As much as I agree with many of Rachel’s comments in her blog post, “Marketing Beyond the Field of Marketing“, I struggle with one major aspect: the lack of personal connection mentioned.

As we’ve been talking about all term, modern day marketing is about values and creating a personal relationship with the customer. When it comes to self-marketing, this means going beyond “show up, dress right, talk right”. There’s nothing personal in that mix; it belongs back in the 1920s-1980s era of sales and marketing focuses and develops a mindset that there is only one purpose a consumer can have (to buy), or in this case, that a networking partner can have (to hire).

Just as modern day marketing people have had to keep up with the times and develop value based marketing strategies, so do current students. It’s important that students don’t network in an attempt to “market [their] qualities”, but to have conversations which lead to information exchanges and budding relationships. The term “relationship” is key – a two way connection that is mutually beneficial. What does the poor person listening to a student promote themselves at a networking event receive from the experience?

Through having conversations with HR representatives and those senior CA firm partners, I’ve learned that the number one thing they want to develop with students is a relationship – one where they are able to receive feedback or information (whether it be about their firm’s current recruitment strategies, current trends, or even information on a completely non-commerce related topic), and then in turn, more than wanting to simply find a new person to hire, they want to become a mentor to the student: guiding, educating, and helping.

To me, that sounds like a much better deal then simply going to a conference to sell myself.