Hopefully you have many opportunities to network, where you’ll prepare to market yourself to future employers. You’ll be dressed in business casual, greet someone with a smile and a handshake, and maybe even exchange business cards.  And hopefully, all goes well.

I just want to you know, networking doesn’t stop there. It can happen anywhere!

This weekend I had a worthwhile encounter that brought me to a realization; I’m always ready to market myself. Or at least, I should be. I need to be.  You never know who you’ll meet, where you’ll meet them, and what kinds of opportunities are just right there. Waiting for you.

My parents were visiting, and we headed into D.C. for the day. For dinner and an eventful Saturday night, we had one thing on the agenda: good food and college football. My team was playing, and I’d heard of a bar in the area that was known for hosting the alumni for game days. Perfect.  What we weren’t expecting was for that particular place to be completely packed…..five hours before kickoff. Hmm, onto plan B. We settled on another sports bar and grill a few blocks down. Funny how that worked out….

While it would’ve been amazing to watch the game among tons of fellow alumni, I had a very different experience.  Wearing my football jersey (yup, I’m totally a fan. No game without the jersey on!), chatting, eating, and watching the game with my parents….with zero intentions of “networking.”  Then someone from group next to us leaned over and said “{insert opposing team} is gonna win.”

Here we go….

Obviously the comment sparked my reaction, jokingly defending my alma mater and my jersey. And so starts the chain of questions….Where are you from? Why’d you go there? What was your major? Why are you here?  I gave him my business card.  And to make a (very) long story short, he has my information, will be contacting me about the possibility of an intern/externship working in sports nutrition at the university where he coaches, and is interested in my advice as a nutritionist. 
All in a night’s chat.

 The group he was with was equally as interesting. One person noticed the Walt Disney quote on the bottom of my business card (which I had made while doing the Disney internship. I would say ‘oops,’ but hey, it caught somebody’s attention right?), and had the usual inquiry. Turns out he just came off of quite an impressive career with the company, which always creates great conversation. I love Disney. I’ll talk Disney with anyone who will listen. And I love hearing about people who built a career with that company. It’s never a boring story.

Heading home on the Metro I had quite a few things to smile about: a big win, an eventful day in the city, and a successful night of networking to top it all off.

Posted by Mary Ellen Nunes at 10/28/2008 02:32:07 PM