SWC Professionals help Bayan Scholars Develop Networking Skills

Photo by Ernesto Rivera

As we grow, Bayan plans to offer a mentor program, matching scholars with professionals for all the benefits we know that mentorship provides. Even as we aren’t at a place - yet! - for a full-blown mentor program as  PUENTE has, we can still help students develop skills they will need to make the most of mentor opportunities such as networking, introducing ourselves, asking questions - those “soft skills” that can make a huge difference. 

To that end, we set up a “mixer event” where students and Southwestern College professionals met “cocktail party-style” (there was no alcohol - just candy!) to practice meeting and greeting each other.

We broke the program up over a few days, reserving a portion of two class periods of Personal Development to prepare for the event. On the first day, students composed and practiced informal “elevator pitches,” quick self-introductions students might make when meeting a new teacher, prospective employer, or other person who they meet. The pitches we practiced were less formal than those proposed by Forbes or LinkedIn. Ours were intended for a more casual, low stakes situation. Folks jotted down their elevator pitches and practiced in front of the class and in pairs. 

On the second day, students brainstormed list of potential questions they might ask of someone with more experience than they have, information that students might want to know, questions such as, “How did you choose your major?”, “Did you ever have a mentor?”, or “What do you know now that you wished you knew when you were my age?”. We didn’t expect students to ask every question of every person they met. But we did want students to be prepared, to have something at the ready when they met with campus professionals.

On the day itself, students had a half-an-hour before the guests arrived, giving students a chance to ventilate and prepare to welcome our guests. We listed on the wall several Filipino values - kapwa, kamalayan, bayanihan, pakikisama, lakas ng loob, bahala na, and hiya - and asked students to chat in small groups about which values would they need practice in order to get the most out of the activity. 

When faculty and staff arrived, we set up a “faux-cocktail party” situation that lasted about an hour. Instead of alcohol, we had candies and snacks. And instead of allowing a free-flow kind of atmosphere, we did several sets of eight minutes meet-ups. We had enough professionals in the room so that the "meet up" groups consisted of one professional and no more than three students. We didn’t tell folks what to talk about in the mini-meet ups. That’s when students practiced engaging with the mentors to “feel the burn” of networking. After each round, groups to split up and formed new ones. 

Read about Bayan Scholars’ reactions and what they gleaned from the mixer in the Padlet bulletin board below. 

Photo by Ernesto Rivera

One factor that added to the informal atmosphere was the fact that many students and guests were dressed in Halloween costumes (the event was held on Thursday, October 31st). Costumes “broke the ice”. One professional even brought her puppy to the proceedings! 

Perhaps we’ll do the mixer on Halloween, too. We should also do a survey of the campus professionals about their experiences, what they got out of the program, and what they think would improve the event. 

While we did receive lots of informal kudos and feedback, we need to be purposeful about gathering feedback for planning and simply to record participants’ stories. We plan to do another mixer Spring 2020. We will ratchet up the stakes by figuring out how to get students and professionals to meet up once outside of the mixer meeting, perhaps for a coffee or a walk to our campus' botanic garden. 

We invite your feedback: What would have helped you interact with campus professionals while you were in college? What did professionals on campus do or say to help you feel welcome? What kind of experiences would help increase the quality and quantity of student-to-faculty interaction? What can students and campus professionals do to mitigate the anxiety and low-key fear we might have about meeting each other?