By Rafael Robledo
Networking in College is important and it could help you out in the future. I am not talking about the online networks or wifi. Networking, as defined online, is interacting with others to exchange information to develop professional or social contacts. Networking could be as simple as getting to know a professor, through being active in class to helping out with research.
My first year at SDSU, I ended up networking with professors for the most part. One of these professors was Professor Bajic who at the end of the semester told me to keep in contact and if I needed a letter of recommendation, he would sign one for me. All semester I greeted him and talked to him after class by asking questions of the lecture or any assignments that I needed help on and he was nice and helped me out. Networking isn’t that difficult, you just need to stand out and make acquaintances with the right people. For me I stood out compared to many students since I spoke to the professor a lot.
Networking doesn’t just have to be with professors it can also be program organizers, superiors, etc…. Adding people to your contact list through networking helps you advance in your career, build your confidence, helps in resumes, share different perspectives etc….
The more you network or simply talk to strangers, you will increase your confidence overtime. In highschool I started doing this with teachers that I knew or had class with. This in turn helped me out for my first year in college where I kept constantly talking to professors to make acquaintances with. I would recommend to start by talking to professors since it’s easier to talk to some of them where you would start by asking for help or advice. Overtime you will see that you become more confident to start conversations with people that you don’t know.
Additionally, networking helps build references for your resume and the more people know of what your work ethic or how you tackle a difficult solution, the more it helps in attaining a job. For example, lets say that you are working for an event and you have made acquaintances with the event organizer. You could use that particular work experience and your acquaintance as a reference for your resume for later on. If you acquire new acquaintances, you never know of the opportunities that may later come by and help you out on.
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