Last semester, I wrote a post about UPC’s Alumnight event where alumni of the Smith Business School attended to network with undergraduate students. In my post, I wrote about how one of the alumni explained how all throughout school, he was focused on studying and acquiring more technical knowledge while neglecting to develop “people skills” that are crucial in a professional environment.

Although this is my final semester of my undergraduate career, I think it is never too late to take on a networking challenge and continue to develop those critical people skills. As a result, I have just started a weekly challenge where just as I allocate time for studying, I will allocate time to develop my people skills and get out of my comfort zone more. Each week, my goal is to complete at least 1 out of the 3 categories, which are as follows: 

Network – As a senior looking to enter the professional working world, networking and making connections is essential. For this category, the goal is to network with an individual/group of individuals or attend a networking event where I am able to put my networking skills to practice.

Develop – In school, we have various tiers where our friends and acquaintances fall into. I believe working on these early stage friendships that are part of the bottom tier is one way to broaden and diversify your way of thinking, as well as make potentially long-lasting friendships with people whom you would have never expected.  

Reconnect – As important as it is to develop new friendships, I also believe it is important to reconnect with individuals from the past. Reconnecting allows you to reflect on how much you have grown as an individual, as well as see how much others around you have grown in their own way.

So will you join me in this challenge? Or perhaps, you have a challenge of your own in mind. If so, be sure to share your own or any thoughts you might have to tweak my personal challenge to be even better!

“It’s all about people. It’s about networking and being nice to people and not burning any bridges. Your book is going to impress, but in the end it is people that are going to hire you.”
–Mike Davidson