By Hannah Speer
If you have ever spoken to anyone about jobs, what you want to do with your future or even where you might go to school you’ve heard this piece of advice: It’s all about networking. This is also often phrased as; “It’s all about who you know.”
Personally, networking is very difficult. I like people and I like working in small teams, but I’m terrible about introducing myself and worry about bothering people – especially when I don’t know them or need something from them. Networking, for me, basically means “time to get really anxious, forget to introduce yourself, mess up whatever you’re asking about, and then not update your LinkedIn account.” It’s very difficult for me to separate myself professionally from myself personally and I get wires crossed over what is professionally okay to do (adding a colleague on LinkedIn or giving a business card to someone) versus what is personally okay (not annoying a stranger, just doing what you need to do and getting out of the way).
Despite this, I know that networking is a fundamental part of our profession. Without it, working in the field can be very difficult and much less rewarding because you will miss out on hundreds of opportunities – from internships to jobs to mentors.
As an introvert trying to work in a field where extroversion is a very good trait to have and also as someone who is trying to overcome that obstacle in different ways, I know that I am not the only one struggling with this problem. During my time at Ball State, I’ve come across a few pieces of advice that I thought might help both current students dealing with the stress of trying to network and incoming freshmen worried that their natural inclinations will hurt them in the PR field.
Prepare Ahead of Time
It’s called an elevator pitch and it’s a vital piece of information for even the most extroverted of PR professionals to have memorized – and that makes it even more important to someone who has trouble making connections. An elevator pitch is a short (30 seconds), hopefully rehearsed, speech that you can throw out at any time if you happen to encounter someone important or someone you want to remember you. At its very basic level, it needs to include your name, your strengths and your goal. If you’ve got an extra few seconds, maybe have something on how you can help the company/organization you are aiming for. Having this pitch in your back pocket will help to take the stress of trying to introduce yourself off your shoulders because you won’t have to think of something new on the spot. You know your name, your strengths and your goals – and now whoever you’re speaking to does, too.
Ask for Help
Asking for help sounds like a simple task, but it can be just as difficult to do this as it is to try to begin networking from scratch. In my case, the thing that stopped me from asking for help or advice was that I did not want to appear like I didn’t know anything or that I couldn’t do the job someone asked of me. My professors are all accomplished, successful individuals and I didn’t want to lose their respect by admitting that I had trouble talking to people in a field where talking to people is, arguably, the main point of the job. I felt that, if I came clean about not feeling comfortable trying to get my name out there, I would be told that this wasn’t the place for me and I’d have to leave and start afresh in a different major two years into my degree.
But, despite what my own thoughts were telling me, I did eventually ask for help and I discovered something amazing: I am not the only introverted PR student in the world! Even professors have trouble speaking to people or feel awkward and uncomfortable in new situations! It wasn’t a problem that no one else had ever had before, I wasn’t the only person facing the difficult process. Professors and other faculty and staff are there and are willing to help students, especially those who were in our shoes only a few years ago and know the problems that we are facing.
Asking a professor their advice on overcoming this problem won’t make them lose respect for you. Not only will you not lose respect, you’re going to learn something and learning new things about the professions that we’re trying to break into is exactly why we show up to class in the first place, isn’t it?
Push Your Boundaries
But wasn’t I just saying that it’s okay to not be comfortable or be anxious?
Yes, I was because yes, it is. But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t to try to overcome those things. Does trying to introduce myself to a successful person sometimes make me so anxious that I just leave the room? Yes. Does that mean that I should just give up and never try to overcome that impulse? Of course not.
Having an elevator pitch and asking for advice are both things to do to help to make networking easier, but you still have to do it if you want the benefits (of which there are many) of a strong professional network. If talking to new people is enough to drive you from the room, start small. Introduce yourself to your professor at the beginning of the semester, make a point of learning at least one new person’s name in your class. One of the best ways to push those boundaries is to join a club. There are so many clubs at Ball State, at least one of them will have something to do with what you like – be it PRSSA or the Psychology club, etc. The point of the club is to meet new people and get comfortable with talking to them. As it turns out, most strangers don’t bite and most professionals won’t instantly dismiss a student for wanting to ask a question or make contact in some way. They have all been in the same places we have been and they probably remember how hard it was.
That isn’t to say that you should just throw yourself into something that makes you so uncomfortable that you never want to try again. Pushing is not the same as hurtling yourself over the edge. But, little by little, the work adds up and you may never be able to feel completely comfortable dropping your business card to a CEO you meet in an elevator but you’ll be able to do it without trying to climb out of the emergency hatch immediately after and that’s the important thing.
Ball State isn’t trying to mold you into a perfect PR professional, they’re trying to help you build the skills that you need to be successful in your career. If that means you need to focus a little more on your communication skills, then of course there are several ways to go about getting that help. These are just a few tips that have helped me and I can’t say that I’m cured of my social anxiety but I feel comfortable enough to call or email a professional to ask questions for a project or speak up in class discussions and communicate with my group members. It’s an ongoing process of learning and pushing to better myself and be the best that I can be, and I’m happy to say that I am making progress.
Doing things that make you uncomfortable or awkward will never be easy, I understand. But that doesn’t mean that this field is cut off to introverts or that you can’t be successful. You just have to find ways to work around the obstacles set before you and with work, and a willingness to reach out, you can do it.
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