Networking – reflective Learning Blog

A few weeks back I posted about the struggles of networking. This post was all to do with finding a professional in the field of technical communication to interview. Well thankfully I can provide a positive update as I have indeed managed to find a suitable candidate. It wasn’t easy but I managed to get there in the end with some help.

However the most important part of this interview assignment is still to come up; the interview itself. When I heard back in week one that I would be conducting an interview I felt nervous straight away. Hearing the word interview brought back many unhappy memories of interviewing for jobs. All this worry wasn’t exactly justified however, as the interview I would be conducting would be a whole lot different to my past interviews. There won’t be any job at stake when I conduct this interview and I’m not under pressure. I will be trying to find out as much as I can about the job of an education technologist. Instead of being nervous I am actually very excited about this assignment. Getting the chance to learn about a potential career from a person who knows what its about is valuable. In a few months time I’ll be finished college and looking to take the next step. I’m undecided on what career I want to pursue as there are so many great options. If this interview goes well and I like what I hear, there’s a high chance I’ll make my decision based on this.

With all the resources I’ve been given this semester about conducting interviews I’m confident it will go well. I’ve learned about how to structure an interview and about how to ask the right questions. These new insights will prove to be useful in both this assignment and my life in general.

Networking is an important aspect of life as a professional. Despite this however it is often overlooked and its importance is misunderstood. When I think of the term networking, I conjure up an image of douchey men in suits with slicked back hair, bragging to their colleagues about their great jobs. And while part of me still feels this way, I am certainly starting to realise the importance of having good contacts.

At present, I am frantically trying to organise an interview with a technical communicator for a college assignment. I have been tasked with reaching out to a company in the hope that one of their employees will speak to me. However this has proved to be a lot more difficult than I initially expected. I’ve contacted close to 15 companies already, either by email or phone, but nobody is willing to help me out. Busy professionals seem reluctant to give up their valuable time to speak with a college student. While others in the course have a range of professional contacts due to the fact they’ve been working in the industry for years, I am at a major disadvantage. I’ve only recently graduated and have very limited work experience. While I’ve worked in an insurance company for a few years, they’ll be of no use to me. They don’t hire technical communicators it turns out so I’m going to have to cast my net fairly wide.

Although this assignment is causing me a great deal of stress, there is one slight positive to take out of it. I’ve learned the importance of networking and how it can make my life easier. In the past I’ve dismissed anything to do with networking. While fellow students have been making the most of networking tools like LinkedIn, I’ve been resting on my laurels. Even when I was working for a large multi-national corporation I failed to make the most of any opportunities to gain contacts. Hopefully I can break this trend and start to build meaningful relations in the industry.

Tag: Networking

Interviewing

Networking blues