When people ask me what I’m doing this semester, I always compare Notre Dame’s Washington, D.C. program to studying abroad. It really is similar (Disclaimer: I actually haven’t studied abroad, but I imagine it’s similar.).
We take classes with local professors, many of which teach on D.C.; we spend our weekends exploring the city and we live in regular apartments rather than dorms. One key difference, however, is that students in our program work internships during the weekdays.
Working a professional internship has come with a steep learning curve. I had to expand my corporate wardrobe, get accustomed to the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule and (most jarringly) learn to “network.”
Networking, or according to Merriam-Webster, “the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business,” has been on my mind since before I even came to the city. As I get older, and life after undergrad looms (I’m only a junior, but still.), I have felt the growing pressure to get networking. I have no doubt: It’s officially time to start working that infamous Notre Dame network.
While I obviously recognize the value and importance of networking, I have always struggled a bit with the concept as I’ve always imagined it. To me, networking has meant going to random networking “events,” trying to get meetings or calls with established professionals (who I have little to offer in return as a college intern) and cold messaging LinkedIn connections with Notre Dame listed in their bios. I think my hesitation to dive in headfirst is understandable; this version of networking feels overly transactional, awkward and sometimes even slimy.
I had resigned myself to trying to push past these feelings and attempt networking to the best of my ability. While discussing my feelings with some friends, however, I received some advice that has helped me completely reframe the idea of networking in my mind. It’s not about exchanging emails or maintaining as many vague acquaintances as possible; it’s about building actual, strong, lasting relationships.
The first aspect of relationship-centered networking is only doing it with people you’re genuinely interested in knowing (in a non-transactional way). For example, imagine this choice: You could introduce yourself to someone who works for a large company that you would consider applying to a few years in the future. You would probably have a superficial but feel-good meeting, exchange emails and forget you ever met; for all you know, they’ll have left the company by the time you’re ready to apply.
Alternatively, you can get coffee with a 2025 ND grad that you had a couple classes with and whose work you genuinely admire. Even if their work isn’t your exact career interest, you will bond over your existing connection, and they will remember that you wanted to reconnect and hear about their career. A few years down the line, you could still be in touch, and they might offer you valuable advice or even connect you with a job opportunity.
I may have written the question in a slightly biased way, but my point still stands: I would choose to develop an existing friendship every time.
Besides prioritizing people I’m more likely to build a real friendship with, I think the best form of networking is my regular daily interactions. Every time I make a new friend on campus or make small talk with my coworker, I’m building a connection I can rely on long term. The people I trust to care about my personal life and help me with personal issues are the same people I would most trust to help me professionally.
It’s also important to be open to “network” (read: become friends) with people outside my field. All my close friends don’t need to, and shouldn’t, be political science majors. I believe a diverse list of connections, with different majors, skills, friends and career industries, is far more beneficial than a superficial list of people you hope to call and subtly beg for a job one day. A friend who becomes a doctor or an engineer might help me in an unexpected way 20 years from now; they could give me an edge over other, regular networkers.
The most important thing I’ll be keeping in mind as I begin to network is sincerity. I don’t plan on forcing connections with anyone I’m not genuinely interested in knowing (while still keeping an open mind about meeting anyone). At the end of the day, I believe organic, earnest and diverse friendships will serve me more than shallow networking ever will.
Sophia Anderson is a junior transfer at Notre Dame studying political science and planning to go to law school. You can contact her at sander38@nd.edu.
