Today, Omar, Gaman, Michael, Daniel, another friend of mine and I went to STARR’s workshop entitled Networking 101. When we entered the room, VC 2-190, the instructor greeted us politely. Her name was June.It was a great experience. We signed in via computer as well as a sign in sheet. We each received a hand out which we had to fill out, but it was never collected. There was about twenty students in total. We all stood up. June split us up by category (borough, favorite ice cream, major) which lead to us walking to different corners of the class; meeting different people in the process.
Afterwards, we were introduced to different ways to find a job, but more specifically the process of networking. The workshop taught us the importance of networking in the world. I learned that 48% of all jobs are given via networking. It was a very interesting workshop. I enjoyed it. There was one activity that showed how all of us in the room were connected. One person would introduce themselves. If someone had a common interest or fact, they would toss the string to that person. This process went on for about ten minutes. After it was over there was a whole web of string in the middle of the room. It was a fun way to get to know some other people. For the rest of the workshop, we spoke about networking; social networking as well. But the main focus was networking and it’s importance, as I said before. A more sophisticated way of networking was through a website known as linkedin.com. That website is based on three degrees which depend on the networks you possess.
The space made me feel more educated and sophisticated. I felt comfortable in the room. There were some people in the room that I didn’t know, but it’s always good to get to know new people. The fact that June was a nice instructor added to the comfort. She was nice and funny so it was great. I enjoyed this career development workshop and I’m looking forward to reserving a spot in other workshops for career development because it will help me in my future, epsecially in my future business career.
-Robi Baazashvili
