This week was Trinity’s annual Week of Making Connections, sponsored by Career Services. The events included a networking etiquette workshop on Monday evening and a networking event on Thursday evening.
The etiquette workshop, titled “Connecting With High Impact,” was led by Barbara Greene. Greene is the CEO of Greene and Associates, a company that promotes interpersonal skills and networking.
“Networking and the building of relationships is very important,” Greene said. “70 percent of the time, people find their next job through someone they already know.”
The workshop gave students tips on how to build relationships, particularly with alumni.
“There were several exercises to practice introducing yourself with examples that were helpful,” said Laura Short, assistant director of programming and marketing in Career Services. “There were examples of icebreakers that provided a friendly approach.”
These exercises helped build students’ confidence starting or joining a conversation.
“Ms. Greene emphasized the importance of being able to interject yourself into a conversation and keep it going,” said senior Avantika Krishna. “I feel more confident about starting conversations and introducing myself. I also learned the importance of following up with contacts after meeting them.”
Greene also provided several practical tips to prepare students for the event on Thursday night.
“She told us that it is important to arrive early and stay late,” Krishna said. “She also told us to eat before a meeting or event like this so that we could focus on the conversations and not be hungry.”
Thursday night provided an opportunity for students to put these new skills into practice and included members of the San Antonio alumni chapter.
If students are interested in connecting with alumni elsewhere, there will be several Making Connections events around the nation over winter break, which will provide opportunities to connect with alumni outside of San Antonio. The dates and locations are listed on TigerJobs.com.
In addition to these events, students may learn about alumni connections through Career Services. Walk-in hours and appointments are available daily.
