This past Thursday, Kris and I went to a Career Panel event, sponsored by ‘Unicef @Brauch” during club hours. During this panel, we learned about the process of networking from non-profit organizations and UN officials. Networking is when people interact with each other to exchange information and develop contacts, especially to further one’s career. Networking was the main concept focused on during the panel. For example, there are many benefits to networking. To start, one will get a generation of referrals and or increased business. It is one of the main reasons why business people decide to participate in networking activities and join networking groups. Another benefit of networking is how people will get opportunities. Some opportunities people will get are joint ventures, client leads, partnerships, speaking and writing opportunities, business or asset sales… the list goes on. Networking also allows people to receive advice from people in the business world. Specifically, networking is a great way to tap into advice and expertise that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to get hold of. One just has to be sure they are getting solid advice from the right person. One aspect I found interesting was how networking can boost one’s self confidence. For instance, by regularly networking, and pushing yourself to talk to people you don’t know, you will get increased confidence the more you do this. This is really important as a business owner, because your business growth is very dependent on talking to people and making connections. Going to this career panel really helped me understand the process of networking and the benefits from it. Being a marketing major and wanting to be in the business world, networking will be very important for me and I am glad I was able to learn more about it at this panel.
