The Importance of Networking
As the event, "Honors to Meet You" quickly approaches, we wanted to take this opportunity to tell you about the benefits of this event as well as the importance of networking.
Honors to Meet You was started last year as a way to help students connect with CHP Alumni from various majors, professions, interests, and careers. It is a great opportunity to gain exposure to a variety of future career paths. Explore what's out there and expose yourself to various opportunities and meet people who are volunteering their valuable time to help you. So why would you have to network as an undergraduate student?
Warren Buffet once said, "It takes 20 years to build a reputation, 5 minutes to ruin it. If you think about that you'll do things differently." So now's the time to start building your reputation. Networking with the right people at the right time can really get things going for you. Whether you know what you want to do right now or not, networking to build a community of support around you will reap enormous benefits when you least expect it. You will always have someone to ask a pressing question and if they don't have an answer, they may know somebody who does. When you're struggling and need a bit of perspective, a good mentor you've networked with can provide it. You begin to create a reputation for yourself and whether you want to believe it or not, people talk and you want them to say good things because that might be what gets you the job over the other person who didn't network or have a good reputation. Your network and your mentors are your lifelong resources and with social media and email, it makes it even easier to keep in touch and utilize the resources. A mentor of mine once told me it takes 5 touches for somebody to remember you or think of you when the opportunity arises. This means, you need to have at least 5 interactions before your name comes to mind. Let Honors to Meet You be one of these first interactions and grow from there!
It's all about timing so don't let an opportunity like this pass you up. If you're unable to make it, take advantage of the new CHP Alumni Mentorship Program which is taking off this month! As usual, if you'd like to be involved or contribute to this blog with your own tidbits of advice, please feel free to contact us, we always appreciate input! Also if you're a student reading this and have some ideas of resources or blog posts you'd like to read in the future, please feel free to offer your input as well!
