Making Connections: My Networking Adventure

For many students new to Canada, navigating through the vast ocean of networking and forging meaningful relationships can seem impossible. I too struggled with understanding the marketing industry in Canada. People here always gave me one piece of advice: "Priti, to get a job in a role and company of your preference, you need to start networking". I took that advice to heart but quickly got overwhelmed and intimidated by the idea of reaching out to people. Questions and doubts started popping into my mind, like "Whom should I connect with?" "Will they respond to my message?" "Why would they connect with me when I am just a student?" and "What are the resources and how can I use them optimally?"

Let me take you on a trip based on my personal experience and talk about tips and tricks for successful networking as a student. From attending events to connecting with professionals online and how I built confidence to create meaningful connections!

The Experts Speak: Insider Tips!

1. Believe in yourself!

This semester, our professor Wendy Greenwood invited many industry experts to share their knowledge and experience with us. This marketing seminar series had many illustrious speakers, but a few stood out for me. Like Elle Dhahani, a digital content director who despite all the curveballs life threw at her, managed to turn her passion into a thriving career. She inspired me to face my struggles and find a solution! One of the life lessons she told us about was to never sell yourself short -  which I took to heart. It boosted my confidence in the skills and expertise I have learned in my home country and at George Brown College. 

2. Data is gold!

A few other speakers like Blair Roebuck spoke about how to build a career in marketing science. This is a field of marketing that interests me the most because it's the unification of marketing and technology. She deep-dived into what a marketing analyst does and what are the potential job roles and responsibilities. The case study she gave us to work on gave me a quick little peek into the world of data analysis.

3. Choose your battles!

Then we had my favourite speaker by far, Cathy Mcknight, who gave a fresh and real take on her time and experience in different companies she worked at. She told us about how different team dynamics, managers and organizational structures shaped her career. I'll never forget how she emphasized choosing our battles and the importance of advocacy.

Network Resources

I maintained an Excel sheet of the jobs and companies I want to target and reach out to professionals who worked in those profiles and the recruiters who hire for those roles. I also joined this amazing networking group exclusively for women called Monday Girl, where I met many accomplished women who guided and advised me on how to move ahead in my coop hunt. 

I used job portals like Indeed and LinkedIn to look for coop opportunities and found that LinkedIn was most useful because I could see which recruiter posted that job posting. The event that I can say helped me the most was the GBC Winter Career Fair 2022, where I met media agencies like Mediabrands and Salt XC. I connected with the recruiters there and spoke at length about the role and my own experience.     

My Excel sheet came in quite handy to track my applications and conversations with people I had connected with, which helped me stay on top of my goals. I used AI tools a lot to help me create a structure for the emails and messages I wanted to send to my network. AI also helped me create a cover letter and resume based on every different role and company I applied for.

My strategies seem to have worked as I received many opportunities to interview and finally was able to land a coop with Salt XC! I'll be working as a Media Coordinator with them with many big brands as their clients and learn a lot from their talented team. After every interview with Salt XC, I reached out to every interviewer the same day and thanked them for the opportunity, while also reminding them how suitable I am for the role.

I will not stop networking even though I landed a great coop and will keep building those connections. I have also started to work on a little project that will help me further which is to build an online portfolio. This portfolio will include the professional as well as academic projects I have worked on till now. It is a great asset to add to your resume and your LinkedIn.

Networking may or may not help you land that job, but it is still an essential part of your professional journey. Attending career fairs, networking events, reaching out to your alumni and even staying in touch with your classmates will help you throughout your career. Be confident in your skills and don't be shy to show them off to your network and even on LinkedIn. 

With the right mindset and approach, networking can be a fun and meaningful experience that opens up new doors and possibilities. So, let's continue to learn, grow, and network our way to success!