I just could not wait to get out of school and get a job and be cool.

If I had known this before I graduated – I would have been a better student!

Really, I would have – yes, really – I would have. Honest!! ;->

Have a good one folks.

Bez

Excellent question!

I can think of a lot of things – but possibly the most important one follows:

As a military guy, I met and worked with a pile of folks over the years that I should have maintained contact with. What I did not know then, and do know now, is that networking is a life long activity.

And no one was wise enough to tell me.

Or, if they did I was too foolish to hear them!

I was a slow leaner – but I have made up for it in a big way.

I have been fortunate enough to meet and work with everyone from the local mail carrier to singers, actors. big business folks, politicians and royalty – and absolutely everything in the middle. I let nearly every one of those contacts go to waste because I did not know better.

It would not have taken much to maintain this contact and who knows what might have transpired. There may not have been any career prospects, but I know for sure that a few of those people would have made very good friends.

Case in point:

I was working at a rather dead end job in western Canada when I retired from the Air Force. The lady who was responsible for keeping the building clean was polishing the floor in the entrance to our office one night. I stopped to chat with her for a minute. Her name was Judy. We had always sort of nodded as we passed in the hallway. This time we each had a few minutes and neither of us was in a hurry – so we ended up chatting for almost half an hour.

It turned out she had a friend who had a friend who was looking for some simulator test pilots for an international based firm. I got the name and within three weeks I was on my way to Hanau and my first assignment.

You just never know who might know someone or something – that can – at a minimum – start you on a new path – or enhance your present path. So now I make a point of talking to as many people every day as I can – if only to say hello or ask after the family – and a big one – once I know them a little better, I always put them on my contact list.

I still work with military folks and I always tell this story to the newbies and encourage them to start early and keep at it. Never judge the contact by the job they are doing – it may be what they are doing now, but it for darned sure may not be what they are!

Cheers,

Bez

That opportunity is to work as an intern. Even the hardest company to get a job at has interns and is usually looking for a few more.

It is the best way to get a feel for the “real working world” generally, and that company, specifically. It is real world experience that will help you more than your education.

What’s more, if you don’t like the company that you’re interning for, you can change companies every 6 months without anyone thinking badly of you. If you like the company that you’re interning with after 6 months, just stay on and let them get used to you. When you graduate, there’s an excellent chance that you’ll get a job there.

Dan

Thank you for your very fair and accurate review of my book. I really did write this book with the needs of the students in mind. I hope and pray it will be a valuable resource to all of the students or parents of students who read it.

Thanks

Justin Driscoll
http://www.justindriscoll.net