Undergraduate Blog / Career Development

Expanding your Network

As a rising junior, I’m guilty of feeling as though I have all the time in the world to network in order to find a job after graduation. That was until I encountered a woman on an express bus while on my way to work who sparked up conversation with me. It started with her complimenting my natural hair and ended with us exchanging information and an offer to help me get an internship with her company. How did it get to that point you might ask? It started with me being open and friendly to a stranger without any knowledge of what she could potentially do for my career. I could have easily sunk back into my seat, pushed my headphones back in my ears, and continued to play Pokemon Go on my phone. So let that be a lesson to you to always be your best self even in a casual conversation, you never know who you could be connecting with!

That day a light bulb went off over my head that signaled to me that I should be utilizing my last weeks (3 weeks from today to be exact) and getting in touch with as many professionals in my targeted field that work for Spike Tv as possible. It dawned on me that my supervisor offered to get me a meeting as long as I gave him the names of the people I wanted to talk to and they weren’t too busy. The conversation I had on the bus that morning was just enough to push me to create that list. Now I have two scheduled informational meetings with a Social Media Manager and a Vice President of Brand Marketing. I plan on picking their brains on how they made it to where they are and asking them for advice on my personal journey. Wish me luck!