Students filled Newton 204 for the “Networking & Job Searching Strategies” talk delivered by Geneseo alumnus Padraic McConville ’04 on Wednesday Sept. 25. McConville was joined my Geneseo alumnus Mark Shepard ’04 for the student question and answer portion of the event.
McConville and Shepard began with short introductions about themselves, emphasizing their time studying at Geneseo, working abroad and obtaining their Master of Business degrees from Cornell University and the University of Buffalo, respectively.
McConville’s lecture focused on the importance of making connections and forming relationships once it is time to enter the workforce. He gave important advice to students about how to begin networking activities early.
“Eighty percent of jobs are filled via a referral,” McConville said. “The earlier that you start with these types of activities the better.”
McConville also noted from a survey that communication skills are more sought after from employers than resumes, pedigrees and other qualities that may matter in an interview.
“Understanding that communication skills are of the most important skill set when evaluating somebody for a job opportunity … is a really big opportunity for most of us to dig a lot more deeply about how we work on our communication skills and how we present ourselves,” McConville said.
Mathematics major junior Won Kim thought being more affective at communication was an important topic of the lecture, as Kim didn’t realize how important communication was.
McConville emphasized that first impressions are important when networking and interviewing. He recommended tips on giving a good first impression such as sharing a smile and handshake, maintaining eye contact and dressing appropriately. He also stressed that practicing communication is vital in an interview.
“You’ve got to practice. It seems like totally cringe but video tape yourself doing a 30 second ‘who am I’ or introduction … ultimately getting down to the two-three minute version of walking through your resume,” McConville said. “Then, PAR is this interview tactic where people will say ‘tell me about a time you were in a tough situation’ or ‘tell me about a time you worked with a team. It’s about working someone through the problem, the action and the result.”
Communication major senior Nawang Sherpa said that the ‘who am I’ elevator pitch is more significant than he realized.
“Well I’ve always thought about this part where you have to keep that elevator speech and always be prepared to talk about yourself highly but that’s one thing I never really focused on that much,” Sherpa said. “With them elaborating on how important it is to always keep in mind that employers see that as the stepping-stone and standing out from the candidate pool is one of the things that stood out to me.”
When networking and connecting with people, SUCES—simple, unexpected, concrete, emotional and story—is McConville’s method to keeping emails, phone calls and interviews impactful. McConville advocated for students to take the initiative and reach out to people they do not know because it can be impactful and show initiative.
After finishing his lecture, McConville and Shepard took questions from the audience. One attendee asked about social media’s impact when students are looking for careers. McConville warned students to be wary of what they are posting and to make sure to keep their accounts private.
Shephard, however, took a different approach. He said social media can be important in showing employers other sides of a student’s personalities.
“In one sense it can be a good thing. Social media allows you to show the world who you are and your personality. That’s something that companies want,” Shepard said. “It’s okay to show you have a life. Just maybe don’t put a picture on there that you would be embarrassed to have projected.”
McConville also said that people change careers often, which is normal in the workforce. He explains that people’s interests change causing more specification of the roles they want. Shepard emphasized that, for him, pursuing a career that makes him happy is most important.
Kim appreciated McConville’s openness about the difficulty he faced networking and personally related to his struggles.
“Also, for networking, I really suck at it because I am introverted, but I know that Padraic is also an introvert. I can tell he practiced a lot and has gone through a lot of trials and errors,” Kim said. “Now, he is very calm and suave while giving a presentation. So, that’s one of the goals to approach and strive for.”
Sherpa said how the lecture gave him a different perspective on looking into careers, networking and interviewing skills.
“Since I’m a senior right now applying for jobs and especially knowing about what I should get myself into like networking and kind of building a profile when I’m talking to potential employers,” Sherpa said. “It gives me a better perspective of what a different type of approach I should take.”