I have reached that time of senior year when getting a job is on my mind. As a future designer, I continue to hear the same advice: network, network, network. As simple as this advice may seem, building your network can be such a socially draining, daunting task, especially when you are channeling the #DESPERATE LinkedIn banner. (P.S. Designer Courtney Summer Meyer’s viral post has received a lot of controversy, but I am fully onboard with showcasing resiliency and active searching when looking for a job.)Â
Throughout my college career, I have been in attendance at several networking events and gatherings of creatives. Without fail, I am always blown away by the stories, creations, and goals of others. I have had the experience to meet the most incredible people, whether they are peers or working professionals. These events really have been some of the most exciting and inspiring of my time as a young designer. I absolutely love meeting new people and making new friends, and I could spend all of my time waxing poetic about the positive virtues of these experiences. However, the awesome, exciting, inspiring new connections don’t come without a price — having to make the first move (in a professional context of course).Â
As a natural introvert, approaching others takes careful strategy: finding someone I already know in the conversation, looking for an outfit or accessory to compliment, and crafting the perfect icebreaker for each individual I think looks cool and worth talking to. Perhaps with practice, this process has gotten a bit easier, but going up to someone at an event can tend to be a coin toss. If you approach the wrong person, you end up spending half an hour talking to someone a little more interesting than you would have liked or someone who walked into the event off the street, trying to escape the conversation all the while. This risk and the fear of social rejection have never fully faded for me during my college career so far. As an optimist, however, I do have hope for the future.Â
My main goal, and now advice, is to be the person in the room that others want to talk to and to have an interesting outfit or accessory that makes me approachable. (Shoutout to the expert networker friend who gave me this advice first!) I try my best to engage in conversations with people I don’t know so that I can be a point of connection for others. Don’t be afraid to talk to someone who might even be a competitor for a position! You never know where that LinkedIn connection will take you!
So, networking — it is risky. It is intimidating. It is a way to meet so many incredible people. I am sure as I move into my first jobs and develop my career that I will soon be extolling the benefits of networking to a younger generation of creatives as well.