Networking Novice

One of the things they tell you in school, aside from getting good grades and leadership roles, is to network. The concept of networking has always been awkward to me. You mean you want me to go up to a random stranger who doesn’t know me and ask them to help me with, arguably, one of the most important things in my life – my career? If someone were to do that to me, I would give them a weird look. It could be my heightened sense of independence and need for accomplishment speaking, but I would rather do it myself.

Growing up in an immigrant family who didn’t know anyone in our community, I have built myself from the ground up. Most of my connections and opportunities have been achieved through applying for the role and landing it because of my skills, not because of who I knew. In high school, this got me where I wanted to be. However, once college came around, I saw that I was at a disadvantage because my dad wasn’t golf buddies with Bill who is the VP at that one company. In a world where I was taught working hard would get you anywhere you wanted to go, I was frustrated to discover this was not 100% true.

So network I did. I started with on-campus events, because that wasn’t so awkward to me. These people were students here once, I can relate to them. Then I went on LinkedIn. Everyone wants to grow their network on LinkedIn, so yeah, why not reach out and say hi.

I never fully took advantage of the world of networking until last summer. Having an unpaid internship in Chicago, three hours away from home, meant I needed money. I picked up a hostessing job at Francesca Tavola where I managed reservations and greeted patrons. One day, a group of ladies came in. On the reservation management system, it said Kathy Chwiecko from ADP. I thought to myself, “I know ADP, I use their iPay system to check how much money is coming into my account when pay day rolls around”. I don’t know what came over me to bring up to Kathy that I knew ADP. ADP pays about 1 in 4 people in America, everyone knows ADP, I didn’t stumble on a profound new piece of information. But she was polite and asked me to tell her about myself. I talked about studying at Augustana College, being a business major, and wanting to work in technology and rambled because I wasn’t prepare to answer my least favorite interview question, “tell me about yourself”, even though it wasn’t an interview. To my surprise, she said add me on LinkedIn. Of course, after I seated her and her party, I went on my phone and found Kathy Chwiecko – turns out she’s a Vice President. That intimidated me, I’m glad I didn’t know that when I had to tell her about myself. I sent her a message asking if she wanted to meet up. A week later, we went out to lunch. Janice, the nervous wreck, was having lunch with a VP of a Fortune 500 company. How. Did. That. Happen.

Fast forward 2 months, I reflected on our conversation about Kathy’s career at ADP and decided to see if ADP had any internship opportunities. Fighting a VPN while studying abroad in Mainland China, I successfully submitted my application in October. I informed Kathy that I had applied and was exciting about pursuing an opportunity at ADP. Not too long after, Gigi Alfonso, the talent acquisition business partner, reached out for a conversation. That conversation led to an on-campus interview invite in November at ADP – Elk Grove Village. To my surprise, I heard back that same day. I got the internship! I don’t know what it was that impressed Kathy that day, whether it was me being completely bold by putting myself out there or my resume. Whatever it was, I am here, interning at ADP, and sharing my story of how Kathy Chwiecko, stranger to Janice, left a footprint in my life.

You could say that I was at the right place at the right time on the right day bumping into the right person. That’s what I would say if someone told me this story. But I took advantage of the opportunity. I’m a firm believer of creating your own luck. There is no such thing as “the right time”, so don’t wait for it. Make it the right time, right now. I guess that’s what my professors meant when they say “go network”. Networking means making opportunities for yourself. It’s not awkward, it’s being bold, and having the courage to be bold. Know what you want and know how to get it. Find your Kathy Chwiecko and go introduce yourself. You never know how the guy you’re sharing an elevator with, the lady next to you at lunch, or even the cashier at your favorite store could change your life.