In an increasingly digital age, sharpening your digital networking skills can reap many benefits. Fostering deep and meaningful connections online is essential and can feel seamless across remote and in-person interactions, especially with the right mindset and tools. Digital networking skills can drive success in your education and career, and help you to expand the reach of your connections beyond geographical boundaries.
To help graduate students cultivate these skills, the fully online MS in Professional Writing (MSPW) and the NYU SPS Wasserman Center for Career Development co-hosted an event on digital networking with speakers Dr. Kristine Rodriguez Kerr, Mason Bynes, and Darius Phelps. Inviting a mix of students, alums, and faculty to attend, this online event made space for attendees to practice their digital networking skills, building new connections and friends with a “getting to know you” challenge.
During the session, the following quote from Rakshitha Arni Ravishankar’s HBR article was shared with attendees: “I’ve always had a love-hate relationship with networking…networking seemed transactional…small talk with strangers triggered my social anxiety. As I’ve grown in my career, however, I’ve learned that networking doesn’t have to be opportunistic.” Seen in the image below, this quote echoes what many graduate students may feel about networking. However, as the last sentence of this quote suggests, mutual exchanges between individuals can exist without being transactional. Attendees were encouraged to reframe digital networking as a way to share their authentic selves and seek genuine connections.
From the Wasserman Center, Career Development Counselor Mason Bynes highlighted the many resources available to students and alums for networking, industry engagement, career coaching, and more. The Wasserman Center “partners with you on activating a career wellness mindset” to help you succeed during your time at NYU and beyond.
“Digital networking has become the reimagined norm, and its importance remains a constant,” is another fantastic quote from the Digital Networking event and is shared in the image below. With the increased use of professional networking platforms, like LinkedIn, it’s important to know how to build a professional persona that reflects who you are, who you want to be, and where you want to go.
To round out the event, the group put their digital networking skills into practice with a timed “getting to know you” challenge. By the end of the event, students, faculty, and alums received stellar advice, flourishing connections, and the chance to be their authentic and genuine selves with one another– a perfect way to practice their digital networking and build an online community.