Why I Stopped Worrying About Connections and Focused on Fundamentals
Every career advice panel you attend will tell you networking is everything. Here's why I think that's incomplete advice, and what I focus on instead as an International Business student.
Networking is not useless. But the way it's taught to students, attend events, collect business cards, follow up within 24 hours, misses something fundamental. The most valuable professional relationships I've seen aren't built by networking. They're built by doing work that is worth talking about.
The Connections-First Trap
When I started university, I was focused on building the 'right' connections. Attend events. Get on panels. Find mentors. The implicit assumption was that knowing the right people would unlock the right doors. And while that's partially true, it's not the complete picture, because connections built on thin credentials don't survive contact with reality.
What I've found is that connections built on substance compound. When you have genuine work to show, a project you ran, a competition you placed in, a problem you solved, conversations shift from 'nice to meet you' to 'let's work together.' That shift is everything.
Connections built on thin credentials don't survive contact with reality. Connections built on substance compound.
What Fundamentals Actually Look Like
By fundamentals, I mean the things that hold up under questioning. Your ability to analyze a situation clearly. Your ability to communicate precisely. Your track record of following through on what you commit to. Your capacity to work under pressure without becoming someone different.
None of these require connections to develop. They require reps. They require putting yourself in situations that are slightly beyond your comfort and actually finishing what you start. That's the work, and most people underinvest in it because it's less visible than attending a networking dinner.
The Practical Balance
- Invest in doing excellent work first, it gives you something to bring to every conversation
- Pursue relationships with people who challenge you, not just those who can open doors for you
- Let your work travel ahead of you, publish it, present it, put it where others can find it
- Follow up after conversations with value, not just thanks, share something relevant
My tagline is 'strong fundamentals and consistent execution open every door.' That's not just a portfolio headline, it's the philosophy I've built my time at university around. Not because connections don't matter, but because the fundamentals are what make the connections worth having.