Many of us high schoolers love to run our mouth non-stop talking about gibberish. (Raise your hand if you are guilty.) Let’s not be foolish and use our mouth to talk about the main dish. No, I am not talking about food here. I am referring to networking, as the main dish. Networking is a key ingredient when cooking a delicious meal, I mean, when creating a successful career. High School is a great time to start building our network to include individuals who are willing to help us with our educational and career interests. This list can include people from our family, friends, teachers, counselors, and various professionals. These people will help us learn about different careers and college experiences and be a valuable resource to us. Let’s not overlook that and take advantage of the existence of these people in our lives. During high school, we should talk to as many adults as possible about careers and colleges.

Why build our network?

There are many reasons to why we should build our network. See below for 3 examples. 

• If We Know – We may already have an interest in a specific career path we want to pursue but there’s always more to know. By talking with others who are knowledgeable and experienced in the field of our interest, we will get practical feedback on the pros and cons about the career path which we may not have known about.
• If We Don’t Know – We may not be sure about a specific career path we want to pursue so there’s a lot to learn about the different career options out there. By talking with others who are knowledgeable and experienced in various career fields we will get to learn about the good and the bad for different career paths.
• If We Want to Know – We have to be curious! Whether we know or we don’t know, we need to build and use our network to increase our knowledge and awareness about the different career options. Doing so will help shape our decision when selecting the right career path.

How to build our network?

There are many ways to build our network. See below for 1 prime example.

• By Talking! – You should have already gotten the main point about the main dish. It must still be emphasized due to its importance! One of the best ways to learn about different careers is by talking with others such as family, friends, teachers, counselors and other professionals. Let’s get these people to tell us about their career and college experiences. Let’s consider a few scenarios.
  • Scenario 1 – If you are interested in becoming a doctor, and have someone in the family, who is already a doctor, take advantage. Have a conversation with that person expressing your interest to hear about his or her experience while going through medical school and recommendations he or she may have to offer.
  • Scenario 2 – If you have a passion for economics and are considering a career as a college economics professor, reach out to a local college and ask a few professors from the economics department if you can conduct an information interview or even shadow them.  
  • Scenario 3 – You may be curious about the field of engineering but don’t know much about the career options or what engineers really do. Through conversations you find out that one of your friend’s parent is an engineer. One weekend you plan to visit your friend’s house and meet with the parent to learn more about earning a degree in engineering and what kind of work the parent does.