I recently saw a post from a popular business professional and influencer with a large social following (who I won’t name). His post discredited the worth of networking. At first, I found it to be somewhat disheartening, as at the time I was chained (not literally) to my laptop creating content and attending meetings to plan a networking event for Solent University students. (See my previous post to find out more about my planning experience).
Image posted by Caroline Walsh from the ‘Spring Forward’ Event
Fortunately, I very shortly recognised that although this opinion may be true for someone at his level of success, it is not necessarily the case for an under-grad student or for anyone who is transitioning from education into the start of their career.
You may be wondering, why do I hold networking in such high esteem? Well, from first hand experience I have seen how powerful networking can be. At the ‘Spring Forward to the Future’ networking event I co-lead with my peer, I was busy running around ensuring the event ran smoothly, and even so, I was able to make contacts which facilitated an exciting freelance opportunity that I am working on at the moment.
As a result of said event, last week I was lucky enough to be invited as a student representative, with my peer Bethany Gough, to attend the WorkForce South business conference. This again was a great opportunity to network. I met useful contacts and learnt from experts in the business sector including PR and HR professionals. The theme of the conference was sharing ideas on how we can close the gap between education and employability, which is coincidentally, extremely relevant to the basis of my argument, for why networking is so useful.
Not only has networking helped me to ‘get my foot in the door’, it has, more importantly, given me confidence in my own abilities and my prospects for the future. When I was in the appropriate scenario to talk about my Public Relations experience and ideas, I recognised that I should aim high because I, like many other hard-working students, have gained skills through my experiences and my degree that are extremely valuable to employers. I am extremely grateful to the professionals in the PR industry who have been so welcoming and supportive.
I think it is easy for someone, like the business influencer I spoke about, to shake off the cruciality of networking without considering those who are just starting out. He has already met the contacts he needs to grow his business or develop his career. I hope I have influenced someone to take every networking opportunity offered, no matter what age or level of success. Let me know what networking experiences you’ve had, I’d love to hear about them!
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