I think you should have the idea of networking on your mind earlier rather than later. There’s so much you’re going to be worried about your junior year that if you could get a head start on this it would help ease your load. I was pretty late to start formally thinking about networking, and I wish I would have started considering this earlier.
When people think of networking it conjures up an image of business casual events striking up small talk with professionals. And although that is one way to network and make connections, I think your network has the opportunity to grow everyday with the people you meet. It becomes stressful when you try to go out of your way to impress strangers. But by making genuine connections with people around will be the best way to build your network early on. It’s easy to overlook most of your activities as merely social gatherings, class, or coincidence, but maximizing all these opportunities can allow you to build your network from a few friends, a professor or a stranger.
1) Expand your friendship circle
One thing I really enjoyed in college was the new culture of meeting people one on one. In high school everything was group related except for meeting a best friend. Take advantage of the opportunity to reach out to people you don’t know well. This is good practice for your professional life. If you can’t do it with your peers how will you meet professionals. Within groups you’re involved in, there’s always going to be someone you don’t know that well. Reaching out will allow you to sharpen your people skills, broaden your perspective and get to know someone you otherwise might not have had the opportunity to know.
2) Curate your feed
Taking of social media platforms is a new opportunity that this generation has. This is a huge network that you have already built from just meeting new people. Instead of making it just a random feed, you can begin to brand yourself by the content that you make and post. Start being intentional about your comments, captions, and posts to convey things that you believe in or support. You could start a theme and center your whole account behind that or just have mini messages in each one. This isn’t about becoming Instagram famous or writing essays for each post. It’s just another platform that you can use to allow people to understand the real you that I think a lot of us overlook as merely a social life update dump area.
3) Get to know your professors
I’ve mentioned this point in a prior post, but I think these are the best people to start with when you’re looking to begin formally networking. Go to as many office hours as you can and in this case not for homework help, but to get to know them. Especially go to all the professors that are in your field, researching something you’re interested in, etc. They have already gone through everything, go and ask for advice or to hear their story. That way you can go into the field as if you have had experience because you took more initiative than the average college grad.
4) Conduct informational interviews
This one is in line with meeting professors. But I have been advised to use LinkedIn to find alumni who are listed under UNC’s page to reach and talk to. Most people will respond to a fellow Tarheel who wants advice. Have a list of questions ready before you skype or coffee meeting so they know you are serious about learning more about the industry and not wasting their time.
5) Find volunteer opportunities
Pick something you’re actually interested in. This will allow you to be surrounded by people who have similar interests and can be a great support system and pool of knowledge. Teamwork will help you along your journey to wherever you are aiming for professionally. This will also give you a talking point in future interviews and can allow you to be referred through connections to someone with similar interests as yours.
This advice is shaped from the idea that being genuine and intentional in every action early on will have more power than being opportunistic when you have a time crunch later. Networking doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Everything you have done up till know has been preparing you for the industry and to cultivating your hard skills. But don’t neglect your soft skills because they matter more in the social world of networking. Trying to do everything by yourself will ultimately just take longer, so reach out now to get a head start!
“Pulling a good network together takes effort, sincerity and time.” -Alan Collins
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