MARK 1024 – Final Networking Blog

It’s hard to believe that it has been about eight months since I decided to “take the leap”. After graduating with a marketing degree and zero practical experience, I struggled to find a job in my field that, frankly, paid the bills. In the meantime, I continued teaching piano while working retail part-time. Don’t get me wrong, I love music and I’m especially thankful for the opportunity it gave me to develop leadership skills and independence. However, after teaching for about nine years (since high school!) I decided to work on myself and enrol into a Digital Marketing program at George Brown College.

During my time at GBC, I was fortunate enough to learn from weekly guest speakers – each of which were well-versed in marketing and job searching. As an introvert, the idea of networking and job seeking was quite daunting. However, as a future marketing professional, I knew that I needed to overcome my shyness and forge connections with different individuals.

Lessons Learned

One of the first lessons I learned is to expand my professional network! One of the speakers, Julie Vanderkloet, expressed that isn’t enough to add someone as connection on LinkedIn, instead you should strive to create authentic relationships with individuals you meet on your job searching journey. Whether it be a former employer or even a classmate, a genuine connection is with someone that actually remembers who you are.

In addition to meeting new people, it’s important to ask questions. For myself, this meant participating more in discussions in class and even at my current workplace. With the pandemic still running rampant, meetings are taking place online – meaning that we must be comfortable chatting both in-person and virtually. By asking questions, you are showing the other person that you’re interested in what they have to say. As marketers we are constantly exposed to different insights, and we must question why people are thinking or feeling a certain way so that we can create solutions to meet their needs. Being curious is a part of being a marketer, as we are always thinking of what clicks and sticks in people’s minds. While it’s great to ask questions, we should be succinct in phrasing inquiries.

“If you can get the message across in 50% less words, then do it!”

^{-Julie Vanderkloet, Senior Manager of Consumer Insights at Weston Foods}

Be brave! Courage and resilience was a recurring theme throughout the guest speaker series. Kareem Perez, career coach and brand consultant, encouraged my classmates and I to start taking action and “fail forward” in reaching our career goals. By taking the chance and applying for that intimidating job posting, we are taking a step forward towards success. Being afraid to make a mistake won’t help you progress, but will actually hinder your ability to grow as both an individual and professional.

“If you can hit 75% of what the job poster is looking for, you should go for it. If you are a good fit they are likely to let you learn on the job.”

^{–Asta Schouten, Social Media and Brand Strategist}

Building My Network

Thanks to the seminar series, I was able to connect with the guest speakers on LinkedIn. SEO specialist and GBC alumni, Natasha Burtenshaw-deVries has been extremely helpful on the platform by sharing stimulating search marketing content and advice.

Graham Sterling from Acadium introduced my classmates and me to online digital marketing apprenticeships. During my upcoming work term, I plan on completing an apprenticeship with Acadium to obtain more experience and grow my professional portfolio. 

Kareem Perez from The Tech Effect was gracious enough to connect on LinkedIn and offer a career discovery session for us to chat about “getting myself out there”. All of the speakers were generous enough to offer their time and expertise to help us gain a better foundation going into job searching.

After continuously hearing about networking and conferences, I finally attended my first event – the 2020 Adobe99U Conference. At the virtual convention, I heard from different individuals from the creative industry. One of the speakers, Nishat Ahktar, a design professor at Portland State University, shared the importance of fully listening and not just passively looking. Ahktar referred to the act of attentive listening and appreciation as the gift of exchange. When actively listening, we gather deeper insights and stimulate creativity.

To exercise the gift of exchange, Ahktar shared a simple exercise – listen to an album from beginning to end. By taking the time to listen to each track, you open yourself up to a level of critical thinking (i.e. Thinking about the lyrics, instrumentation, emotion, key, tempo). It’s important to remember that someone took the time to create something, and as listeners, we must fully listen and appreciate the content. This conference, while primarily about design and art, reinvigorated my creative drive and inspired me to create content and share it on my blog site, SimplyLJ.

^{SimplyLJ logo designed by yours truly 🙂}

SimplyLJ was initially created as an online space for me to share my creative work. However, the site has grown to become a place where I can share a variety of content on topics that I’m passionate about, like music and marketing. As an introvert, sharing can sometimes seem difficult but as the speakers have mentioned, we need to be brave and take chances! So, I took the leap and started a music podcast series called The Melody Project in which I discuss music and pop culture, all while brushing up on my public speaking skills.

Check out my podcast series, The Melody Project!

While I currently haven’t obtained a co-op, I have a list of contacts that I am planning on reconnecting with to secure a position with a marketing agency. There are many facets of marketing that I still want to explore and I believe that a work term in an agency environment will provide a diverse experience.

-LaarniJane♡