As college students, we often live in a bubble and think to ourselves, “When I get that one piece of paper (AKA my degree during my undergrad at Winona State University), I will for sure get a job.” This is totally not true. As we walk across the stage at graduation soon, shake someone’s hand, accept our fake diploma (which will be mailed to us in weeks to come) turn, smile to the camera and wave at mom and dad, I can’t help but think, now what? Everyone and their mother now has an undergraduate degree, what makes me so special thinking I deserve this job out of all the other candidates? This is where networking comes in. As Lauren Conrad once said,
“The word “networking” gets a bad wrap because so many people think it is synonymous with trying to get ahead. But networking shouldn’t be an entirely selfish endeavor. A good networker is always introducing his or her contacts to one another, and trying to help their colleagues make important connections. What goes around comes around, and having this attitude will help you in the long term.”
Networking is an essential tool to start practicing during your undergraduate career. Here are a few tricks and tips you can try over winter break to improve your network!
1. Enhance your LinkedIn profile with a summary about yourself!
2. Set up some coffee dates with professionals in your interested industry.
3. Create an Excel spreadsheet of your network (name, contact information, company, how you met them, other details).
4. Organize the business cards you have already received.
5. Job + internship search online!
6. Listen to free podcasts regarding your industry and become an expert on a certain topic of interest.
7. Shop for some new professional wear.
8. Clean up your social media.
9. Lastly, take the break to relax and enjoy quality time with your relatives. They might turn out to help you in your job search through a reference!
Overall, little steps along the way will help you enhance your professional career in the long run. Cheers to these four years, or six years, I won’t judge!