Overcoming fear of networking

One of the biggest things I am still learning to overcome is my fear of networking. It does gets a little easier each time I attend a networking event yet there is one detail that bothers me very much. It almost made me stop networking altogether earlier this year. There has been numerous times where I thought I made good connections with people at these events and sent out my follow up emails the next day ,but never received a response. It really frustrated me. I didn’t understand why this was happening, especially at the events that targeted student’s career advancement.

The frustration of not being able to advance at my current job, not being able to find a job elsewhere, and having trouble getting responses back from the people that I met was heavily building up on me. Other than having the diminishing fear of networking, the fear of forgetting what I learned in grad school was growing. I felt and sometimes still feel that the economy has set up a brick wall from the professional career and financial independence that I have worked for.  

Even though I was losing my faith in growing my network, I attended one more networking event at DePaul University where one of the recruiters from the Chicago Federal Reserve told me to get involved with the Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE). I went online the following day and emailed the first contact I saw on the HACE website and received a response within hours. Having so many unresponsive people, I was ecstatic to get such a quick response not only from the person that I emailed but also from the people that were copied on the email. 

Since that day HACE has been one of my favorite organizations to work with in my journey to expand my network and search for career advancement opportunities. To be extremely sincere, if it weren’t for the quick responses and the great people I met from HACE I probably would have given up my job search and networking efforts. Their dedication, sincerity, and intelligence to help those who want and need help,in my opinion, are extraordinary. 

HACE has helped me in various ways. Through one of HACE’s career fairs back in March, I was able to land an interview with Allstate. Although I didn’t get the position, it did motivate me further to continue to network. From what I have heard from other people, many of them don’t get responses from their job application submissions since the job market is so tight. Therefore, I felt like I was a step ahead of most people. In fact, the few interviews I have landed have either been through HACE or other similar organizations. So in my honest opinion, I believe that continuing through this path will probably be my most productive. In addition to this, HACE has also reviewed my resume, conducted a mock interview to prepare me for the Allstate interview and continues to work with me on new opportunities. 

There is one small detail that has disappointed me about this organization. I would like to see more student chapters in colleges and if it’s even possible in high schools as well. Career development should start at a young age to create not only leaders, but to have a stronger community in general. I believe HACE has the capability to touch and change the lives of many. We just need to spread the word to help. If you would like to learn more about HACE please visit their website at  http://www.haceonline.org. Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions in regards to this organization. I would love to see this organization grow.

--Angelica Navarro

Graduate student