Report

Executive Summary (Norhayati Sonneman)

Networking is an increasingly important skill in the Information Age, and it can often help students to get jobs after college. Students need to be notable and distinguish themselves from the thousands of college graduates, thus having a personal brand will give a competitive advantage to stand out from the crowd. Students should start networking early in their sophomore year. The concept is to “plant the seeds before you need to harvest them” (Grant, 2011). College students should establish strong online identities and develop networking connections with the professionals in the industries in which they want to work. In my section of the panel, I will give an overview on strategies for starting a personal brand and utilizing the network for establishing professional connections. The resources for students to explore and create networks are as follows:

· Personal Brand Starting a professional blog and creating a personal brand on the internet that conveys interests, strengths, experiences and future goals.

· Personal Connection Engaging with alumni to get advice and building connections. Signing up for conventions and reaching out to professionals for networking contacts.

· Virtual Connection Boosting your personal brand by emphasizing credibility and professionalism in the networking website. Utilizing social media such as LinkedIn and Facebook to broaden professional contacts. Participating in the internet buzz such as Twitter in areas of interest, and contributing views and ideas.

It is important for students to have a personal brand and using resources in networking to get connections especially in the professional field. Students should “consistently build credibility and visibility online” (Pan, 2012) as employers would use resources in the social media to check on their prospective employees. We believe that the resources we have put together will contribute significantly to providing good tools for students to use in networking in today’s society.

References:

Grant, A. (2011). 6 Ways to Network While You're in College. U.S.News Education.com. Retrieved from