Holiday Networking

With finals beginning to wrap up for yet another semester, most of you are preparing to head home for the holidays. This is always a fun experience, whether it's Christmas, Hanukkah, Thanksgiving, or any other holiday. Most people I know have the one dreaded part of meeting with family and friends; the inevitable questioning. Everyone always gets it in some manner, the "Are you dating anyone?", "When are you guys getting married?", "When are you having children?", or any other variation.

Of course, the other fun question that comes about, especially in the college years, is "What are you doing after graduation?" You know it's going to come up at some point, so be prepared to meet the question head on and get something positive out of it. Let your family and friends know exactly what it is you are looking for in a position. Sure, they might not be in your field of interest, but it doesn't mean that they might not have other contacts you could use.

To be able to successfully tap into these contacts, you need to start with knowing what you are asking for. The more detailed you can be, the better off you are. You don't need to know exactly what job you want necessarily, but there is a big difference between "working as in a creative role with an ad agency" and "marketing". The second term is so broad that people that want to help simply won't know in which direction to guide you.

Don't be afraid to ask for help; your friends and family wouldn't be asking those questions if they didn't really care and want to help. Let them help you by telling them how they can. What better way to turn the questioning line into an experience with a positive outcome for you?