How to Make Lasting Professional Relationships!

Tue, 07 Mar 2017 14:17:13 -0500

I’m not sure how time flew by so quickly, but we are already over a month into the semester. I can’t believe I’m at the part of the syllabus that tells me I have a midterm exam next week.

The one piece advice that I was given to by so many people before I started college was to get close with my professors, and to establish long-lasting relationships with them. I’m a fairly reserved person, so I can remember walking into my first college class ever, International Relations, and trying to work up the courage to talk to the professor. I kept putting it off and telling myself that I would do it next class. Suddenly, next class was my final exam and I never really established a good working relationship with my professor.

As college students, it’s incredibly important to maintain relationships with professionals. Whether it be your professor, a work manager, or an internship supervisor, these are the people that can give you advice to guide your career, but also excellent references. Even though a third of the semester has passed, it’s not too late to establish these relationships!

I’m applying to several internships right now, and I list my internship supervisor from last summer as one of my references. I haven’t seen her since August, but I make sure to shoot her an email every few months because I know did a good job at that internship, and I want to continue to use her as a reference. So, I try to keep in contact with her, so she doesn’t forget me or think that I stopped caring about the work I did while I was there!

I approach my relationships with old internship supervisors a little differently than how I approach my relationship with professors. Professors are here to help students. They have office hours and any professor that I have had always makes time for students. Take advantage of these resources that professors at UMBC give to you. An open door policy is not something you’ll see everywhere, so these are opportunities for you to establish a solid relationship with someone who is here to help students.

I’ve found that relationships with professors can be more casual than relationships with internship or work supervisors. As such, professors can see a side of you that your other workmates may not. This can help you develop a closer relationship that can translate into letter of recommendations or references, where professors can cite specific examples of how you demonstrate specific knowledge or skills.

Here are a few tips I find helpful to establishing these professional relationships

1. Email. I always email a professor before I come in to talk to them so I can hold myself accountable. If I don’t email them, I feel like it’s okay to bail. If I do email them, then I know the professional is expecting me so I can’t bail for no reason.

2. Prepare. Make a list of topics you want to talk about beforehand. That way if you think there’s a lull or awkward silence in the conversation (my biggest fear), you have a prepared list of topics you think you can talk about to fall back on.

3. Be thoughtful. Think about what the person you’re trying to build a professional relationship with likes! If I come across an article or thinkpiece that reminds me of someone, I’ll send it to them. The little things are what make good impressions.

I am not a people person. I get extremely nervous talking to professionals all the time. It unnerves and intimidates me. But I know that it’s necessary for me to break out of my shell to make sure I have good references and letters of recommendations for when I apply to a job or law school.