Networking - It IS Who You Know

I couldn't help but notice this morning as I was doing my usual "what's happening on Facebook" cruise how regularly and religiously folks communicate with their online friends...high school, college, family. Not a surprise but it sparked yet another thought.

How regularly do these same people...many of whom are either recent, relatively-recent,  or soon-to-be college graduates...communicate with their internship site supervisor or someone else at the internship, or with their professors (many of whom continue to have strong professional connections)?

It's all about networking, that mysterious (and apparently onerous) necessity in today's job hunting reality. This holds especially true for someone hoping to break into public relations. Many entry-level jobs are never publicized; they're filled through referrals, personal contacts...networking.

As I preach over and over to my undergraduate students at Curry College as well as to my graduate students at Regis College, public relations is very much about relationships. It starts before graduation...and never ends.

So a word of advice to anyone who cares to listen. Get in touch with your supervisors or friends that you made at your internship(s). Remind them that you're a future public relations professional, you learned a boatload of valuable information from them, and that you would appreciate their keeping you in mind if they have an entry-level position available or have heard of an opportunity.

Because guess what?!? If you don't tell them, they're not going to know!