are Sexy!Granted, the notebook computer may just be the sexiest accessory this side of a Baywatch Extra! But are they worth the extra money? Should your next PC be a notebook or laptop computer?What are the pros and cons of owning a notebook computer? More importantly, which notebook is best for you?T ...American Business Women's Association: Women On A Mission Joining a friend at a meeting of the Triangle Chapter of the American Business Women's Association(ABWA) was just what I needed. Not only was I impacted by the warmth of the women, but their mission:To bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and to provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow ...Networking -- How to Miss an Opportunity In a good relationship between friends it is possible that, for instance, the two friends will not see each other for quite a while. The relation can take it. Both lives can take a different turn; one has a new job, the other a new relation and for some period both have less contact. But after a while you meet again, and the friendship is as eve ...Get on the Employment Career Networking Bandwagon Networking for your job advancement in your career development path offers big benefits and outstanding career employment advancement opportunities that in most cases would never come your way otherwise.Why network? Networking in the employment and career field offers the number one source of finding employment and job advancement. It is ...Performance Metrics - Measure Your Networking Effectiveness Performance metrics in the area of networking are those measurements that will tell you whether your efforts are resulting in business. Networking and relationship marketing are time intensive so you want to spend that time wisely. Performance metrics are the keys to this analysis.Your networking should include a variety of business org ...Networking - It's a Tool, Not a Crutch I have a client who came to me complaining about a lack of business. He started his accounting business six months ago and has spent months and a good deal of money designing and building a decent website, brochure, post cards, etc. He is also a member of a BNI (Business Area Network) group. However, he wasn't doing the business ...Why Every Freelance Writer Should Join a Chamber of Commerce Following are five compelling reasons why every freelance writer should join a chamber of commerce:1. No Competition: I currently belong to two chambers of commerce, and have visited countless others as a speaker, seminar and/or networking attendee. You know what? I am usually the only freelance writer in the room. Yep, the only on ...Notes for Newbies - Part Eleven - Networking, Mentoring and Some Magic Words Hello againToday we want to talk about where you can look for some help. This is useful anytime, but especially when things don’t seem to be going too well in the early days.Networking Networking is a great way not only to get some help when you need it, but to help you keep up with what’s new i ...You Are Invited Business card size works well for invitations to special events.What do you visualize when you think about invitations? More than likely you are thinking about a wedding or a party. You may even think about a verbal invitation that is extended to you for a business event. Invitations come in all sizes and shapes and for almost every even ...Improve Networking Group Effectiveness with Member's Experiences How often do guests visit your networking group yet ultimately never join? Why do they come in the first place? What are they expecting? What are they leaving with each meeting? The last question is critical and that is where you should begin if your group is willing to try something new.Start by giving your guests a printed “group b ...
|