Networking Session
While I feel that there were some important points made and skills learned during the networking session that was held the other week, I couldn’t help noticing that there was an underlying notion among all of the tips and tricks that all of the guest speakers hinted at, but never explicitly said: networking is extremely phony. As I reflected upon the words of wisdom imparted to the class, I worried to myself that I might not have what it takes to shoot the breeze with a stranger or write up a short thank you note expressing my gratitude for a lovely conversation that was really just a masked attempt at me desperately trying to get a job; I can do the work, crunch the numbers, and play by the rules, but I have a big problem with the run-arounds and games that appear to be integral the process of getting a job.
Comments
Posted by: Mathew Coolidge
Posted on: October 6, 2005 07:22 PM
I can tell what you are talking about when you said that it felt like they were saying "networking is phony". I had the same feeling when listening to some of the tips. The way that I think of it is that to approach someone for the purpose of networking isn’t phony, instead it just requires a lot of effort to make a good impression. So people will be more likely to try to impress someone, but this can be true for many different situations. For example if someone wanted to impress someone else at a party, they would try harder than in normal situations. It doesn't make them phony for trying harder. Also you definitely have the ability to shoot the breeze, don’t doubt yourself.