On November 1st, I attended the Junior Networking event sponsored by the NCU Career Development and Alumni Association. A bunch of friends and I signed up, and we had a blast at the event. Mindy Lockard was the guest presenter of the evening; she facilitated a lively and informative activity that taught us about networking in a way I had never thought before.
We learned about personal branding and even got to draw our own personal logo. There were
hors d’oeuvres at the event that tested how well I could eat and network at the same time. (I wasn’t very successful). The evening concluded with the opportunity to test our networking skills with fellow students, faculty and even alumni and professionals from the community.
There were a lot of great tips that Mindy taught us but one that stuck out at me was follow-through. The biggest problem I have is not following through on the connections that I have made. Mindy suggested a nice handwritten thank you card, keeping it short and sweet.
A friend and I decided that after this event we were going to follow-through – and we did! I sought guidance from our campus career development director, Angela Doty. She showed us what an appropriate, professional thank you card would like and we sat down and wrote out thank you cards to a professional we met at the event. It wasn’t as hard as I thought! It was certainly made easier with the tips Mindy gave us.
I really enjoyed the event and would definitely recommend it to any sophomores who will be juniors next year. You should go – it will open up your eyes, oh, and it is fun too!
Veronica Schneider, junior