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If there's one ultimate secret that any seasoned professional can bestow on a college hopeful, it's this: learn to network. Whatever your selected career path, maintaining the ability to socialize and communicate with individuals in and out of your field is often the absolute core of a successful career. Below are some tips on how best to schmooze, how to organize your contacts, and on outline of the benefits. Here are some tricks of the trade:
1) Everyone's a potential partner - choose wisely
If you know the industry you'd like to be a part of someday, you're ahead of the game. You know the type of person you'd like to include in your rolodex. But if you're still searching for the write career path, you can still network like a pro -- in fact, it's probably even more important. Look for potential connections everywhere; your parents parties, school-sanctioned gatherings, job fairs, friends of friends, relatives and friends' relatives -- even the gentleman sitting next to you on the plane to Toronto. There's absolutely no predicting when you'll meet the person that can help you in your career. The best advice in this avenue is just to get out of the house and mingle -- attend events that sound interesting and relevant, and don't be afraid of a little chitchat.
2) Be vocal
If you know your dream is a future book deal, talk about it. If you're after a dream residency or internship, make sure everyone in your circle knows. You'd be surprised how well this works. Say your friend John meets a publisher at a party, and she's looking for the next great Creative Nonfiction manuscript. If John knows you just finished your own opus, he's likely to relay the information to you both. These chance meetings are the stuff that dreams are made of -- no one can help you if they don't know what you're after. It's worth it to share your dreams with friends and family; they want you to succeed, and while it might make you feel vulnerable to declare what you want (that dreaded fear of failure!), you're far less likely to achieve anything by staying silent.
3) Give just as much as you receive
As with anything, networking is a balance; people love to help others, and that's doubly so for someone who gives off the aura of a giver too. Say you're a jewelry maker, and you cross paths with someone who's already successful in this field. If they offer to give you a shot as an intern, recruit all your friends and family to purchase goods from your new friend and employer. Don't assume that just because you're a college student that you don't have something to offer. Sometimes your youthful connections are an absolute goldmine to retailers and the like. Just remember to be just as quick to lend a hand or a bit of advice as you are to take it.
4) Be gracious, be persistent
These two go hand in hand -- it's a necessity. If someone offers to assist in making a dream of yours come alive, the most important thing you can give back is gratitude. Even if it's just a "Hey, maybe I can help, maybe I can't" offer -- be thankful that someone has heard you. Once you have the contact (email addresses are preferable, as they are less invasive), keep in touch. Don't go crazy and ping these individuals daily, but a monthly drop-in isn't at all overzealous. Show that you listened. If you met a scientist working on stem cell research and this is your dream field, check on their progress from time to time. Be persistent, but not pushy. There's a fine line there, but trust your instincts,
Whatever contacts you make during your college career, make sure you hold them close. That includes professors, students, and random fly-bys; any of these people could end up bring crucial to your career. You might change paths, you might be struck with new inspiration, and if you kept tabs on that magazine writer that's now a big-shot editor and you've suddenly decided that all you want to do is be a journalist, you'll be pleased you didn't toss their business card.
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