By: Rhett Seitz
Last week, Southern hosted Meet the Firms, the bustling event where students shake hands with potential employers and graduate school recruiters. Amid the sharp suits and printed resumés, I got to do what I love doing most: networking.
But “networking” is a loaded term. Some people loathe hearing about it. I get that, because I was once one of those people.
To truly understand networking, we must back up a little bit. If you have spent any time in college, you have inevitably heard the age-old cliché: “It’s not what you know, but who you know.”
For a long time, I had a love-hate relationship with this phrase. On one hand, I secretly loved the comforting reminder that no matter how badly I bombed a test, I could theoretically “network” my way out of my imposter syndrome or lack of knowledge. (I’m kidding, mostly.) On the other hand, I hated the phrase because it felt deeply unfair. It made me wonder if all my hard work, studying and resumé-building would be rendered useless simply because I didn’t have an uncle who was a CEO or a pocket full of insider connections.
However, through personal experience, I have come to realize that this phrase isn’t about nepotism. It is about human connection.
Networking, stripped of its corporate jargon, is simply the act of establishing and nurturing relationships. It is meeting people. This should be as natural to us as eating or sleeping. After all, God wired us to be social creatures. Yet, as a digitally native society slowly emerging from a post-COVID world, we seem to have forgotten how powerful this basic human function really is.
When done authentically, networking can open doors you never even knew existed.
Let me give you two examples from my own life. A while back, I made an effort to befriend one of my lab teaching assistants. That simple connection led the TA, who was an assistant camp director, to ask if I would be interested in working as a camp counselor at a summer camp I had never even heard of. I was actually applying to a different camp at the time, but I decided to tell him yes.
That single “yes” created a domino effect. While working at that camp, I took my campers on a river tubing trip. We had to take a bus to get to the river, and instead of zoning out in the back to get some much-needed rest, I decided to sit near the front and strike up a conversation with the bus driver.
It turned out that the bus driver was the head men’s dean at a high school boarding academy. He was so impressed by our conversation that he later asked me to serve as a task force dean for the school that year. I accepted, and it led to a profoundly blessed year serving as a student missionary, which grew me in ways I never anticipated.
All of that happened because of the power of networking. I easily could have sat in silence on that bus. I could have decided not to talk with that lLab TA. My life would have looked entirely different today.
If you are looking to build your own network but don’t know where to start, here are two easy places to start. First, join a LifeGroup, an intramural team or a campus club. This is the lowest-pressure way to meet people. The friends you make here could become your future coworkers, your bridesmaids or groomsmen, or even your spouse.
Second, talk to your professors, who are easily the most overlooked resource on campus. If you treat them with respect and show genuine interest, they will champion you and open career doors you could only dream of. After all, they are literally getting paid to be a resource for you.
As an extreme extrovert, I realize it can be easy for me to downplay the anxiety that comes with introducing yourself to strangers. You are dealing with real people who have their own unpredictable thoughts and moods. But networking is not something to be feared; it is something to be excited about. Think of it as an opportunity to share your story. You have absolutely nothing to lose.
The vast majority of people actually want to talk to you. And honestly, networking is a lot like dating. Sometimes you get a “yes,” sometimes you get a “no,” but you keep putting yourself out there. With every conversation, the awkwardness fades and you become more natural at it.
Southern is a uniquely incredible place to practice this. We might not be Harvard, and our career fairs might not feature Congress or Wall Street executives, but we have a distinct advantage. We are surrounded by people from all over the world who share a faith-based foundation. The connections we make on this campus have the potential to carry us not just through our careers, but into eternity.
This human element is more vital today than ever before. In every computer science and tech class I have taken, recruiters and advisors echo the same truth: The most important skill in the industry is not a specific coding language or system architecture. It is communication. If you can communicate, you can learn and adapt to almost any technical skill.
Furthermore, building authentic relationships is the one thing you will always be better at than artificial intelligence. It is ultimately what life is all about.
Only two things will truly open doors for your future: God and the people He puts in your path. Proverbs 22:29 tells us, “Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.” Skill gets you in the room, but relationships pull up the chair.
So, the next time you are standing in line for food or waiting for a class to start, put your phone in your pocket. Step out of your comfort zone and say hello. You never know where that single conversation might take you.
