Doors Don’t Open Themselves
When I entered my freshman year of college, I planned to attend medical school after my undergrad. That being said, I found myself at a loss about where to turn to achieve the steps needed to get to that point, as I would be a first-generation medical student. I didn’t know how to navigate this path since it was completely new territory, and the nature of a pre-med student’s journey was totally unfamiliar to me. A huge part of pre-professional health paths, as many other career paths, is gaining experience within these fields, finding guidance from seasoned professionals, and making connections that may prove to have a lasting impact. As young adults thrown into a whirlwind of opportunity and possibility, it can be daunting to get your foot in the door with such limited experience and awareness of your path’s respective culture.
I had to figure out how to establish my own connections and professional identity to gain the knowledge and experience needed to keep moving forward in a positive direction. This greatly tested my determination and self-assuredness. These doors weren’t going to open themselves, and there was no one to open them for me. However, forging my own path brought to light the transferable skill and art of professionalism and networking as a beginner, some of the pillars being the intentionality of putting yourself out there, dressing the part, and reliability.
Breaking the Ice
The summer after my freshman year of college, my weeks were planned down to the hour, as I was working two jobs. I knew that I needed to make time for developments in my pre-professional health journey, but I didn’t have a place to start; I evidently decided to take matters into my own hands. I typically had one or two mornings a week where I was free, and spent them driving to physicians of various specialties’ offices, introducing myself, and asking if they would be open to potentially letting me shadow throughout my summer. It was essentially cold calling, except in person. I would hype myself up in the car for a minute and let my song finish, and then I’d walk in and hope for the best. I joked with my friends that it was like some form of “rejection therapy”, but truthfully, my tactic had a 90% success rate. Whether you plan on working in healthcare, engineering, journalism, marketing -you name it- there is no doubt that there is an art to simply showing up, which makes you stand out. Whether it’s to inquire about job opportunities, shadowing, or volunteer work, physically making an appearance to introduce yourself and share your story has an impact transferable across so many areas of work. It takes bravery and confidence to put yourself out there in such a way, and it shows that you care enough to take time out of your day as well as make face-to-face connections with the staff at the place you are interested in. Every place I walked into was eager to help me and learn about my journey in school.
When I got back to university, physically showing up to offices became more difficult, so I sometimes resorted to cold calling or emailing. I would research doctors in my area around me with the intention of looking for various criteria. This often involved looking for female healthcare professionals, physicians who attended specific medical programs, certain specialties I was interested in, etc. The purpose of my search was to find people who aligned with how I pictured my own future. This would allow me to see how these careers may (or may not) resonate with my own lifestyle and personality, as well as give me something meaningful and personal to connect with when reaching out by email or phone. Your values and personal identity are still important in the professional world because they show that you are purposeful and passionate about your goals. Making the effort to show up and introduce yourself with intention makes you more personable and easier to connect with, instantly breaking the ice and showing that you’re serious. It’s important to keep in mind that these doors won’t open themselves, and the worst they could say is “no”- but even then, rejection is just redirection.
Dress to Impress
You’ve introduced yourself, and they’ve gladly extended the offer to let you gain experience; You’ve finally got your foot in the door (yippee!), but what’s next? It’s common knowledge that “when you look good, you feel good”, and this could never be truer, especially when you now find yourself surrounded by highly regarded individuals that you look up to and respect. It can be intimidating to enter a new environment, especially as a student with little to no prior experience, so dressing the part can help you feel capable and confident so that your best self can shine.
Additionally, the way you dress contributes to first impressions; when you’re giving a put-together appearance, it exudes professionalism and purpose. It shows others that these opportunities are not something taken lightly, and that it’s important to you and worth dressing nicely for. Even when I was just introducing myself at an office to inquire about shadowing opportunities, I wore nice jeans with a sweater, a nice top, or my university tee-shirt. Although this was arguably the most casual in-person scenario I faced in comparison to shadowing and interacting with patients, I wanted to show that even then, I was intentional. I also felt like dressing very “presentable” shared that I had important values and events in my daily life that I was attending to. I used the way I dressed as a complementary way to convey things about myself that otherwise wouldn’t fit into my introductory spiel. In the very brief amount of time I would have to introduce myself, I wanted to leave the impression that I was purposeful and that these opportunities wouldn’t be haphazard or casual to me.
Professionalism: Consistency is Key
Utilizing both the bravery of putting yourself out there and the art of dressing the part, the next step in professionalism and networking for yourself is consistency. When you open up these doors of connections, it’s important to maintain them, just as you would any other relationship or skill in your life. Continuously showing up and staying in contact not only proves that your desire and passion to learn still persist, but it also exemplifies your dedicated and reliable nature. Maintaining professional relationships may lead to other opportunities, whether that be mutual connections or opportunities that otherwise wouldn’t have been shared with you. Maintaining your confidence and style also goes to show that you remain serious and intentional about the work you’re doing or what you’re learning, and that it remains a top priority that you value showing up to with full effort.
Along with these, preparing thoughtful questions before each session helps you learn while also displaying your genuine, continued interest and professionalism. It also shows that you want to discover new things and have new experiences, which can often lead to new opportunities being offered or suggested to you. From my experience, consistently showing that I cared and that these experiences were a priority to me has preserved and deepened the connections I went out on a limb to make myself, adding meaning to my professional relationships and expanding my network beyond what I could have ever imagined before.