Legacy’s Vision of Networking
When people come to university, they realize school is much more than just getting good grades. University is much more than that, it’s the place where people come to find themselves. But how do we do that?
Sure, good marks are important, but that’s not all there is to going to university, and many people try to find their path by doing other things while they study in school. This can be done through working a part time job, joining clubs, making friends, and especially, networking. Some people go to a certain school specifically for the connections they know they’ll make there.
The False Pretense of Networking
Legacy doesn’t see networking the same way as most people. The most common idea of networking is walking up to someone you’ve never met before, and doing a one minute pitch about yourself in order to get an interview or connection within a company. Usually this happens at large networking sessions or business-related events.
But is that all networking is? Just trying to get that 500+ connections status on LinkedIn? To be frank, the Legacy team would say this is quite ineffective. What real benefit does that give you? Yes, as a student you probably are trying to get a job right when you graduate, but is that the only goal? We want to find our own vision, our path in life that’ll lead us to feeling fulfilled in the future, and that’s not going to happen by having a ten minute conversation with the HR representative at Shopify.
What WILL fulfill you in the future in building strong relationships with a few people that can give you meaningful advice and are willing to spend time guiding you on the right path. Here at Legacy, we really value creating those lasting relationships that you can keep for the long term, and getting real-life advice as opposed to the generic stuff HR reps always tell people, like “we’re looking for someone who’s a good communicator!”
Now, you might be thinking, ‘but doesn’t Legacy have multiple dedicated networking sessions at their conference? Isn’t what they’re talking about counterintuitive?’ Yes and no. We do have short networking at the Legacy Conference, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start meaningful relationships at Legacy.
The Chance to Meet the Perfect Mentor and Find Your Path
One way to build strong relationships through networking is finding a mentor. Being a student while figuring out life is hard. You have so many options that you might feel overwhelmed, unsure of what to do next. Who do you go to for advice? What has helped so many people in the entrepreneurial field is having a mentor that you can relate to and who can give you solid advice that’ll stick with you for the rest of your career. But how do you do that?
What works for the Legacy team is doing our research. Take the time to research people in the industry to find someone who resonates with you. That way, you will genuinely be interested in talking with them and they will feel appreciated you took the time to get to know them a little bit.
There are so many people out there who would be willing to take on a younglin’ like yourself and give some well earned advice and guidance. A lot of people are actually very compassionate because they too were probably in the same situation at one point, meaning they were also a student, so this is your chance to do it!
Take Advantage of Being a Student
As mentioned, since your ideal mentor was also probably a student at one point in their life, they know how you feel. They know what it’s like to be lost and trying to find their own way in life. That’s why instead of being discouraged by your status as a student and thinking you don’t have experience because you’re young so no one will talk to you, be encouraged by it! People are so understanding of students because they are young and fresh, and just trying to learn how to navigate life.
The Legacy team has had its fair share of reaching out to the best of the best in the field of entrepreneurship. With people like Seth Godin, Simon Sinek, and Janet Bannister speaking at our conference, there’s definitely some way we got their attention. So what’s that way? Well, we started off every reach-out saying that we’re students, because like we said, people feel sympathy for students.
Once you start with that, the rest of the way is paved out for you. You can learn a lot without having to pay money for courses or tickets to attend big conferences. And the best part, if you keep those relationships you made, you’ll receive great little updates, like this one.
Do What’s Right for You
Just because you’ve been taught that networking only works if you give that “perfect” pitch of yourself, doesn’t mean it's the only right way. As people who like to go against the crowd, here at Legacy we think that there are better ways to network.
Find your mentor! Along with building those relationships with professionals in your field, you can also build relationships with those around you, aka other students. During Legacy 2021, Michael Seibel gave seven lessons, and one of them was “Friendships matter, don’t waste your youth. These people (your peers) will become your co-founders, your support system, your employees.”
When reaching out, don’t forget to mention that you’re a student. Trust us, you’ll get more replies.
Good luck!