By the time I had reached the upper division classes in my undergraduate major, I was on a first name basis with many of my professors, was allowed to express my opinion freely, encouraged to form original and challenging ideas, and was generally treated like an intelligent person. It seems that graduates have to abandon that disposition when they leave college. I assumed that holding a Bachelor’s degree meant that I would continue to be taken seriously and would maintain a level of respect. Life after college takes an unexpected turn… I’m not sure I can handle being at the bottom of the food chain yet again.
I recently attended a networking event during which I was vehemently encouraged to generate conversation with panel members and industry professionals. It’s safe to say that these conversations were forced and uncomfortable. The entire event felt like a factory where the input was creative college students and the output was yet another army of mindless cubicle soldiers. Though we were given sound advice on inter-office behavior, the perfect elevator pitch, and personal presentation, I’m convinced that such advice is the reason that so many professionals are dissatisfied with their jobs. Somewhere between the completion of our studies and the commencement of our careers, the quirks that set us apart from each other are shooed away and replaced by dollar signs and suit jackets. This is, however, not to knock the process of networking or the advice of industry vets, because I was very lucky to be in the same room as them, but I’m beginning to see networking as the answer to the question “if you had a super power, what would it be?”
Perhaps my liberal arts education made too big a skeptic out of me; I have trouble with fake smiles, and my conversations usually leave puddles of sarcasm on the floor. Entering the professional world and mingling with potential employers means controlling the impulses that make me want to say “let’s cut the crap, are you going to hire me or not?” I guess this is the beginning of an entirely new school of thought; the school of networking. I just hope I can stifle my ironic sense of humor for thirty seconds at a time, long enough for that elevator pitch.
