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Northern Illinois University

College of Business - NIU

Networking

Networking is defined by Katharine Hansen, author of A Foot in the Door, as "the process through which you get connected and build relationships with people who can help advance your career." All the people who are or will be part of your "network" will not have the power to hire you. These are people on whom you will rely for advice, support and referrals to others.

There are many opportunities to begin building your "network" while you are in the College of Business as an OM&IS major. Can you pass the OM&IS Networking Quiz?

  1. Do you know 90 percent of the people in your major classes?
  2. Have you taken the time to become acquainted with at least three professors in your major department?
  3. Have you joined an organization related to OM&IS?
  4. Once you joined, are you active in that organization?
  5. When you attend a meeting featuring a speaker from a company or industry related to OM&IS, do you take the time afterward to introduce yourself and talk with this person for several minutes?
  6. Can you list at least 50 people that could be part of your network? (You'll be surprised at how many people you know when you take the time to write them down.)

Based on your answers to the above questions (you should have answered "yes" to all), you have an idea on where you stand. Start now to build your "network." Use the quiz as your guide. Here are some last words from Katharine Hansen,

"Successful networking doesn't mean milking your contacts for all they're worth; it means participating in a give-and-take. Networking is at its most effective when both the networker and the contact benefit from the relationship. Even if your contact does not benefit immediately from knowing you, he or she should gain something from the relationship eventually."